5.2 Guerrilla and Counter-guerrilla Warfare (interview)

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Description

When Mr H. advanced with his KNIL unit during the first Dutch military operations in 1947, the Indonesian adversary was nowhere to be found. The Indonesian army had retreated, using scorched earth tactics, before the Dutch troops could launch their attack. The Indonesian troops waged guerrilla warfare against the Dutch army, which had the advantage of more weapons and heavier artillery. They used hit-and-run attacks to try and thwart Dutch attempts to restore colonial authority. Mr H. talks about a revenge campaign that his commander organized after two Dutch soldiers were killed in an ambush. The reprisals were aimed at setting an ‘example’ for the Indonesian freedom fighters, and for the local civilian population to discourage them from supporting the freedom fighters. This dynamic of guerrilla and counter-guerrilla attacks dragged the warring parties into a cycle of violence that spiralled out of control.

Anonymized interview with Mr H. SMGI 1126.2 (6), 1997.

Transcription

H: “Look, of course you get excesses. If you’re a bad person and you have some motive for shooting someone in the head, you’ll think up a reason. That’s what people are like. All that rubbish about us being comparable to the SS and us torturing people.
Well, I know one case of an ambush where civilians were shot dead and then the officer gunned down six people. Did I tell you that story?”

I: “I don’t believe so.”

H: “Well, one time a civilian vehicle got caught in an ambush, a provisions vehicle with a baboe to do the buying and two soldiers for protection. Two dead. The car smashed to smithereens. The commander was so furious that he grabbed six of his prisoners, took them to the site of the ambush and had them shot dead. He said they had to lie there for three days. Right, a really nice, quiet guy… I do remember his name, but – I mean because this is being recorded – I won’t say his name because then some action group or other will say something nasty.”

I: “How did you feel about it at the time?”

H: “Understandable, no more than that. I didn’t approve or disapprove. Understandable.”