1 Jul 1911

Dutch East Indies
14 Jan 1942

Dutch East Indies
  • USS S-38 arrived at Soerabaja (Surabaya), Java, Dutch East Indies, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [S-38 | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
24 Jan 1942

Dutch East Indies
  • USS S-39 arrived at Surabaya (Soerabaja), Java, Dutch East Indies, ending her second war patrol. ww2dbase [S-39 | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
25 Jan 1942

Dutch East Indies
  • USS S-38 departed Soerabaja (Surabaya), Java, Dutch East Indies, starting her second war patrol. ww2dbase [S-38 | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
  • USS S-41 arrived in Surabaya (Soerabaja), Java, Dutch East Indies, ending her first war patrol. ww2dbase [S-41 | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
4 Feb 1942

Dutch East Indies
  • USS S-41 departed Surabaya (Soerabaja), Java, Dutch East Indies, starting her second war patrol. ww2dbase [S-41 | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
6 Feb 1942

Dutch East Indies
  • USS Permit disembarked Admiral Thomas Hart's staff at Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies, ending her third war patrol. ww2dbase [Permit | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
16 Feb 1942

Dutch East Indies
  • USS S-38 arrived at Soerabaja (Surabaya), Java, Dutch East Indies, ending her second war patrol. ww2dbase [S-38 | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
18 Feb 1942

Dutch East Indies
22 Feb 1942

Dutch East Indies
  • USS Permit departed Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies, starting her fourth war patrol. ww2dbase [Permit | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
  • USS S-38 departed Soerabaja (Surabaya), Java, Dutch East Indies, starting her third war patrol. ww2dbase [S-38 | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
26 Feb 1942

Dutch East Indies
28 Feb 1942

Dutch East Indies
  • British cruiser HMS Exeter departed Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies for Ceylon. ww2dbase [Exeter | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
6 Mar 1942

Dutch East Indies
  • Japanese aircraft attacked Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies, damaging Dutch minesweeper Jan van Amstel, killing 23. Dutch sailors scuttled minesweepers C and Pieter de Bitter, also at Surabaya, to prevent capture. ww2dbase [Dutch East Indies Campaign, Java | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
19 Jul 1942

Dutch East Indies
22 Jul 1942

Dutch East Indies
26 Feb 1943

Dutch East Indies
7 May 1943

Dutch East Indies
3 Oct 1943

Dutch East Indies
  • Japanese hospital ship Hikawa Maru arrived at Surabaya, Java. Upon arrival, she was damaged by a mine. ww2dbase [Hikawa Maru | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
10 Oct 1943

Dutch East Indies
17 Oct 1943

Dutch East Indies
22 Oct 1943

Dutch East Indies
  • Kamoi departed Surabaya, Java, Dutch East Indies with Rio de Janeiro Maru, escorted by minesweeper W-8. ww2dbase [Kamoi | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
11 Mar 1944

Dutch East Indies
13 May 1944

Dutch East Indies
17 May 1944

Dutch East Indies Photo(s) dated 17 May 1944
Surabaya under attack, Java, Dutch East Indies, 17 May 1944, photo 1 of 2Surabaya under attack, Java, Dutch East Indies, 17 May 1944, photo 2 of 2Surabaya under attack, Java, Dutch East Indies, 17 May 1944, photo 3 of 3
10 Jun 1944

