To Hell and Back (If You Can)

In May 1962, a Hercules piloted by Major T.Z. Abidin took off from Ambon Airbase at around 03.30, heading to Teminabuan, West Papua. Soon the 4 Allison T56A-15 C-130B Hercules were run at their maximum speed to reach the elevation beyond the detection of Dutch’s radars and the reach of Neptune planes.

At dawn, a total of 81 paratroopers jumped off from the plane into the darkness. Gliding down silently to the land far below, which they never knew, they immersed in their thinking. They knew nothing about what would be their destiny and what was waiting for them below. Under the breeze that swept their faces, they were aware that they were, in fact, in a one-way ticket mission.

These air infiltrations penetrating directly into the interior of West Papua marked the beginning of the Mandala operation launched under the command of Major General Soeharto to take over the region then still under Dutch occupation. The Mandala Command launched landing activities from the sea and airborne.

A total of ten companies infiltrated to establish the guerrilla basis and front-lines to launch attacks against Dutch Army troops. Those units should be able to develop de facto territorial areas and bring together the local people in the struggle to free the region.

Some of those operations were Banteng (Bull) in Fak-Fak and Kaimana, Serigala (Wolf) around Sorong and Teminabuan, Naga (Dragon) in Merauke, and Jatayu (Eagle) in Sorong, Kaimana, and Merauke. From then on, the units should openly attack the enemy military concentration and occupy the enemy’s essential defense positions. The last step was to strengthen the sovereignty of Indonesia over the whole of West Papua.

Two figures who led the operations then became well known. The Wolf Company in Tanah Merah led by Major Untung Sjamsuri, who then became the leader of the abortive coup d’état known as G30S PKI. The Dragon Company in Merauke led by Major Benny Moerdani later became Minister of Defense/Chief Commander of Armed Forces.

The dense terrain that they encountered made contacts among the fellow raider troops dispersed around the almost impenetrable jungle. They were soon short of food rations and had to survive to utilize leaves, fruits, and edible roots.

To overcome difficult communication among the units, Benny Moerdani and Untung Sjamsuri, for example, finally settled the problems by employing the trained doves. Benny Moerdani could be back home in Jakarta safely after the operation, but Untung and his troops were arrested by Dutch and put in Hollandia Jail. He and his troops were re-sent to Indonesia by the Dutch ship harboring in Tanjung Priok after West Papua became the part of Indonesia in 1963.

One of the troops’ infiltrations through the sea was what would then be known as the Aru Sea Incident. Commodore Jos Soedarso boarding in the KRI Macan Tutul (Jaguar) had bravely protected the remaining escorts by heading in full speed the Dutch warships which intercepted them. He, together with his boat, submerged to the bottom of the sea while the remaining turned around to avoid imbalance battle, and the infiltration mission was abortive.

The massive military operation planned by the Indonesian side under the name of Jayawijaya Operation would inevitably lead to an open war between Indonesia and Netherlands. However, following the survey by U-2 Dragon Lady, US spy airplanes, flying to and fro Darwin-Philippine portraying Indonesian military concentration in Ambon,  US government showed the pictures which deterred the Dutch and asked the latter to settle down the dispute peacefully. And so the devastating war between the two countries which nearly broke out was avoided.

Before the Rooster Crows in 1963

On December 19, 1961, after diplomatic solutions came to a deadlock, Soekarno ordered under entitled of Trikora to seize Irian Barat (West Papua). He fiercely delivered a speech announcing that before the rooster crowed in 1963, the West Papua should become part of Great Indonesia.

Soekarno was very proud of Indonesian history in which the then Nusantara covering the areas from Lemuri in Aceh, the western part of Indonesia, to today’s known as Papua was united by Gajah Mada, the Grand Field Commander of Majapahit under his oath of “Palapa.”

We can trace back the diplomatic efforts for Indonesia to get back West Papua to the moment when Dutch Colonial recognized the sovereignty of Indonesia on December 27, 1949. All the former colonized areas became parts of Indonesia but West Papua. The Dutch considered that the region still became one of the provinces of the Netherlands.

Indonesia, on the other hand, claimed that West Papua historically had been part of Great Indonesia (Nusantara). In 1950, the UN stipulated that West Papua had the right to get their independence in concordance with the article 73e of the UN Charter. Indonesia rejected the Dutch invitation to settle the dispute to the International Court. On August 17, 1956, Indonesia established the Irian Barat province with Soasiu, Tidore Island, as the capital.

Following his Tritura Command, Soekarno established Mandala Military Operation and appointed General Soeharto to lead the whole operation. The target was to destroy the Dutch Navy Base in Biak and to submerge the aircraft carrier Karl Doorman.

General Soeharto launched air infiltration dropping troops deep into the West Papua jungle, thanks to Hercules air carriers funded by the US. A famous battle that took place in Aru Sea foiled the troop infiltration by the sea where one leading motor torpedo boat (MTB) was destroyed and submerged together with Commodore Yos Sudarso, who hierarchically was not supposed to command such a mission.

The Navy prepared the army operation, the biggest of its kind in Indonesian history. The massive military war machines from the Soviet Union consisting of more than a hundred battleships, thousands of heavy artilleries including around 300 tanks, and 16,000 personnel were ready to launch a big battle. The destroyer KRI Irian, the biggest in its class, was the mainstay of the marine operation.

The Air Force strengthened the operation by deploying squadrons of Mig-15, Mig-17, Mig-17 and Mig-21 jet fighters, Ilyushin-28 light bombers, and  25 Tupolev-16 strategic bombers.

Just before Indonesia launched a grand battle to Dutch positions in West Papua, a US spy U-plane took pictures on a large Indonesian military concentration in the Ambon Sea. The day after, the US Government urged the Dutch to negotiate with Indonesia to settle West Papua’s case peacefully.

Being pressured by the US, which didn’t want to see Indonesia to side more deeply with the Soviet Block, on August 15, 1962, Netherlands negotiated the case with Indonesia in UN headquarters, New York.  Australia, which had been the strong proponent of West Papua independence, changed their position apparently under US counsel.

The Dutch finally agreed to hand over the West Papua to United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA), which later on would hand over it to Indonesia. Indonesia assisted by the UN would allow West Papua people to take free choice (Pepera) as whether staying with or separating from Indonesia.

In 1969, the vote as the implementation of Pepera took place witnessed by UN representatives. The result was that West Papua officially incorporated into Indonesia territory.

West Papua then became the 26th province of Indonesia. But at what cost? The foreign debt of Indonesia increased tremendously, deteriorating the people’s welfare. Indonesian people, however, were aware that such was the cost that they should pay to realize their old dream, the Great Indonesia, which now comes true.