Why Were the Dutch so Ineffective against Japan in Indonesia during WW2?
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- Опубликовано: 20 янв 2023
- Early 1942 the Dutch East Indies Campaign started. In a few month the Japanese conquered the Dutch East Indies. The KNIL (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; Royal Netherlands East Indies Army) was not able to stop the Japanese onslaught. Why were the Dutch so easily defeated during the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies in World War Two?
History Hustle presents: Why Were the Dutch so Ineffective against Japan in Indonesia during WW2?
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SOURCES
- Het verlies van Java. Een kwestie van Air Power. De eindstrijd om Nederlands-Indië van de geallieerde lucht-, zee- en landstrijdkrachten in de periode van 18 februari t/m 7 maart 1942 (P.C. Boer).
- Het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger. Geschiedenis, uniformering en uitrusting, 1911-1942 (Tristan Broos).
- Koloniale oorlogen in Indonesië. Vijf eeuwen verzet tegen vreemde overheersing (Piet Hagen).
- De doden tellen. Slachtofferaantallen van de Tweede Wereldoorlog en sindsdien (Renske Krimp).
- Royal Netherlands East Indies Army 1936-42 [Men-at-Arms Book 521] ( Marc Lohnstein).
- The Netherlands East Indies Campaign 1941-42. Japan's Quest for Oil [Campaign 364] (Marc Lohnstein).
- Hirohito's War. The Pacific War, 1941-1945 (Francis Pike).
- Revolusi. Indonesië en het ontstaan van de moderne wereld (David van Reybrouck).
IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org.
VIDEO
Video material from:
openbeelden.nl/media/1302059/...
Japan verovert Zuidoost-Azië
openbeelden.nl/media/1196858/...
VIERDAAGSE
• Een patrouille Marecha...
Een patrouille Marechaussee te Atjeh - 1936
• Militaire luchtvaart v...
Militaire luchtvaart van het KNIL
euscreen.openimages.eu/media/...
Japans journaal over oorlogshandelingen in Zuidoost-Azië
www.openimages.eu/media/13015...
Slag bij Kangean (Javazee)
openbeelden.nl/media/1302208/...
Gemkan minanie e yaku gemkan minanie e yaku (Japan 1941)
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NOSTALGIA: check out one of my OLDEST videos on the Japanese conquest of the Dutch East Indies (with reenacted scenes):
ruclips.net/video/KJhKtx1SRnw/видео.html
✅👍
@@marcoskehl 👍
The Dutch were effective in brutalizing and oppressing the Indonesians
I think that, in that time, Belgium already existed. That Belgium was TOOK OFF from the Netherlands, by England. Netherlands, likely, already was a VASSAL of England, and therefore, had very less weapons than Japan for instance. Poor country.
Hey History Hustle, great video. May i ask where you got the map used from? Is it available online?
Part of it is likely that the Japanese were aggressive, motivated, and highly trained to achieve an objective, whereas garrison troops are generally complacent, not having to be elite but rather just like mall security. Also the Japanese were ready for the offensive whereas the colonists were not.
Good points. It's like the British guarding Singapore. They left their rear completely unguarded, even though they knew Chinese fishermen used to land there, which would have shown there was obviously a weakness in their defenses
Nobody expects a industrialized power to take the colonies.
The Dutch troops weren't there to stop foreign invasion. They were there to bully and hurt the Indonesians if they ever tried to stop the Dutch from ripping them off. Once you understand this, it all makes sense. Bullies always run when confronted by anyone who knows how to fight.
Not to mention that their own homeland by this time were occupied by Nazi-Germany, so getting replacements was difficult.
Yes. Dutch were cowards aka demoralized in front of enemy.
Good in business, bad in war business.
Don't forget the locals were more supportive of the Japanese at the start of the invasion and most of them joined PETA to fight KNIL
Correct. Japan campaigns as the big brother liberating Asia from western colonialist. Then the fall of Singapore - after that they knew they had no chance so many deserted KNIL very quickly.
Don't forget to add "due to successfull propaganda"
I'm from Malaysia and this is similarly happen to us, we welcome them at first, but as year progress they're not so different than european colonialists.
At first yes, but later years, there's no difference than european colonists.
That depend on the area. For Java and Sumatra its generally true, but the same can't be said to be true in other area, more so for the Betawi since most if them work for the Dutch colonial government. Even in Malaysia, most of the population are actually oblivious on what's happening (especially those in the villages) while in towns, some supported the Japanese. The Chinese in both Indonesia and Malaysia naturally are against the Japanese due to the invasion of China.
The Japanese invasion of Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) is personal family history. My maternal grandfather was an infantryman sent from the Netherlands to fight in the Aceh (northern Sumatra) in the late 1890s. After retiring from the army he settled in central Java, to raise his family. He died in a Japanese prison camp in 1944. Most of my uncle, on both sides (father's & mother's) of my family served in the KNIL, and spent most of the war imprisoned, with the exception of two (one on either side) managed to escape, and served the rest of the war in British units. My father who would have been old enough to serve in the later part of the war, spent the entire war in a Japanese prison camp. This war, and the occupation, was commonly discussed at family gatherings while I was growing up. That generation is all gone know. My oldest surviving cousins, are now in the 80s, and were small children, at that time. I'm one of the younger members of this successive generation, and I'm already in my 60s.
welcoming you to visit
For me it’s personal too, my grand uncle was a Imperial Japanese Navy sailor onboard the destroyer IJN Yukikaze which provided naval support during the invasion of the Dutch-East-Indies
Sipaling Teraniaya ni boss, senggol dong 😭
@@muhammadrizkifaisal1323 please read "semua demi hindia" book, for your otherside information about revolution war/ independent war.
So proud being colonizer ancestor
The Dutch East Indies campaign isn't covered a lot in the history books so well done for covering it ! This was such a huge area to defend that it would have needed very larges forces in the air, sea and land, it was the fate of all these colonies to be inadequately defended by those who had conquered them so they went the way of all empires with much blood, much gold and in the Dutch East Indies much oil. I look forward to your next film Stefan !
