At the end of world war 2 many people believed that Indonesian independence was near.

Many

battles occurred, the city of Surabaya, in East Java, became one of the locations for the heaviest

battles, and the battle for Surabaya, which claimed thousands of Indonesian lives, became a

symbol of resistance against the Dutch colonial government.

President Sukarno declared independence on 17 August 1945, and on 19 September Dutch

internees, assisted by the Japanese, occupied the Oranje Hotel in Surabaya, and raised the Dutch

flag. And Indonesian youths are busy replacing Japanese flags in all offices with Indonesian

flags.

When they heard what the Dutch were doing, the Indonesians rushed to the hotel, and started

fighting with the Dutch, then the Indonesian youths climbed up the flagpole and tore off the blue

stripe on the Dutch flag.

In early October, heavy fighting broke out between the Indonesians and the Japanese, who

refused to surrender their weapons. And the Indonesians occupied many buildings in Surabaya,

and seized many cars and trucks to facilitate their movement.

Then, on October 25, about 6,000 British troops under the command of Brigadier Mallaby

entered Surabaya, they asked for cooperation, but the British also tried to recapture Surabaya for

the Dutch, and occupied the main buildings and train stations, and they spread leaflets to

residents that anyone who is seen carrying a weapon will be shot