THE day had just dawned over Rengat, the capital of Indragiri Regency, Riau Province, on the central eastern coast of Sumatra. That morning, at around 6, Junior Lieutenant Wasmad Rads, a TNI soldier from Battalion III Regiment IV Division IX Banteng Sumatra was taking his morning walk around the town.

All of a sudden, a pair of red-painted planes flew low from the southeast of Rengat. Those P-51 Mustang bomber fighters had three colors painted on their fuselage: Red, White, and Blue.

The Dutch had come to attack.

"They dropped bombs on the streets, the market square where people gathered, and on people' houses. They even shot at people standing on the ground," Wasmad Rads recalled in his memoir Lagu Sunyi dari Indragiri (Song of Silence from Indragiri).

Ingin membaca lebih lanjut?

Langgani historia.id untuk terus membaca postingan eksklusif ini.

Berlangganan Sekarang