Bandung Sea of Fire

The Bandung Sea of Fire was the deliberate burning of much of the southern side of the city of Bandung by retreating Indonesian Republicans during the Indonesian National Revolution.

An ultimatum was given by the British commander in Bandung for the Indonesian combatants in Bandung to leave the city. In response, the southern part of Bandung was deliberately burned down in an act of defiance as they left on March 24th 1946; an event which came to be known as "Bandung Lautan Api" (or Bandung Sea of Fire) [Sitaresmi, 1997] . The revolutionary song "Halo-halo Bandung" was sung by hundreds of Indonesian nationalists in Bandung.

During the evacuations in March 1946, Mohammad Toha, a member of Indonesian militia, smuggled several sticks of dynamite past Japanese and Dutch troops, and into the Dutch military Headquarters in Dayeuh Kolot. He detonated the dynamite in warehouses of ammunition, killing himself and several Dutch, Japanese troops in the area. The explosion created a small lake ("situ") in Dayeuh Kolot. The main street in the area is called "Mohammad Toha Street".

ee also

*History of Indonesia
*Indonesian National Revolution

References

cite paper
author = Sitaresmi, Ratnayu| title = Social History of The "Bandung Lautan Api" (Bandung Sea of Fire), 24 March 1946| url = http://www.bandungheritage.org/images/stories/dokumen/bandung_sea_of_fire.pdf| format = pdf| accessdate = 2008-08-22

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