Battle of Semarang (Pertempuran Lima Hari)

1945

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Caption Bahasa Indonesia

As seen in this photo from around 1955, Tugu Muda was constructed in 1953 on the site of the prewar fountain in front of the Council of Justice as a memorial to the Five Day Battle in October 1945.

Source: Semarang beeld van een Stad, page. 89

The Pertempuran Lima Hari (Five-Day Battle) occurred from October 15 to October 19, 1945. The Japanese troops were defeated and the remnants were repatriated

Related events:

14 Oktober 1945 – Morimoto, as the Japanese civil leader, visited the Kido Butai headquarters at 16.00 and was informed of the planned attack on Indonesians by the Kido Butai. He then gave orders to his troops to act immediately. At 18.00, Kido Butai disarmed Indonesian police forces in several reservoirs in Semarang (reservoirs in Oud Tjandi, Djatingaleh, and Djalan Woengkal/Siranda) and patrolled the area. Rumours emerged that the Japanese had poisoned the reservoirs. Doctor Kariadi was on his way to the reservoir and would check the water in the reservoir. He was suddenly shot and killed on Djalan Pandanaran or Hoogenraadslaan (now Jl. Pandanaran) by Japanese troops on guard.

Around 30 kilometres away at the Tjepiring Iron Works in Kendal, 339 Japanese civilians were transferred to Boeloe Prison. During the transfer, there was a clash between the Japanese civilians and the Indonesian Special Police. The Japanese civilians fought back using wooden sticks, iron rods, and some firearms smuggled in by Kido Butai. Some of them managed to escape but only a few made it to the Kido Butai headquarters in Djatingaleh or the Kempeitai (Japanese Military Police) in Nieuw Tjandi. The remnants of the Japanese civilians involved in the clash were then arrested by the Indonesian Nationalist Youth and put in Boeloe Prison.

15 Oktober 1945 – Around 02.00 or 03.00 in the morning, Colonel Kido ordered an attack on the Nieuw Tjandi area and military action ensued between the Indonesian Nationalist Youth and Kido Butai. He also armed around 600 Japanese civilians using bamboo sticks to assist the assault operation. Afterwards, the Indonesian troops managed to burn down Kido Butai's ammunition depot at 03.00. A report from Captain C. Wishart, a Central Java RAPWI (Recovery Allied Prisoners of Wars and Internees) officer, described hearing gunshots and Japanese troops starting to attack the Djalan Gadjah Moengkoer area (former name: Dr. De Vogelweg, now Jl. Gajahmungkur) at 04.30 in the morning.

A report from a Dutch Navy officer, J.E. Helfrich, who was also a member of the RAPWI squad in Semarang detained in Boeloe Prison on 14-16 October 1945, describes a shooting incident in Boeloe Prison. He described how screams and gunshots were heard on 15 October 1945, at night in Boeloe Prison. A massacre of Japanese prisoners by Indonesians in Boeloe Prison occurred.

16 Oktober 1945 – Kido Butai had previously been unaware of the Japanese imprisonment at Boeloe Prison, as well as the following massacre. Kido Butai became aware of this information on the evening of 16 October 1945, after several Japanese prisoners who had escaped from Boeloe Prison informed the incident. After the information was received, Japanese troops went 'fighting mad'. All Indonesians who carried weapons or were suspected of carrying weapons were arrested and killed.