Battle of Surabaya 1945
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 27 October 1945 – 20 November 1945 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1945 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Indonesia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Indonesian National Revolution | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | United Kingdom | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -7.2602, 112.7396 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Surabaya (Javanese: ꦦꦺꦂꦠꦺꦩ꧀ꦥꦸꦫꦤ꧀ ꦯꦸꦫꦧꦪ; Indonesian: Pertempuran Surabaya) was a major battle in the Indonesian National Revolution fought between regular infantry and militia of the Indonesian nationalist movement and British and British Indian troops against the re-imposition of Dutch colonial rule. The peak of the battle was in November 1945, and was the largest single battle of the revolution and became a national symbol of Indonesian resistance. Considered a 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).
By the time British forces arrived at the end of October 1945, the Pemuda ("youth") foothold in Surabaya was described as "a strong unified fortress". Fighting broke out on 30 October after the British commander, Brigadier A. W. S. Mallaby was killed in a skirmish. The British retaliated with a coordinated sweep that began on 10 November, under the cover of air attacks. Although the colonial forces largely captured the city in three days, the poorly armed Republicans fought for three weeks, and thousands died as the population fled to the countryside.
Despite the military defeat suffered by the Republicans and a loss of manpower and weaponry that would severely hamper Republican forces for the rest of the revolution, the battle and defence mounted…
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Surabaya (revision 1380654884), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Gegodog 1676 · 63 km
- Siege of Surakarta 1949 · 215 km
- Battle of Gawok 1826 · 222 km
- Fall of Plered 1677 · 265 km
- Battle of Fort Vredeburg 1825 · 268 km
- Battle of Lengkong (1826) 1826 · 274 km
Other battles of the Indonesian National Revolution
- Battle of Petaling 1946
- Siege of Surakarta 1949
All 3 battles of the Indonesian National Revolution →
Browse more: battles in Indonesia · Asia · World War II era battles