BATTLE OF SURABAYA

25th of October 1945

The British landed at Tanjung Perak Surabya led by Brigadier General Mallaby who was also the Commander of the 49th Brigade with the main task of evacuating Japanese troops and internees. This brigade numbered approximately six thousand troops and also brought the elite Gurkhas.

Mallaby himself and his deputy, Colonel Pugh, were first welcomed by Mustopo, the head of the TKR-Surabaya, and Atmadji, a former Gerindo activist, who represented the Navy TKR. After holding talks with Mustopo, Mallaby asserted that the allies would not smuggle in their midst the Dutch and NICA (Netherland Indies Civil Administration) forces.

26th of October 1945

Without comprehensive intelligence on the condition of Surabaya and its turbulent society, Mallaby sent a platoon of troops led by Captain Shaw to rescue Captain Huijer. Surabaya people began to lose confidence in Mallaby and her army.

The condition was worsened by leaflets distributed by air to all cities in Surabaya on the orders of Major General Hawthorn, the allied commander in Jakarta. The leaflet essentially contained that the Indonesians had to surrender all their weapons within 48 hours. This demand finally canceled the agreement made by Mallaby and Moestopo.

30th of October 1945

While patrolling, the Buick car that was being carried by Brigadier General Mallaby was stopped by a group of Indonesian militia when going over the Red Bridge. Because there was a misunderstanding, a shootout ensued which finally made the British general's car explode. The car was charred.

The death of the British General became a starting point for the next more devastating events. Lieutenant General Christinson, commander of the Allied Forces in the Dutch East Indies (AFNEI) gave a stern warning to Indonesia. He then sent the entire 5th Infantry Division complete with tank equipment to Surabaya under the leadership of Major General Mansergh. His strength numbered around 15,000 troops.

1st of November 1945

 The battleship HMS Sussex appeared in the port of Tanjung Perak in Surabaya. During the following week around 8,000 internees were successfully transferred to the battleships.

9th of November 1945

With all the internees (hostages) successfully brought home, the British began to take revenge for Mallaby's death. As told Idrus,

“Sedjak beberapa hari sekoetoe mendaratkan serdadoe2 lebih banyak dan tank-tank raksasa. Tank-tank itu toeroen dari kapal seperti malaikal maut toeroen dari langit; diam2 dan dirahasiakan oleh orang jang menoeroenkannja” (Soerabaja, hal. 137)

Mansergh issued an ultimatum so that all weapons in Surabaya were surrendered before 06.00 the following day and that the Indonesians responsible for Mallaby's death be handed over. The ultimatum is spread by air throughout the city.

In addition Mansergh explicitly warned that all children and women must have left the city before 19.00 that night and threatened death for every Indonesian who carried a weapon after 06.00 on 10 November 1945.

Hearing the ultimatum, the Surabaya leaders called Jakarta to obtain a national-level decision on what answers should be given to the Mansergh ultimatum. However, both Sukarno and Soebardjo (Minister of Foreign Affairs) submitted the decision to the people of Surabaya.

At 6 pm, the TKR element and the youth signed the “Soempah Kebulatan Tekad”which contained,

Bismillah Hirochmanirrachim

SOEMPAH KEBOELATAN TEKAD

Tetap Merdeka !

Kedaulatan Negara dan Bangsa Indonesia dilaporkan pada tanggal 17 Agustus 1945 akan kami pertahankan dengan soenggoeh-soenggoeh, penoeh tanggoeng djawab, ikhlas berkorban dengan tekad MERDEKA atau MATI !!!

Sekali merdeka tetap merdeka !

Soerabaja, 9 November 1945

Ttd

(1)   TKR Kota

(2)   PRI

(3)   BPRI

(4)   TKR Sidoardjo

(5)   BBI

(6)   TKR Laut

(7)   TKR Peladjar

(8)   P.I.

(9)   BBM (Barisan Berani Mati)

(10) TKR Modjokerto

(11)  TKR Djombang

(12) dll

And after a long discussion with all the elements in Surabaya, at 23.00 the night Governor Soerjo announced on the radio his decision that Surabaya would fight to the last drop.

10th of November 1945

At 6:00 the British began their attack, meanwhile Bung Tomo called all the people against the invaders. Massive bombing from the sea and air destroyed much of Surabaya. By dusk, Britain had controlled a third of the city.

The Times newspaper in London reported that British forces consisted of 25 ponders, 37 howitsers, HMS Sussex assisted by 4 destroyer warships, 12 Mosquito-type airplanes, 15,000 personnel from the 5th division and 6000 personnel from the 49th Fighting Cock brigade.

David Welch described the battle in his book, Birth of Indonesia (p. 66),

"In the center of the city the battle is more terrible, the streets are occupied one by one, from one door to another. The bodies of humans, horses, cats and dogs are lying in gutters. Split glass, household furniture, telephone wires hanging in the streets and the sound of battle echoed in the middle of empty office buildings.

The Indonesian resistance took place in two stages, first fanatically self-sacrifice, with people armed only with daggers attacking Sherman tanks, and then in a more organized and more effective manner, following closely with Japanese military manuals "

The battle lasted fiercely for 3 weeks. By the end of November 1945 the entire city had fallen into the hands of allies. The surviving Indonesian fighters followed the thousands of refugees who fled leaving Surabaya and then they made a new line of defense from Mojokerto in the West to Sidoarjo in the East.

According to Ricklefs (2008) there were at least 6000 Indonesians killed. Even though the republic lost many soldiers and youth, their sacrificial resistance created the symbol and cry of unity for the sake of revolution.