Thanks for watching.
No matter how dim view you have on European colonialism, the Dutch presence also benefited the local inhabitants. Like the construction of infrastructure and establishment of trading with European nations for products like oil, spices, coffee, tea, rubber, sugar and opium.
And the Japanese wasn't exactly an improvement over the Dutch.
@@wolfu597 True, I wasn't decrying the effects one way or the other about colonialism, just that the Dutch, like the British never provided the resources to defend their colonies and it was stretching it a bit for the local inhabitants to rally to the defence of their colonial masters.
@@charlieclark5838 You got a point there about the lack of resources and manpower, but given the situation Britain and Holland found themselves in at the time, how can you blame them?
@@charlieclark5838 The difference with N.E.I. and i.e. Singapore, was that N.E.I., was that Singapore could have withstand the Japanese attack, if the backside was just as fortified, than the seaside of Singapore. The new troops could have been trained better if send earlier too. N.E.I. there against, is indefendable, since there are countless shores in that country. Besides, the RAF had way too little boxes to defend the air above Singapore. The Dutch had to help the U.K. to defend Singapore. Above all, both countries underestimated Japan dearly, which sealed the fate for both countries at the end.
Very interesting video! My great-uncle was in the KNIL since 1937, but never spoke about the war with the Japanese in the Dutch Indonesian colony. He was later a POW on the Birma railroad.
In Dutch history classes when I was at school (many many many years ago) the war in the Indonesian colony with the Japanese was never mentioned, it was overshadowed by WW2 in Europe and those that experienced the war with Japan rarely spoke about it.
Because we don`t care ................... .
@@jeffrystephan6992 what do you mean? You're here, aren't you?
I hope he suffers
@@jeffrystephan6992 because of embarrassment that they were defeated by inferior people.
Yeah what about politioneel Actie you've conducted in my country?
In fact we Indonesians gain the independence in 17 Aug 1945,eh?
Thanks so much for covering this! Me as an Indo and having my grandfather fighting as a KNIL soldier in Bandung, I’m really interessed in this history. Having my family from both my mothers and fathers sides being the victim of forced Japanese labour and prison camps (with notable casualities) I’m truly invested in this history. Despite that all these year later, I’m actually ashamed that I grew up with such real hatred toward everything Japanese.. Glad I’m now able to totally forgive. Never forgotten, for always in our memory, never to be repeated..
Do you know why? Because Japan and Dutch were the same as Nazi. They all colonialism thieves other countries. They all, war crime against humanity. OK. Am I make it clear?
Well it's better to suffer for the short term then spent another 300 plus years under the bloody Dutch kissing there asses bro.
@@lasserbream and After Indonesia got their independence as a KNIL soldiers they were live in humiliated in their own countries or executed as traitors, or to be came JONGOS (slave) forever follow their menir (master) go back to Dutch.
@@devytangkasiangspdmm9747 Serves them right.
Your grandfather was a traitor.
My father told that Australians were shocked because the Dutch officers used to beat the Indonesian soldiers. There were Dutch East Indies units that were evacuated to Australia. As the colonised I don’t think the troops were highly motivated.
A terrible event that was kept secret: The Japanese naval air fleet caught massed Qantas and KLM sea planes offloading Dutch refugees in Western Australia. It destroyed most of the two airline’s sea planes, with many losses.
Growing up in Australia, I knew quite a few people of Dutch descent , whose parents fled to Australia, naturally, and neither returned to the Indies ( unsurprisingly ! ), nor to the Netherlands. Which, in any case, was as foreign to many of them as Australia was.
Interesting!
We had loads of Dutch kids in my primary school Gippsland Australia. Looking back at old schools photos maybe 10% of the names are Dutch.
Often wondered why there were so many, they by far the largest immigrant group at our school.
If they had accents, we through of them as Dutch, if they didn’t we didn’t think about it at all. My recollection is that everyone got on well, and they fit in pretty easily to our school of dairy farmers kids and townies
Yea, plenty of them migrating to Australia, but still they tried to look down and treat other Asian communities in Australia really bad.
@@lasserbream I don't think the Dutch saw themselves as an Asian community. I am even less sure the Australians saw them as an Asian community. To be fair, I am not really sure both the Australians at the time and the Dutch settlers in Indonesia saw themselves as something else than an offspring of 2 European nations living on a territory with a different climate.
When I went to continue studies in the Netherlands, my friends met Dutch ppl who were forced back to Netherlands after the war.
One oud man told a story that when he was young, they (dutch) had a fun live during their time in Indonesia, as they had the influence of wealth.
When they were sent back to Europe, they felt out of place since they saw they ppl in the Kingdom under great hunger. He had to join those ppl although most of those colonists missed living in Dutch Indies.
He remembered most of his childhood was better compared to the Kingdom during pre WW times, although fast-forward he now is fully integrated into the Dutch society.
Indonesian tasted military training from dutch (KNIL) and later from Japan (PETA), one of the Indonesian officer compared both training and concluded that the KNIL training was not as good and efficient compared to the PETA training, the first Indonesian General, Soedirman, promoted to such rank because he succeed in battle of Ambarawa against British Army, and he was PETA's soldier.
Well, KNIL were trained for counter insurgency against blade armed guerilla in close combat ambush battle.
They were completely unprepared to fight enemies armed with machine gun, artilery, and air plane.
Yes, for us Japanese, one of the main aims was to make Asian countries independent, free from colonization by western countries.
@@YoshihisaFujita1 you were no different from those Europeans instead the war crimes committed by the Japanese make look the Europeans as Saint
As an Indonesian, I am very amazed by the detailed data regarding these numbers, I have also studied history for a long time, such as European and world wars, but many of the wars in Indonesia are less detailed, you can overcome this, try cheer up about the Diponegoro war, a war that could unite the Javanese people, even though losing the war was so amazing, it was the war before World War 2 that almost expelled the Dutch, perhaps as a Dutch person the record that the Dutch had was more complete than the people who were colonized
Thanks for your reply. Years ago I made a video on the Java War. See:
ruclips.net/video/fOAPGNQv4BA/видео.htmlsi=TXzLmaYs6acUARcJ
Well my opa was KNIL soldier that posted in weltverden, batavia around 1930's. The story that you told in this video bring back some memories that my opa used to tell me. Such a nice video, dank je
Thanks for replying.
