1947 Yogyakarta Dakota accident

In gap between the time of Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945 and the arrival of Allied forces in central and western parts of Indonesia, there was a political vacuum which was used by Indonesian nationalist. On 17 August 1945, Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed the nation's independence. The republican nationalists needed a force to fight for their independence.

The first military force, known as the People's Security People's Safety Body (Badan Keamanan Rakjat, or BKR), was formed on 23 August 1945 but tasked with police work. On 5 October of that year the defacto Indonesian government formed a national military, including provisions for an air force.[1][2] The first pilot in this new air force was Commodore Agustinus Adisucipto, who had flown the first Indonesian aircraft, a Yokosuka K5Y (known locally as a Cureng) left by the Japanese empire.[1] Another commodore, Abdul Rahman Saleh, established the Air Force Technical School in Malang, East Java.[3] Both officers were involved in the crash of the Dakota C-47.[4] Allied Dutch and British forces had already landed on the main island of Java by that time, but the latter were mainly concerned with the repatriation of former prisoners of war and accept Japanese surrender.[5] Many eastern parts of former Dutch East Indie were occupied by Allied forces which liberated most of the archipelago during the Allied offensives, 1943–45.

Tensions grew as Indonesians believed that Allied forces had agendas to stamp out their independence and to restore Holland's control in their former colony. Meanwhile Dutch had agenda to reoccupy their former colony and to punish local collaborators during Japanese occupation. Major and minor hostilities broke out between pro-Indonesian forces and Allied, pro-Dutch (which include former Dutch prisoners, Dutch colonial troops (including Ambonese), Chinese, Indo-Europeans), and Japanese forces on the other.[6]

A replica of the aircraft's tail, which survived the crash

Under orders from Sukarno, Adisucipto and Saleh chartered a Douglas C-47B-20-DK from Bijoyanda Patnaik, an Indian national and owner of Kalinga Airlines, to transport medical supplies donated by the Red Cross of Malaya to the Red Cross of Indonesia.[4][7][8] The flight was approved by both British and Dutch forces, who guaranteed a safe flight. The night before the flight's departure, Malayan radio broadcast that a flight with the registration number VT-CLA would be carrying medical supplies to Yogyakarta.[9] The flight departed Singapore, piloted by Alexander Noel Constantine, ex-R.A.F. at 1:00 a.m. West Indonesian Time (UTC+7) for Maguwo, the airfield at Yogyakarta.[4]

Due to rising tension between Dutch and Indonesia, hostilities erupt sporadically. After Japanese surrender in Indonesia, Indonesian military took over many remaining Japanese aircraft, equipment, airfields. Dutch launched Operation Pelikaan on 21 July 1947 which destroyed many of the aircraft they had accumulated. In retaliation, the Indonesian air force (with two "Willow" biplanes and a "Sonia" divebomber bombed Dutch strongholds in Semarang, Salatiga and Ambarawa on early hours of 29 July which did little damage and no casualty. About two hours later two Dutch P-40 Kittyhawks strafed Yogyakarta.[10][1]

After three hours of flight, the Dakota C-47 arrived near Maguwo. After the landing gear descended, two Dutch P-40 Kittyhawks appeared and shot at the aircraft. After bullets destroyed the left engine, the aircraft went into a dive, first crashing into a tree then into paddy fields in Ngoto, Bantul.[4] Only its tail remained in one piece.[9]

Of the nine passengers and crew, seven died on impact. Two others, the pilot's wife Beryl and Abdulgani Handonotjokro, rushed to Bethesda Hospital in the city. Beryl Constantine succumbed to her wounds at the hospital, while Handonotjokro survived.[11] After a memorial service at Tugu Hotel, which had been used as a temporary barracks for the air force, Adisucipto and Saleh were buried at Kuncen Cemetery in Yogyakarta, while Adi Soemarmo Wirjokusumo was buried in Kusumanegara Heroes' Cemetery.[11]

The Dutch initially rejected that the Kittyhawks were involved in the crash, stating that the plane seemed to have crashed into something. However, witnesses on the ground reported that the Kittyhawks had come from the viewer's right of the Dakota and shot at it. An inspection of Wirjokusumo's body, when it was recovered, confirmed that he had been shot.[11] The Dutch later denied knowledge of the flight and said that it not had Red Cross markings.[8] After India protested the incident, the Dutch government sent a Dakota C-47A along with financial restitution to India.[12]

Memorial to the crash, in Ngoto

On 1 March 1948, a monument to commemorate the crash was built in Ngoto.[13] Both Adisucipto and Saleh were declared National Heroes of Indonesia in 1974.[14] In 2000, Adisucipto and Saleh were moved from their initial burial spots to the monument, where they are buried together with their wives.[1]

Since 1979, the Indonesian Air Force has celebrated a Service Day (Hari Bakti) in commemoration of the crash and in remembrance of the deaths, based on Decision of the Indonesian Air Force Commander Number 133/VII/1976.[15]

Eight persons died when Dakota C-47 was shot down.[4][16] Among them were-

• Air Commodore Abdul Rahman Saleh
• Air Commodore Agustinus Adisucipto

Footnotes

Bibliography