Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 02:13, 25 November 2006

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Battle of Surabaya" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Battle of Surabaya
Part of Indonesian National Revolution
Date October 27 - 20 November, 1945 Location Surabaya, Indonesia Result British occupied Surabaya
Belligerents
Indonesia	United Kingdom  Netherlands
Commanders and leaders
Bung Tomo	Brig. Gen A. W. S. Mallaby † Maj. Gen E. C. Mansergh
Strength
20,000 inexperienced soldiers 100,000	30,000 (peak) with tanks, aircrafts and warships
Casualties and losses
16,000	2,000

Part of a series on the
History of Indonesia
Timeline
Prehistory Paleolithic Java Man 1,000,000 BP Flores Man 94,000–12,000 BP Neolithic Toba catastrophe 75,000 BP Buni culture 400 BCE–500 CE
Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms Kutai Kingdom 350–1605 Tarumanagara Kingdom 400s–500s Kantoli Kingdom 400s–500s Kalingga Kingdom 500s–600s Melayu Kingdom 600s–1347 Srivijaya Empire 600s–1025 Shailendra Dynasty 600s–900s Mataram Kingdom 716–1016 Bali Kingdom 914–1908 Sunda Kingdom 932–1579 Kahuripan Kingdom 1019–1045 Kediri Kingdom 1045–1221 Dharmasraya Kingdom 1183–1347 Pannai Kingdom 1000s–1300s Singhasari Empire 1222–1292 Majapahit Empire 1293–1527
Islamic sultanates Spread of Islam 800–1600 Peureulak Sultanate 840–1292 Aru Kingdom 1225–1613 Ternate Sultanate 1257–1914 Samudera Pasai Sultanate 1267–1521 Pagaruyung Kingdom 1347–1833 Bruneian Empire 1368–1888 Malacca Sultanate 1400–1511 Sultanate of Sulu 1405–1851 Sultanate of Cirebon 1445–1677 Demak Sultanate 1475–1554 Aceh Sultanate 1496–1903 Sultanate of Ternate 1486–1914 Sultanate of Bacan 1515–1946 Sultanate of Tidore 1500s–1967 Sultanate of Jailolo 1496–1903 Banten Sultanate 1526–present Banjar Sultanate 1526–1863 Kalinyamat Sultanate 1527–1599 Mataram Sultanate 1586–1755 Johor Sultanate 1528s–1877 Kingdom of Kaimana 1600s–1926 Jambi Sultanate 1604s–1904 Palembang Sultanate 1659–1823 Siak Sultanate 1725–1946 Surakarta Sunanate 1745–present Yogyakarta Sultanate 1755–present Deli Sultanate 1814–1946 Riau-Lingga Sultanate 1824–1911
Christian kingdoms Kingdom of Larantuka 1515–1904 Kingdom of Siau 1510–1956 Kingdom of Bolaang Mongondow 1670–1950
Chinese Kongsi federations Heshun Confederation 1776–1854 Lanfang Republic 1777–1884 Santiaogou Republic 1777–1853
European colonization Portuguese Insulindia 1512–1850 Spanish East Indies 1521–1677 Dutch East India Company rule 1602–1799 British Bencoolen 1685–1824 French and British interregnum 1806–1816 Dutch East Indies 1800–1942 1945–1949
Emergence of Indonesia National Awakening 1908–1942 Japanese occupation 1942–1945 National Revolution 1945–1949 United States of Indonesia 1949–1950
Republic of Indonesia Liberal democracy 1950–1959 Guided Democracy 1959–1966 Transition 1966–1967 New Order 1967–1998 Reformasi 1998–present
Regions Jakarta Bali Bogor Bandung
By topic Agriculture Archaeology Currency Economy Education Javanese historical texts Religion Buddhism Christianity Hinduism Islam Judaism Mass media Military Sport Women
Indonesia portal
v t e

The Battle of Surabaya was fought between pro-Independence Indonesian soldiers and militia against British and the Netherlands troops as a part of Indonesian War of Independence. The peak of the battle was in November 1945. Despite fierce resistance, British troops managed to conquer Surabaya on behalf of the Netherlands. Considered an heroic effort by Indonesians, the battle helped galvanise Indonesian and international support for Indonesian independence. 10 November is celebrated annually as Heroes Day (Hari Pahlawan).

Background

In a prelude to the Battle of Surabaya, on September 19, 1945, a group of Dutch internees supported by the Japanese raised the Dutch flag outside the Hotel Yamato (formerly Hotel Oranje) in Surabaya, East Java. This provoked Nationalist Indonesian young militia, who were busy replacing Japanese flag with Indonesian one. Indonesians rushed into the hotel, and engaged the Dutches and Japanese guards in shoot-out and hand-to-hand fighting. Indonesian overran the Dutch and Japanese, and tore down the blue part of the Dutch flag, changing it into Indonesian flag. The leader of the Dutch group, Mr Pluegman, was killed by the militia.