Dan cucunya jadi penontom dekektif aldo dan resident evil lore id heheh bercandaaa
As Indonesian, first of all I'm glad Japanese has come to Indonesia. Yeah, Romusha would bring alot of sacrified people for The Japanese War Policy, but what The Dutch and Dutch East Indies Government lack was they didn't Trust their citizen and make a huge paramilitary from local like what Japan did with built paramilitary groups like Heiho, Keibodan, Seinendan and PETA. Maybe The Colonial government too afraid their local citizen would be Rebel like what happened in India and with more stronger independent Movement in Indonesia during early 20th Century and the coming of Japan.
Those more than thousands or tens of thousands local young man has been trained by Japanese to help them to defend Indonesia from Allied Forces. Of course they never come in real combat but this huge trained Forces very helpful to fight againts NICA during Independence War from 1945-1949. Indonesian army didn't have a huge Air force or Naval assets but without keep their air Superiority they could hold more modern and stronger 100.000 KL and KNIL Soldiers until The Roundtable Conference that Made Dutch must recognize Indonesia Independent in December 27th, 1949.
Nice!
Most KNIL native soldiers defected and deserted. Mostly KNIL from South Maluku who still loyal to the Dutch. Until today they are big fans of Dutch soccer team. And celebrate every victory of the Dutch soccer team and parade in the streets. True story.
Good points, I think the decision in 1937 to not arm nationalists who wanted to defend their country against foreign agression was one of the most questionable decisions taken. And that is likely a pointer towards that the Dutch East Indies government was not sufficiently acting out of the best interest of its citizens. I am also not sure to what extent it was accepted that Indonesian majority rule of the country was inevitable in practical terms before the end of the 20th century, which would also give some valueble insight into a possible alternative timeline.
Smart man, you saw through the Allied propaganda. Not many can say the same.
Even after the Japanese lost the war MANY of them stayed behind in places like Indonesia and Vietnam to keep fighting for total Asian liberation. Several hundreds Japanese holdouts died in the Dutch-Indonesian war right after WW2.
I wish I had a history teacher like you growing up! I have always loved history but not in school
For the morale of troops it must be devastating that you know you have no backup (or very little), whereas the opponent can keep sending in more material and troops.
Wouldn’t have mattered to be honest, the Japanese basically ran over Malaya , Singapore and the Philippines
Exactly. The Germans tied down the Netherlands mainland, and there was - to my knowledge - nothing the mainland could have done.
Except diplomatically, once we were conquered by the Germans we should have become their uncooperative "allies" like Vichy France did. It would have been much better for the civilians of the Netherlands and especially of the Dutch East Indies. And would not have had major effects on the war itself, as we would in reality still want the Allies to win. Although hindsight is very easy to reason from ofcourse.
Some Australian metal detectorists find KNIL relics in Australia, where survivors retreated. In California I met a survivor of that. His father was a KNIL officer. Both parents were killed in the initial air raids. He "Went bush" and fought as a guerilla, and then fought the independence forces, before moving to California.
Interesting to read.
This is a story
This is a fascinating episode. Mostly this part of the war is glossed over as "the Japanese attacked in great numbers and had the advantage of surprise".
...and bicycles in Singapore, don't forget the bicycles.
The war in China is also forgotten in most of the world.
The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Indonesia so they could get enough oil for their navy and continue their invasion of China.
@@damionkeeling3103 well it practically is, plus, planes.
Planes play a big part in WW2, good planes do, hence why the Brits immediately scramble to develop Typhoon and later, Tempest to counter the FW-190 threat and the Amis built Corsair and Wildcat to fuck the Zeros.
@@wuhaninstituteofvirology5226The pacific theatre is greatly overshadowed by the war in Europe as a whole. The only reason it gets mentioned at all to the west is because of the involvement of the US.
Thanks for covering this WW2 topic
Thanks for watching.
Well done! Dutch stood very little chance at this point. Less than we Americans had in the Philippines.
Thanks for watching. The Americans held out longer.
The straightforward response is that during World War 2, Americans and Filipinos fought together against the Imperial Japanese.
@@norman4588and filipino guerrillas are just too huge 250,000 were identified not including those partisans not recognized
Interesting documentary! There is precious little material about this aspect of WWII in English sources. Learned something new!
I am Japanese，war should not be repeated，
私は日本人です、戦争を繰り返してはならない。
Thanks for your reply.
I am Australian. These days Australians and Japanese have peaceful, prosperous and mutually respectful relationships. This is at all levels....Government, business and person to person levels. Respect to all the peace loving Japanese people. Your comment is honourable.
@@tonyg2002Aust I like your comment too. May the world be peaceful.
🇦🇺❤️🇯🇵LOVE
Good history lesson. Well done
Thanks Larry.
I don't think any army was capable of checking the Japanese at that stage of the war. Interesting video. Thanks from Newcastle Australia.
Thanks for watching.
Thank you for the documentary. My grandmother from my mother side was in the vicinity of Bandung during the Japanese bombing raid. She recalled it was really terrifying as the cities and villages went into light discipline and they were forced to take shelter in the bunker every night. She remember how the Japanese bomber flew around the city and no one should move or make sound. She said there was a case when a man light a cigarette in the middle of the night and a plane from above shot that man.
When the Japanese took over, my grandma said everyone was taught to speak Japanese. Every morning everyone was expected to gather, did warm up and a ceremony to the god of sun. I could not get any story from my grandfather as he was passed away before I was born. But my grandma told me he was a railway officer and he was appointed as the head of a rail station. He was already a railway officer during the Dutch government but thanks to his quick witted and talent for language he was promoted during the Japanese regime. My grandma said he could speak English, Dutch, French and Japanese really well and of course Sundanese as his mother tongue.
interesting bro thanks
The Dutch perspective on the Pacific part of WW2 is interesting. In Utrecht I acquired a taste for Indonesian food.
