Air Vice-Marshal Abdul Halim Perdanakusuma (18 November 1922 – 14 December 1947), better known as Halim Perdanakusuma, was an Indonesian airman and

National Hero of Indonesia National Hero of Indonesia ( id, Pahlawan Nasional Indonesia) is the highest-level title awarded in Indonesia. It is posthumously given by the Government of Indonesia for actions which are deemed to be heroic, defined as "actual deeds which can b ...

Biography

Perdanakusuma was born in Sampang, Madura,

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...

, on 18 November 1922. After attending elementary and middle school at schools for native Indonesians, he attended the Opleidingschool voor Inlandsche Ambtenaren (a school for the training of

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

officials) in

Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a ''bupati''. Magelang city covers an area of 18. ...

. However, he dropped out in his second year and joined the Naval Academy of

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of East Java and the second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern border of Java island, on the M ...

to answer the Dutch colonial government's call for a militia. After finishing the academy, he spent some time in the Dutch Colonial Navy's information department. At the time of the Japanese invasion of the Indies in 1942, against which he had been trained to fight, Perdanakusuma was in Britain, training in navigation with the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

; as part of his training, he flew on 44 missions throughout Europe, including flying

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stir ...

s in bombing missions over Nazi Germany. After the end of World War II, Perdanakusuma returned to newly independent Indonesia. He joined the nascent

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

(then called the ; People Security Army) under Commodore Suryadi Suryadarma; together with

Agustinus Adisucipto Agustinus Adisutjipto (Perfected Spelling: Agustinus Adisucipto, 4 July 1916 – 29 July 29, 1947) was born in Salatiga, Central Java and raised as a Roman Catholic. He was the first pilot of Indonesian Air Force whose plane was shot down by the ...

and Abdul Rahman Saleh, he was tasked with organizing the Indonesian Air Force. In early 1947 Perdanakusuma was promoted to air commodore and tasked with establishing a branch of the air force in Bukittinggi,

West Sumatra West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5,534,472 at the 2020 cen ...

; to complete his task he penetrated the Dutch blockade of the island. Air Officer Iswahyudi was also tasked to assist with managing the base. At the time, the various air units in Sumatra were managed individually and under the command of the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

; Perdanakusuma and Iswahyudi proceeded to unite them into their own branch. On 17 August 1947, he led paratroops into

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and e ...

. That December, Perdanakusuma was ordered to fly to Thailand with Iswahyudi to pick up medical supplies. On their return trip on 14 December, the

Avro Anson The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) ...

they were flying stalled, leading it to crash outside of Tanjung Hantu,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

, killing both of them. Perdanakusuma's body was originally buried in Lumut, Malaysia, but later relocated to Kalibata Heroes Cemetery in 1975.

Legacy

Perdanakusuma was declared a

on 9 August 1975 with Presidential Decree Number 063/TK/Year 1975. With this declaration came a posthumous promotion to air vice marshal. Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta is named after him. Two upcoming railway stations near the airport ( Halim LRT station of Greater Jakarta LRT and

Halim railway station Halim Station is a railway station complex under construction located on Makasar, East Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia. The complex is planned to serve Jakarta-Bandung high-speed railway of Kereta Cepat Indonesia–China (KCIC) and Jabodebek LRT ...

of Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail is also named after him.

References

;Footnotes ;Bibliography * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Perdanakusuma, Halim Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Malaysia 1922 births 1947 deaths Indonesian military personnel People from Sampang Regency National Heroes of Indonesia Royal Air Force pilots of World War II