REPRISALS FOR THE DAKOTA ATROCITY AT BEKASSI, DUTCH EAST INDIES [Allocated Title]

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  • Title: REPRISALS FOR THE DAKOTA ATROCITY AT BEKASSI, DUTCH EAST INDIES [Allocated Title]
  • Film Number: ABY 190
  • Other titles: ROYAL AIR FORCE OPERATIONS IN SOUTH EAST ASIA DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR [Allocated Series Title]
  • Summary: After the murder of five RAF aircrew and twenty Indian soldiers by Indonesian extremists, the village of Bekassi (Bekasi), near Batavia, Dutch East Indies (Jakarta, Indonesia) is burned in reprisal.
  • Description: A building on fire. An RAF Mosquito fighter-bomber circles overhead. A crowd of civilians; there are girder bridges in the background and a parked Chevrolet CMP lorry is marked 'Mort Pl' (probably 'Mortar Platoon'). An RAF officer, Flight Lieutenant Threlfall, disarms four Indonesians (apparently of the 'Banteng Hitam' or 'Black Buffaloes') captured in the village. Behind them are a number of Indian troops, some bearded Sikhs wearing turbans, others clean shaven and wearing steel helmets. Threlfall unsheaths a confiscated cutlass; behind him is a jeep marked 'Film and Photo Unit' (i.e. the Army Film and Photo Unit or AFPU). View across a river; smoke rises from the burning village. Various buildings in flames.
  • Access Conditions: IWM Attribution: © IWM
  • Featured Period: 1939-1945
  • Production Date: 1945-12-13
  • Production Country: GB
  • Production Details: Air Ministry, Directorate of Public Relations (Production sponsor) Royal Air Force Film Production Unit (Production company) Clot, Dennis Francis Emile1919-07-04 (Production individual)
  • Personalities, Units and Organisations: Indian Army, 16th Punjab Regiment, 1st Battalion (regiment/service) Indian Army, Indian Engineers, King George V's Bengal Sappers and Miners Group (regiment/service) Royal Air Force (regiment/service)
  • Keywords: Bekassi, Java, Netherlands East Indies (geography) Allied Occupation of the Netherlands East Indies, Allied Occupation of South East Asia post-August 1945 (event) Indian Army 1939-1945 (theme) Royal Air Force 1939-1945 (theme)
  • Physical Characteristics: Colour format: B&W Sound format: Silent
  • Technical Details: Format: 35mm Number of items/reels/tapes: 1 Footage: 191 ft; Running time: 3 mins
  • HD Media:
  • Notes: Photograph captions describe Flight Lieutenant Threlfall as commander of the local Voluntary Corps of Police which accompanied the Indian troops. Flight Sergeant Clot's dopesheet identifies the 1st Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment as having fired the village. Contemporary photograph captions name the Bengal Sappers and Miners, though these are not necessarily in contradiction. Film and photographic coverage relating to this episode can be found at the references below. See related items.
  • Link to IWM Collections page:

    ABY 190

  • Related IWM Collections Objects:

    JFU 443 (AMBONESE ROADBLOCK, RELEASE OF DUTCH INTERNEES AND EXHUMATION OF BODIES [Allocated Title]) JFU 477 (BURNING DOWN THE TOWN OF BEKASSI AS A PUNITIVE MEASURE BY THE ALLIES [Allocated Title]) JFU 524 (RECONNAISSANCE IN FORCE TO BEKASSI [Allocated Title]) ABY 188 (PARACHUTE TESTS, CAPTURED VEHICLE MAINTENANCE AND EXHUMATIONS FOLLOWING A MASSACRE NEAR BATAVIA, DUTCH EAST INDIES [Allocated Title]) Documents.17155 (System.Xml.XmlElement) 11381 ()
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