I decided to live in Luxembourg which I did like but Indonesian food was tge one thing I missed. Indonesian ppl in Netherlands is a very interesting history of its own.
I met many Dutch who had relatives buried at the River Kwai Allied Cemetery. Sad to see what was done there. I later lived in Landgraaf for the 4 years I was with NATO at Brunssum. I enjoy your videos as a fellow History Teacher.
Stefan, thank you for sharing this interesting nugget of world history. You Rock !!!!! : ) Jesse
Many thanks again Jesse!
Amazing detaiiled maps in this video.
Dank je! 🇳🇱 Obrigado! 🇧🇷
😁👍
Locals offered to form Militia in defense against the Japanese and the Dutch REFUSED.
Another great video!!
Thanks Max!
You made a interesting video. Thank you for uploading.
Thanks for watching !
Greetings from Bandung, West Java.
Thanks for the video. Appreciate the knowledges and research efforts been put to your video.
Thanks for your reply!
Thank you for an interesting video. You don't mention the fact that the Netherlands were under German occupation and this must have had a negative effect on morale in the Dutch East Indies. Also the Government-in-Exile would not have had any resources to help its greatest colony.
Good
thanks for the information.
Thx. Nice info
Great history lesson and excellent video!
Thanks for watching!
Intresting and informative as always 👍
Groet'n oet Grun', T.
😁👍
Thanks for covering this, extremely interesting as always. One of the most interesting parts of ww2 is indeed how much motivation soldiers of given nations had in fighting the war. Great work as always!
Nice to read, thanks for replying!
Motivation appears to be a big factor regarding fighting spirit. The Japanese were inculcated with total fanaticism, having no regard for their lives. To overcome it in the Pacific theatre required the industrial might (and the bravery of its servicemen) of the United States.
Still on the topic of motivation, perhaps the tenacity of the Vietnamese evolved due to many years of slaughter by foreigners. Also, I have no knowledge of it, but you would imagine that the Chinese became highly motivated after the appalling atrocities of the Japanese. Interestingly, I once read (rightly or wrongly) that French troops, at the beginning of the Second World War were not unhappy to sit out the war in captivity. Their mindset would have been conditioned by the futility and slaughter of the First War.
It wasn't just the Dutch East Indies that quickly fell to the Japanese. So did the Phillipines (an American protectorate), British Malaysia, French Indochina, etc. The US & UK weren't occupied by Germany though, so they were able to keep fighting using forces further away.
What's make worst is that the Japan occupied the Philippines which was one of the most militarized area in south east asia with plenty of US air and naval base capture especially the Subic which was the largest US naval based at that time, this make Japan Logistics even better in occupying the most area in South East asia
The Philippines lasted for several months (from December to May) when the Japanese said they'll take it within 2 weeks. Compared to its neighbors, I wouldn't say they quickly fell to the Japanese.
@@lopobiaxander5604 i didn't say that it was easily occupied, I said when they successfully occupied the Philippines the Japanese has already have an advantage in the south east and east asia region. Of course they invaded the Philippines for that reason after the bomb of the pearl harbor just before the occupation began. There's a reason why the Philippines was a strategic island in the asia pacific region. And the Philippines did not surrender and was fighting till the US arrive and the end of ww2 they only occupied the city with large military bases
The US only fortified the Philippines as much as it did because of political pressure: the Navy never believed it could be held longer than a year, even long before World War 2, which is why the main naval base was at Pearl Harbor in the first place. More importantly, the US didn't actually need the Philippines: the plan in the event of war with Japan was to build new ships over a year, and then sink Japanese shipping until Japan came to terms, and only the US desire for total (instead of decisive) victory came to require more.
The Netherlands, however, badly needed the East Indies: it was a place the Dutch could sell their own manufactured goods, as well as a major source of revenue for agricultural goods, at least before the depression crashed the market prices. The Dutch were unable to reconcile that with the great expense the Netherlands itself would need to endure to adequately protect the region, however, with disastrous results.
@@bubbasbigblast8563 actually the most fortified country/western territories back then is Singapore/Malaya. US back isnt a military superpower, all FEAF aircrafts are merely 300 back then, with 60 from Commonwealth of Philippines. If only British Malaya didn't surrender easily, they could stalled the invasion of Indonesia.
Great Doco.
👍
Man wat een mega interessante video! Goed gedaan!
Dank Robin!
I think you are the first Dutch RUclipsr I have subscribed to. Very much enjoying the video!
Awesome 🇳🇱👍
Thanks for the very detailed narration. Very few coverage of this part of WW2 had been done so far possibly due to Anglo bias.
It is interesting to know that the Indonesian independence movement did not play much part in assisting the Japanese in the battle front.
No they diddn't but the Japanese assisted in training the Indons into a well drilled army and arming them with Japanese weapons 🤣🤣
@@anugranmathimugan2778 i doubt the well drilled part. Considering that there is many story of people literally using sharpened bamboo during the independent wars
@@chandy3859 only some indonesians to be exact. "Pembela Tanah Air (PETA)" is one of those organization.
and then the rest need to settle it with sharpened bamboo. and if some got lucky and survive they can start to loot for better weapons.
indonesian independence movement??? you confused the date. in 1941-1942 there's no "independence movement", there wasn't even "indonesia".
you're conflating the period after october1945 onwards with the period in this video. and PETA existed only from mid 1943 after imperial japan took over, and had nothing to do with "independence movement".
Because if them failed japanese just want them not fall to westerner again
Enjoyed your analysis; wasn't familiar with the information you provided; video and your text provided great reference material that I hadn't seen before. Thank you.
Interesting!
One aspect that often eludes is the scale of the Indonesia archipelago vs the defender number. Put Indonesia at Europe, it will stretch from Britain to the eastern Russia. Put it on China, it will cross the entire China to Japan.
