soerabaja_redux.mkv

Sourabaya 1945, Redux.

Music:
‪@9TalesMusic‬'s cover,    • Chinozo - Goodbye Declaration [9 Tale...   of Chinozo's "グッバイ宣言" a.k.a. "Good-bye Sengen".


Footage:
Reels used are from the Imperial War Museum, British Pathé, and AP Archives. All relevant footage were produced before 1950 and so are in the public domain in Indonesia, thus legally unrestricted for any usage.


Context:
The Battle of Surabaya, or Soerabaja, or Sourabaya, was a battle between the British against the Indonesian nationalists for control over eastern Java's port city of Surabaya. The 5th (British) Indian Infantry Division — mainly its two brigades of 8,000 or so men supported by two dozen tanks, a couple of artillery regiments, and a handful of warships — fought for three weeks, from November 10th of 1945 to the end of the month, against the Indonesian militia slash army (the TKR, the predecessor of the modern day TNI) and youth groups and combatants numbering in the tens of thousands.

While casualties amongst the Indonesians were heavy — the British estimated more than 6,000 dead and/or wounded — the British-Indians suffered a mere 100 to 600 or so casualties. In terms of numbers involved, the Battle of Surabaya was the largest battle in the Indonesian National Revolution.