On October 25, 1945, the United Kingdom sent in 6,000 lightly armed British-India troops from 49th Indian Infantry Brigade, 23rd Division, led by Brigadier General A.W.S. Mallaby to take over Surabaya from the Japanese and soon found itself in conflict with the Republic Indonesia (RI) troops and militia.

British forces brought in a small Dutch military contingent which it termed the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA). The British became worried about the increasing boldness and apparent strength of the nationalists, who attacked demoralized Japanese garrisons across the archipelago with traditional weapons like bamboo spears in order to seize their arms. The main goals of British troops in Surabaya were seizing weapons from Japanese and Indonesian troops/militia, taking care of former prisoner of war (POW), and sending the remaining Japanese troops back to Japan. The Japanese troops surrendered their weapons, but more than 20,000 Indonesian troops and several thousands militia refused to hand over their weapons.

On October 26, 1945, Brigadier General A.W.S Mallaby reached an agreement with Mr Suryo, the Republic of Indonesia's governor of East Java that British will not ask Indonesian troops/militia to hand over their weapons. Unfortunately there is a misunderstanding between British troops HQ in Jakarta (led by Lieutenant General Sir Philip Christison) and British troops HQ in Surabaya.

The fightings

Beginning

On October 27, 1945, a British plane from Jakarta dropped leaflet in Surabaya that all Indonesian troops and militia should surrender their weapons. The leader of Indonesian troops and militia got angry and on October 28, 1945, they attacked British troops in Surabaya. More than 200 ill-prepared British troops were killed by the surprise attack. To avoid defeat, Brig. Gen. Mallaby ask Major General Douglas Cyril Hawthorn (the commander of British 23rd division) and Ir. Soekarno, the president of RI to come to Surabaya and clear up the misunderstanding. On October 29, 1945, Ir. Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta (the vice president of RI), and Amir Syarifuddin Harahap (the minister of information of Indonesia) come to Surabaya for a negotiation with Maj. Gen. Hawthorn and Brig. Gen. Mallaby. On the noon of October 30, 1945, a new agreement was reached and the trapped British troops will be evacuated from Surabaya to Jakarta. Maj. Gen Hawthorn and RI leaders left Surabaya and went back to Jakarta.

Jembatan Merah incident

Brigadier General Mallaby spread the news about the new agreement to his troops around Surabaya. When his car approached the British troops post on Internatio building near Jembatan Merah, his car was surrounded by Indonesian militia that had surrounded the building. Fearing that their commander will be attacked by the militia, the British troops on the Internatio building led by Major Venu K. Gopal fired to the air to disperse the Indonesian militia. The militia, thinking that British are taking hostile action, fired back at the British troops. Captain R.C. Smith throw grenade at the militia, but the grenade missed its target and unfortunately fell on the Brigadier Mallaby's car. The car exploded, caught fire and Mallaby and his driver were killed.

The major fightings

Lt. Gen. Sir Philip Christison got angry when he heard that Brig. Gen. Mallaby was killed in Surabaya. The initial report blamed Indonesian militia for the death of Brig. Gen. Mallaby. Lt. Gen. Sir Philip Christison sent additional 24,000 fully armed Indian 5th Division troops led by Major General E. C. Mansergh, with 21 M4 Sherman tanks, 2 cruisers and 3 destroyers to conquer Surabaya.

On November 9, 1945, British issued an ultimatum for Indonesian troops and militia to surrender all their weapons, or Surabaya will be attacked from land, sea, and air. Indonesian regarded this as a humiliation of their dignity, and refused the ultimatum. As the result, British troops began to bomb Surabaya from air and sea on 10 November. Indonesians, led by Bung Tomo resisted fiercely despite lack of weaponry. Bung Tomo ignited the morale of Indonesian via radios, chanted "Freedom or Death" and "God is Great". The fierce battle in Surabaya went on for 10 days. On November 10, 1945, two British planes were shot down by Indonesian troops. One of the passengers, Brigadier General Robert Guy Loder-Symonds was badly injured and passed away on the following day. On November 20, 1945, British troops managed to conquer Surabaya with more than 2,000 casualties. More than 20,000 Indonesian troops, militia and residence of Surabaya were killed during the battle. Most of Surabaya were destroyed during the battle.

Consequences of the battle

The battle for Surabaya was the bloodiest single engagement by British troops in the war and demonstrated the determination of the rag-tag nationalist forces. It also made the British reluctant to be sucked into a war it did not need, considering how outstretched their resources in southeast Asia were during the period after the Japanese surrender. On November 1946, the last British troops left Indonesia. The "10 November Hero" statue in Surabaya commemorated this epic battle. 10 November is declared as "Heroes' Day" in Indonesia.

See also

• Indonesian National Revolution
• Surabaya
• History of Indonesia

References

1. ^ The Battle for Surabaya, Indonesian Heritage.

Notes