The KNIL is one of my favourite subjects about "early" WW2, mostly in wargaming/modelling (Flames of War, Rapid Fire,etc). The actions of the "Black Force" and the KNIL Mobile Column in Java are really interesting. Great video XD
Thanks for your reply!
Thanks!
😁👍
Great video. Thanks. BZ
ABDA was never able to agree on strategy until it agreed the Netherlands East Indies was lost
That's pretty much where it came down to. Thanks!
Always interesting to see an often underrepresented area of the Asiatic-Pacific theater.
Great to read 👍
Thanks for this informative lesson . A part of me came from the islands.
Thanks for watching Geert!
Good video!
😁👍
Another great video, revealing a bit of history often not discussed.
I commented this on an older video, but curious if you’d be willing to offer any advice as to how you constructed your KNIL uniform? It’s a kit I’m currently building, and having some trouble sourcing much of it.
I think he touched the most important factor when he mentioned that the Dutch East Indies Army was essentially a colonial army, designed to maintain control among the inhabitants in a foreign territory, rather than to defend against invasion by the modern, well-equipped and well-trained army of a foreign power. The same could be said of the British Armies in Malaya and Burma, which also essentially were colonial armies designed for colonial duties. In the Philippines the American Army was concerned about having to deal with the Japanese threat, but even they grossly underestimated the capabilities of the Japanese military.
60% of DEI army were locals whose responsibility were mostly to maintain local security. not the case with british army in malaya and burma which used mostly british, indian and chinese troops (i.e. professional) and then some locals.
Dug-out Doug was inept.
The Dutch East Indies government fled to Australia and set up operations in my city called Brisbane.
Interesting 👍
Thanks for watching.
Good video Stefan :)
Thanks Peter!
I like your video, I'm indonesian, and we rarely know the true history about the war on that era. Its interesting to know the history from the Dutch POV
Thanks for watching.
The problem is that the Dutch East Indies government refused to mobilise all Indonesians for territorial defence. The proposals have been made by Indonesian locals to raise arms and mobilise all population but it wasn't get the support. The Dutch Colonial government was very racist and segregationist at the time and seeing the strengthening local people as threatening colonial security. This was in contrast with Japanese propaganda offering equality and independence to local Indonesians. Then, the colonial defence had no support at all from the local people.
There were locals who served in the KNIL even Indonesian 2nd president was once a KNIL soldier.
Yes that might be. Government afraid that people might realize they have that much power to defend themselves also have power to overthrow the Dutch government. Same thing everywhere where there is an oppressive government backed by the military.
Outstanding work! Gallant defense by overmatched and poorly supplied Allied ground and naval forces, they just managed to delay the inevitable. Without air power, it's a lost cause.
One small nitpick, the footage of paratroopers shown for the Palembang segment at 22:06 was actually the Imperial Japanese Navy Marine paratroopers attack on Manado.
Either way, great job and thanks for sharing!
Another informative documentary coverage video about Duch ( Netherlands 🇳🇱) colonials invaded by Japanese military efforts during WW2...your evaluating about that military circumstances was extremely accurately introduced..I appreciate your attractive, wonderful introduction of history episode's...good luck and best wishes for yourself & your history introducing channel
The Indonesians were emboldened by the fact that the Japanese with smaller stature like them can defeat the much bigger Dutch. They can defeat the Dutch also and re-establish control of their land and they did.
Indeed.
I'm really fascinated on how the Japanese were so quick and clever in adopting the weapons and institutions of European warfare, once they realised that isolationism wasn't going to work.
Perry shows up in the middle of the 19th century, and 60 years later the Japanese are kicking Russian ass at Port Arthur.
Yes indeed.
Je bent een topper!
Really well-done video on a subject which I don't believe is very well understood outside of some circles in the Netherlands. The reality was that colonial armies, whether it was the KNIL or other similar forces from Europe and the US, were never set up to resist invasion by another power.
Retaking the Dutch possessions from the Japanese was left almost entirely to Australia and it was a thankless task. The Australians thought very little of the Dutch forces who were simply……absent.
(BTW, Australia’s formal declaration of war against Japan was made before The Netherlands formal declaration by the Queen).
Both the Dutch homeland and the East Indies were occupied. That's why the Dutch were absent. They couldn't replace lost troops or train new one. They had to do with the few troops that managed to escape to Australia and Britain.
The retaking of the Jap occupied East Indies is a whole long story in its self. I once read a book that mentioned about some British Indian army soldiers who were in Java. They asked the locals if is was safe to use the beach to rest. To which the locals replied 'yes'. Then whilst they were sun bathing a large group of women walked over towards them. Then a shot rang out, to which all the women instantly lied flat on the ground. Behind the screen of women were some terrorist insurgents with guns who then shot at the resting soldiers. An old guy I knew who was an RAF technician in Burma told me that his colleagues who were posted to Java at war's end had a hell of a time. The British military presence there was to locate and extract POWs, round up the Japs and govern the territory until the Dutch could arrive in appreciable numbers. The British were heavily involved in retaking Java. In all Indo schools they are taught about the 'battle of Surabaya' against British and Indian forces. Which was little more than a 2 day long skirmish in British military history book footnotes, but a great heroic and decisive victory in Indonesian history books.
If anyone is really interested, the topic of the retaking of the Dutch East Indies is covered in the first hand account book 'And we thought the war was over' by David Lee Kuo Cheun. It covers the mess that occurred on Java just after WW2. I haven't read the book but an old Burma WW2 veteran that I knew recommended it to me, and it seems to be one of very very few books of this subject.
Especially Doorman, Hec Waller should of commanded the naval forces , from HMAS Perth. Political expediency should not cloud vital decisions. Lest we Forget.
Wouldnt it be funny if the aussies decides to sWOOp in and annex all that dutch and portuguese colonials possesions instead lol
Do you think you could do a video about the Dutch troops who fought in the Korean War? I also read an article saying that regiment kept the traditions of the KNIL alive so that could be a cool video too
For sure one day!