Dutch East Indies
20 Sep 1944

Dutch East Indies
6 Sep 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • Previously interned Europeans began to reappear in Surabaya, Java, Indonesia. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
11 Sep 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • A large pro-independence rally was held in the city of Surabaya in eastern Java, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
17 Sep 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • The second large pro-independence rally was held in the city of Surabaya in eastern Java, Dutch East Indies. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
19 Sep 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • A group of recently freed Dutch internees raised a Dutch flag over the Hotel Oranje (now Hotel Majapahit) in Surabaya, Indonesia. The hotel building was the headquarters of the Recovery of Allied Pirsoner of War and Internees organization as well as the headquarters of the Japanese troops charged with keeping order in the city. This flag raising triggered violence from local nationalists, resulting in the death of the leader of the Dutch group. Indonesians lowered the Dutch flag, tore off the blue third of the flag, and re-raised it as an Indonesian flag. ww2dbase [Hotel Yamato | Surabaya, Java | CPC]
2 Oct 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • A Dutch naval captain, who was the acting senior officer of Japanese troops in the Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, ordered troops under his command to surrender their weapons to local Indonesian forces. At this time, the city awaited a formal Allied surrender ceremony. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
13 Oct 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • Renegade Communist youth leader Sutomo ("Bung Tomo") established a radio station in Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, urging people to kill Europeans. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
15 Oct 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • Indonesian nationalist fighters clubbed and hacked 50 Europeans and Eurasians to death as they marched toward Kalisosok Prison in Surabaya, Java, Indonesia. After getting into the prison, with some of the guards turning their backs to allow the fighters to do whatever they wished, 200 Europeans being held there for protect were killed. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
22 Oct 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • The Nahdlatul Ulama, Indonesia's largest Islamic association, declared a judicial decision (fatwa), ordering all Muslim men within one day's journey (94 kilometers) from Surabaya, Java, Indonesia to travel to the city to join the fight against British and Dutch colonialism. The fight was described as a holy crusade (jihad fi sabilillah). ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
26 Oct 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • British Indian Army Brigadier General A. W. S. Mallaby, tasked with the protection of British interests in Surabaya, Java, Indonesia as well as the safety of European former prisoners of war in the city, negotiated with nationalist fighters. He offered that he would not force the fighters to disarm, and he would limit Indian troops under his command to a 800-meter perimeter of the harbor. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
27 Oct 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • British Indian Army Major General H. C. Hawthorn ordered leaflets to be dropped over the city of Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, announcing that the nationalist forces would soon be disarmed. This announcement contradicted with the friendlier terms offered by Brigadier General A. W. S. Mallaby on the previous day, and the Indonesian nationalists viewed this as a clue that the British could not be trusted. In response to the demands, 120,000 young Communist members attacked the 4,000 Indian troops stationed around the city. The former European prisoners of war that the Indian troops were escorting were also attacked. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
28 Oct 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • Sukrano arrived in Surabaya, Java, Indonesia one day after Communist youths attacked Indian troops and European former prisoners of war, attempting to de-escalate the situation. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
29 Oct 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • After a day of relative peace, Communist youths resumed attacks on Indian troops in Surabaya, Java, Indonesian. Indonesian leaders Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, and Sjarrafudin arrived in the city to begin negotiations between the Indonesian Communists and the British. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
30 Oct 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • Indonesian leaders Sukarno, Mohammad Hatta, and Sjarrafudin brokered a ceasefire between Indonesian Communists and the British in Surabaya, Indonesia, but violence would resume within hours. British Indian Army Brigadier General A. W. S. Mallaby was killed in the action, and the survivors of his 49th Brigade fell back to the harbor area. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
4 Nov 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • Indian 5th Division and 23rd Division began to arrive in Surabaya, Java, Indonesian, adding 30,000 men and 24 tanks to the British garrison in the city. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
9 Nov 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • General Robert Mansergh of Indian 5th Division demanded Indonesian Communist fighters to surrender and called for all women and children to leave Surabaya; the message was delivered via airdropped leaflets. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
10 Nov 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • British Indian troops, supported by tanks, aircraft, and naval guns, assaulted Surabaya, Java, Indonesia against Communist fighters. The campaign would last three weeks, granting the British control of the city but at a high cost in lives. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]
26 Nov 1945

Dutch East Indies
  • British Indian troops reached the southern side of Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, thus largely securing the city. During this campaign against Communist fighters, thousands were killed, and 90 percent of the city's residents fled to the surrounding countryside. ww2dbase [Surabaya, Java | CPC]

Timeline Section Founder: Thomas Houlihan
Contributors: Alan Chanter, C. Peter Chen, Thomas Houlihan, Hugh Martyr, David Stubblebine
Special Thanks: Rory Curtis




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