By: Prabowo Subianto [taken from the Book: Military Leadership Notes from Experience Chapter I]
Bung Tomo is often recognised as a revolutionary leader that can stir and arouse people’s spirit, but Governor Suryo was also a gifted orator. His speech marked the start of the historical war for Surabaya.
Imagine this. Governor Suryo was not even a soldier. He was not military personnel. But he understood that he had a historical responsibility to stand his ground. He understood his leadership role: A leader must be courteous, must defend the nation’s honour. He represented his people. He has shown a great example to the young generation of how a leader makes tough decisions and how a leader acts decisively in defending his homeland.
Governor Suryo was an integral part of the event on November 10, 1945. He was behind the decision to start the Battle of Surabaya, one of the most important historical events ever fought by the Indonesian people. It was a great battle between arek-arek Suroboyo, comprising young people and madrasa students of Surabaya, and the British Army. It was a very heroic event in the battle to defend the hard-fought independence of the Republic of Indonesia.
The massive battle against the World War II victors lasted three weeks, claimed the lives of more than 16,000 Indonesian fighters and displaced 200,000 civilians. The massive, ferocious battle is commemorated every November 10th in Indonesia as Heroes’ Day.
The Battle of Surabaya was set in motion by the death of Brigadier General Aubertin Walter Sothern (AWS) Mallaby, who was killed in a gunfight between the Indonesian fighters and the British forces on October 30, 1945. This was the culmination of the nearly one-week long battle between the Brigade commanded by Mallaby and Indonesian forces in Surabaya. Mallaby made a big mistake in that he divided his brigade into platoon level units occupying many outposts in Surabaya. At that time, the Indonesian armed units numbered in the tens of thousands after capturing thousands of weapons from the Japanese. Some were official forces. Others were volunteers. Others still were armed gangs. Thus, these platoons could not defend each other as they were too thinly spread in such a big city as Surabaya. That brigade was wiped out as an organised force. These actions culminated in the killing of Mallaby. This, of course, humiliated the British. They were furious. They demanded the killers are arrested, and the Indonesian units are disarmed.
The British were furious over the death of their general, demanding that the perpetrators be arrested.
A series of meetings conducted by the Commander of the 5th Division of the British Army, Major General Robert C. Mansergh, with the Governor of East Java, ended in deadlock.
Eventually, after Friday prayers on November 9, 1949, the British Army issued an ultimatum by dropping pamphlets from the air for all Surabaya residents to read. The ultimatum demanded that all Indonesian resistance leaders surrender and that all Indonesians unauthorised to carry arms give up their weapons. All Indonesian women and children were ordered to leave the city for Mojokerto and Sidoarjo.
The deadline given for the ultimatum was 6 pm. Should the order not be obeyed, the British Army vowed to destroy the whole city. Of course, the ultimatum created panic among Surabaya residents. But the militant youth group led by Bung Tomo, who had initially rejected the British demands, declared that they were psyched up for war.
Governor Suryo asked Surabaya residents to remain calm because they had to wait for orders from Jakarta. The central government led by Bung Karno later handed over the decision on how to respond entirely to the people of Surabaya.
During that critical moment, Governor Suryo had to make crucial decisions that would determine the future of Surabaya and, by extension, Indonesia. His decision would show the world whether Indonesia was a great nation that could withstand major military offensives by foreign forces. This chivalrous nation was not afraid of anyone, including superpowers such as Britain, to defend its sovereignty. Alternatively, if he decided to accept the ultimatum, Indonesia would revert to being a conquered nation, a humiliated nation, a nation cowering under the ultimatum issued by foreign forces, and surrender before the battle started. This big decision was Governor Suryo’s alone to make.
Just before the deadline set by the British passed, Governor Suryo conveyed the momentous decision to the people of Surabaya on the radio. Unlike Bung Tomo, his speech was not fiery. However, the short speech delivered calmly was powerful enough to mobilise everyone who listened to it to take up arms to defend Surabaya.
While Bung Tomo has been recognised as a revolutionary leader known for his stirring, captivating oratory that can fire up the masses, Governor Suryo’s calm yet decisive tone was equally powerful. Governor Suryo’s speech served as the first ‘battle cry’ that marked the start of the historic battle. One could only imagine his raw emotion as he addressed the people of Surabaya.
It is even harder to grasp, given that Governor Suryo was not even a soldier. However, he fully recognised his role as a leader: A leader must be courageous to make tough decisions and act decisively in defending the honour of his homeland. He represented his people. He is his people’s hope. Such was the great leadership quality he had shown to the young generation.
WE’D RATHER BE DESTROYED THAN COLONISED AGAIN!
Brothers and Sisters,
Our leaders in Jakarta have made every effort to manage the developments in Surabaya. But unfortunately, it was all in vain. It is now up to us, the people of Surabaya, to decide what to do next. All of our efforts to negotiate have failed. To defend our nation’s sovereignty, we must uphold and affirm our determination to face all possibilities.
Over and over again, we have stated our position: We’d rather be destroyed than recolonised. Now, in the face of the British ultimatum, we will uphold that stance. We shall remain steadfast in rejecting the ultimatum.
In facing every possibility tomorrow, let us all maintain unity between the government, the people, the armed forces (TKR), the police, the youth and the grassroots resistance organisations. Let us pray to God the Almighty that we may be given the strength and His Blessing and Guidance in this battle.
Selamat berjuang!
Governor of East Java, R. M. T. Ario Soerjo