Great map jou are using
👍
Fellow Dutch history-lover here, great to see your stuff. That and it sounds funny (somehow) how you speak clean Dutch next to good English. Most that speak English sound really weird when they speak Dutch.
The American contingent on Java consisted of the 2/131 FA BN, a Texas National Guard unit that was on its way to the Philippines but was diverted to Java. They ended up POWs working in Burma. On return to the US after the war they complained that the Dutch surrendered before they could fight and even reported the americans positions to the Japanese.
One of their members was Frank Fujita, half Japanese. His biography, Foo, talks about that short campaign and isn’t that nice about the attitude of the Dutch Colonial Army. They were pretty much defeatist.
He manned a .50 cal anti aircraft machine gun (probably water cooled) and claimed shooting down two Japanese fighters while defending an airfield.
Nice video. In the Osprey Publishing book on the KNIL, it states that 4 KNIL divisons were supposed to be trained and equipped to fight against a modern invader but only 2 were completed. This was a just a sliver of the KNIL's 120,000+ numbers on paper. The Dutch officers had no combat experience with the Netherlands being neutral in WWI. Transport and logistics were mostly in the hands of civilian volunteer drivers, which was a mess with the roads being under constant air attack; it didn't take long for Dutch units to run low on ammunition and rations on Java. Not to mention, elite Japanese units were deployed in these battles, some were even pulled off the lines at Bataan (which was a stalemate at that point) to redeploy to Java.
Thanks for sharing.
A good and insightful response. The almost complete lack of a proper combat support arm capable of delivering logistics to the teeth-arms is often underestimated by amateur military historians. I'd like to add to your post that the KNIL was mainly organised as a static police force set-up along military lines. Almost constabulary units. When the different companies and battalions were sent from their posts into the field, their supply lines led back to the different garrissons, not to central supply depots. This made for... well, a mess. The only units set-up for prolonged field operations were -strangely- the Marechaussee units, which were light cavalry (Strange because nowadays the Marechaussee is a military police force a'la the French Gendarmerie; the exact opposite from their old KNIL cousins).
@@Korporaal1 Wasn't there a Special Operations Marechaussee unit as well? I don't have any books in front of me, but I think I've seen references to a Marechaussee unit that was moved to Malaya during the time when Singapore itself was under siege. The Marechaussee ran some missions harassing the Japanese and then were evacuated back across into Sumatra.
I have some ideas for topics which I would like to see you covering in the future: Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, the Battle of Langemarck and its legacy, the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade during WW2 and how effective were the Dutch forces during the Indonesian War of Independence. Please consider these, thank you.
HISTORY ON !
HISTORY ON !
Yoo aren't any American history teacher.
You are better, details details, my brain is learning.
Thank you !
😎👍
A fascinating video about a subject that is generally brushed over in most histories of WW2. This motivates me to learn more about the Netherlands in WW2. I wonder if Osprey has a book.
The Netherlands had successfully remained neutral during WW1, so the prevailing attitude or hope was probably that they would be able to do so again. I'd be very interested in knowing what preparations the government and military started making in both Europe and the Pacific when war broke out in September 1939, or even earlier when war seemed close to breaking out. Part of that preparation should have included worst case scenarios.
In hindsight, it would have been wise to quietly establish provisional but robust and well equipped Netherlands government in exile establishments in both England and Australia just in case. Not necessarily with military units, but with adequate communications, resources, and supplies to give retreating and evacuating Netherlands military personnel somewhere to fall back to, and reorganize. Some established plan and resources for Netherlands civilians and military personnel to be evacuated by ship to England and Australia would have been wise.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Osprey does have a book: Men At Arms #521 Royal Netherlands East Indies Army 1936-42 - a useful little primer detailing the organisation of land forces. There is also a New Vanguard volume on the Royal Netherlands Navy in ww2 but that covers all aspects of the Dutch navy during the war not just the NEI.
@@richardarcher7177 Thank you for the information. I will have to look for that.
Very interesting indeed! I have a strong interest in the ML-KNIL, and this provides some great information about the campaign as a whole.
Good news Brian, I will explore more of the ML-KNIL in the future.
Thank you nice historical information of Neterland and Japan. I am Dutch roots Japanese people. My ancester moved to Japan for treating two countries relationship. After he decided live on one Japanese people. My family name is Dutchs name so far.
In "Revolusi!" by Van Reybrouck is the story of the Japanese sending thousands of people to the Dutch Indies before the war to do reconnaissance and befriend the locals, under cover of course. This was of course to great benefit for their conquest.
That's pretty smart.
i live in Manado and the 14 February 1942 bomb is well known among people here. After the Japanese defeated the Dutch, many people thought the region would be liberated from colonial ruler (such an irony because the Japanese occupation was very harsh). One of the reasons why the Dutch was rather easily defeated by the Japanese imperial army is because the Indonesians were already fighting the Dutch. Nobody liked the Dutch and then some Asian men come to fight the Dutch, i mean people would be very happy in the beginning.
My granpa remembered how the well known rich chinese merchant families were executed in the city centre alongside with all the children some of them were just babies and toddlers. They owned big chunk of the city land and now most of their lands are owned by the army, government and some are under dispute with the thousands of citizens that took the land. it's been 80 years but the impact is still well present till nowadays.
Nobody liked both Dutch and Japanese occupation, everyone hated it. but if Japan didn't occupy Indonesia and later surrendered to the US, Indonesia wouldn't gain its Independence in 1945, and it'd be much later in the 60s "given" by the Dutch in my opinion. Still a "blessing" in disguise.
Thanks for this video on the Dutch East Indies campaign of WW2. Liked your KNIL uniform and the archival videos and maps. Where do you get these videos from? Will check out your other NEI videos. Hope you can do some on the Indonesian Revolution.
My theory is that its tough defending islands. Unless they consolidate and allow the rest to fall defending multiple island territories might be a hard to defend situation but easy to conquer/reconquer
The strange feature of this program is the absence of Indonesian voices about their suffering under Dutch Colonial Rule. If Japan came uninvited to Indonesia in 1942 and chased away the Dutch from continued occupation of that country, on what basis did the Dutch arrive in Indonesia?
Nothing strange as the video is not titled “The history of the Dutch in Indonesia”. If there was no European presence, it could be argued that the Japanese could have taken a diplomatic approach to trade for the oil resources - but if you look at what happened to Korea, that might be optimistic. Also, Indonesia would have been important to the Japanese due to the proximity to Australia.
@@chrisgorman1652 What proximity are you referring to?
All European powers entered and occupied Asian lands as Conquerors. They were there to stay indefinitely until Japan attacked them and inspired the rest of European colonies in Asia to rise as freedom fighters and end Western Occupation of their lands. Japan is the only non - European country that accepted the challenge to fight for freedom of Asia.
@CKS1949 No. The West always wanted Hegemony. They hate anyone challenging their monopoly of World power. Whatever the intention of the Japanese the very fact that Japan attacked Western imperialism, something that no other non European country could do in 400 years of Western colonial domination inspired the freedom fighters to join forces as a collective group. That spelt the doom of the West in the East.
@@senakaweeraratna741 I think China and Korea would disagree that they were “free” under Japanese rule. Northern Australia was bombed by the Japanese. If this was not launched from Indonesia, it would have been a useful step In between. I’m not denying the European actions in Asia, just stating that the topic of the video was how poorly the Dutch and allies defended the colony.
Trade, Duh.
Except that one got out of hand and they think they're the master of the sea.
holy cow, this is an operation as big as the european sub-continent, cities thousands of km apart, if anything this is a big glaring reminder for a very robust air defence for current indonesia government
Indeed.
That KNIL helmet with the liner is pretty cool .
👍
as Indonesian i really enjoyed this! thank you
Thanks for your reply.
In short, KNIL was designed to suppress indigenous rebels, not to face a dedicated invasion force. Japanese also had a total superiority in the sea and the air after the clusterf*ck that is the battles of Malaya and Java Sea. Add that to the fact that basically everyone in Indonesia hated the Dutch and were willing to give Japan a chance as a fellow Asians, and their fates were sealed.
Common misunderstanding. During Japanese invasion, everyone in Indonesia didn't hate the Dutch, only the political nationalists. They only hated the Dutch after they returned to try to control an independent Indonesia from late 45 and early 46 to 49. It's not true "they were willing to give Japan a chance", it's more about effective campaign by imperial Japan from march 42 that they were here to protect Asians from European. Japan didn't even think of giving independence until late 44 when they knew they were losing.
@@yucode7356 they followed up with the whole independence plan though, I give props to Japan for that.
And the fact that they are actively trying to repair the relationship between the two nations dating as far back as the 60s where those weed-whiffing beavers still denies Indonesian independence up until 2015.
@@nebunezz_r are you not getting drunk while making this comment dude? 🙁
The most important reason that the Dutch East Indies were taken that quickly by the Japanese is a lack of moral and fighting spirit. The reason was perhaps that the Europeans were not aware what kind of life if at all they had to expect in Japanese captivity*.
If this retreat is compared to the Japanese defense of some islands in 44/45 or the German defense in 44/45 the Japanese would not have taken Java before at least mid 42.
*In ww1 - Japan was on allied side - the Japanese treated their German POW quite well.
I watch this from Indonesia. Nusantara.
Thanks for watching.
This is why it is important for us, Indonesia, to strengthen our navy and air force. Before any battle can happen on land, it will happen in the air and sea due to our archipelagic nature.
True.
Can you discuss the Dutch-Indonesian War that happened after WW2?
They belittling the japanese military mights and joke that japanese weapons were inferior. They paid heavy prize for that. The japanese had some of the most sophisticated weapons and latest military tactics in early WW2.
And another "problem" confronting the Dutch forces in Indonesia was that the Netherlands already had been occupied for a year-and-a-half by Nazi Germany. The exiled Dutch government was ensconced in London but had little remaining military power it could exert to prepare for what everyone knew was coming: the Japanese attacks in Southeast Asia. Thanks for the illuminating video. Of course, the French were in the same position, while the Brits were also struggling to hold off Hitler. The USA, was, by then, re-arming for what it knew was coming, but was also woefully unprepared for attacks in Southeast Asia and the Philippines and was caught by surprise with the attack on Pearl Harbor. (When I was a young sailor, I was stationed at Naval Air Station Barbers Point, just west of Pearl Harbor. I was lucky enough to be present to see some of the cinematography for "Tora! Tora! Tora!" being shot right overhead as we went about our work. Curious, I went to local libraries in Honolulu and looked up the old Honolulu newspapers for November and December 1941. Headlines and stories warned of coming war -- anywhere in the far-western Pacific, just not to Hawaii!)
It would be great to learn more about the weapons, strategy, and tactics of the Dutch defenders. The Dutch POW's (and civilians) were also the victims of many atrocities committed by the Japanese - would be good to have you cover this in a separate video, as well.
Many thanks for a point of view that is rarely considered, and likely never covered in any other language than Dutch. I have been an amateur and professional historian in the field for 30+ years and always wondered why the KNIL and the entire area fell apart so quickly. I must question your conclusion that the air power was terrible (it was) and that naval power was terrible (it was, and command was horribly confused), but thank you for your presentation. Since it's extremely unlikely I will learn enough Dutch to check primary sources, I very much appreciate your presentation of a part of the Pacific War that was previously little more than "they lost."
Subscription done, and I look forward to future research!
Awesome Adam. Many thanks for your reply.
In English, Osprey has a solid small book on the KNIL itself, and I would definitely recommend "Rising Sun Falling Skies" by Jeffery Cox...although it mostly deals with the Naval and Air campaign. At least one of PC Boers books on the campaign (mentioned in the video) are available in English.
mainly because the dutch had 400 airplanes to cover an area almost as big as europe while over 400 aircraft alone was the japanese 1st carrier division.
@@shaunw9092 And yes sir, I have "Rising Sun, Falling Skies." Time to read it again. Thanks for your reply!
@@AkkaAlbatros And the Dutch pilots had nowhere near the skill of the Japanese pilots of the Kido Butai. They also had inferior aircraft, and shit for doctrine. Match professionals with amateurs and the results won't be pretty.
Very interesting, I never knew so many Aussies fought alongside the Dutch.
Thanks for watching.
Unfortunately Kapitz promised Gull Force that he would not surrender his Dutch forces, but did so the very next day with negligible resistance. That left the Australians alone to continue the fight. This was not totally unexpected, as
Scott’s Australian command had assessed them as more suited to tennis, evening parties, and other colonial pursuits, rather than combat soldiers. They were rutted in an attitude that war would never come and if it did, the Japanese would be easily defeated. When the Japanese did show up these senior officers thought best to surrender and they would be treated well in a manner equal to their ranks. There were some exceptions among Dutch army lower ranks but they had to follow their orders. That continued Guerrilla resistance was mostly by Australians who wanted to fight.
In contrast to the DEI army, their airforce bravely took to duties in poorly built American aircraft and other outdated machines. Of what DEI aircraft that escaped to Australia, only the KNIL DC-3s were in generally good condition.
Their Navy had ships with excellent crews. But these were shackled under questionable leadership in port. But once at sea we’re keen and competent to fight.
Despite all the oil In the DEI I understand they lacked resources to refuel at sea. This meant that any fighting was tethered to a shore base, which proved very problematic for ships with limited range to be on station at the right time when the Japanese chose to attack.
It should be mentioned that Dutch submarines would prove far more capable than the USN (then hampered by torpedo issues). Most of these escaped to fight on based out of Fremantle.
The rush to join naval forces under ABDA had the major issue of coordination between Dutch, USN and RN/RAN. The main issue was they had never drilled together, to know each other’s signalling and communications. It was probably a miracle alone that they did not collide while manoeuvring in the dark under ad hoc battle formation.
This video fails to say that the Dutch could not have done much better on land, even with a will or training to fight. What later happened on Timor would prove this point. They were mistaken to believe that they were on home turf. Instead the locals wanted independence. With this goal many of them foolishly betrayed the Allies to the Japanese believing in the “East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere”. In the end they traded for much crueller masters.
In hindsight it is a shame the locals did not stay the course under Dutch colonial rule, then addressed their aspirations to be independent post war. Such detail was largely lost to history when a new country emerged.
Had DEI soldiers been better trained, it is worth noting that on Timor months later Australians who were willing to fight had to retreat to the Portuguese side of the island just to make distance from the West Timorese who might turn them in to the Japanese. That represents what would have happened even with better training. Many locals had already chosen their team that year despite Japanese atrocities beginning to happen against them too. It was not all, but made trust problematic. Even after the war the last act of the DEI was to remove Japanese war criminals serving sentences else the Indonesians would have freed them in empathy.
I didn't know Czar Nicholas was reincarnated as a Dutch teacher. Hmmm.
Good video!
🤣thanks.
As an Indonesian, I thank you for this interesting historical video. The history of the Japanese occupation is also taught in schools in Indonesia since elementary school.
The question that arises from the caption of this program, is why were the original people of Indonesia ineffective against the Dutch illegal take over of Indonesia? The country that is delving heavily into the colonial past is India and Indian Historians. It is worth listening to Indian commentators. Where are the voices of patriotic people of Indonesia who are against any type of foreign occupation of Indonesia?
Because back then there was no Indonesia, what existed back then was bunch of small kingdoms fighting with each other over trivia things.
@@harukrentz435 Netherlands is Netherlands and Indonesia is Indonesia. The latter is a different group of people. You have conquered some other group of people in some other part of the world and unjustly enriched yourself. You are accountable for the harm and suffering you have caused to them during the colonial era of Dutch Occupation..
@CKS1949 This is correct. The realization came late say, for example, India. Japan's catch cry ' Asia for Asians' had a tremendous impact. That led to a 'us and them' feeling. It invigorated Asian Resistance to Rapacious Colonialism of the West.
@CKS1949 Cannibalizing Cultures
" We know well how the Europeans won the West. They won it through mass genocide of the native populations in North and South America. In South America, hundreds and thousands of natives who resisted conversion were garroted. There is a poignant painting depicting such conversions. It shows armored Spanish soldiers garroting native priests, while a Spanish priest holds up a large cross. More terrified natives await their turn. On the side, another Spanish priest feeds stacks of ancient gold-leaf books of the Mayans into a fire. On the face of the Mayan priests, a look of utter sadness mixed with resignation.
In places like India and Sri Lanka, they were no better. They too faced abject horrors. In his book, Christianity’s scramble for India, Navaratna Rajaram says that “the Christian Missionary is neither a Christian nor a missionary. In fact, he is a racist and a white supremacist in priestly guise.”
The cruelty of the Christians when converting the natives of places like Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines is well documented, but I can offer just a small sample here.
As Senaka Weeraratna asserts in this article, Repression of Buddhism in Sri Lanka by the Portuguese:
“The Portuguese imperial agenda was to create discord in the country and then take maximum advantage of the situation for their benefit in terms of siphoning off wealth from Sri Lanka and converting Buddhists into Christianity, who then in their calculation would remain loyal to the Portuguese Crown rather than to the Sinhalese Kings of the land.”
Even if in less barbaric form, this was the agenda of the later colonial masters from Europe - the Dutch and the British."
Native Indonesian lack of machine gun at that time
Dutch East Indies were obtained trading with Borneo Malaya to British who were by the time allies of Portugal.Dutch fleet and Portugal are of long time rivals in East before French and British arrived and after Napoleonic war, most colonies and areas of European nations being rearranged. I want to see such early 1600s and 1700s exploration era history in documentary here!!!!! Thanks....
Portuguese Timor: Portugal was officially Neutral, however it was occupied by Australian forces which were at war with the Japanese.
True. Believe I mention it in the video.
As Javanese.. thanks for your video...
Thanks for watching.
the troops in back home were more motivated than in the far east