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 Madura Island is an Indonesian island off the northeastern coast of Java. The island comprises an area of approximately (administratively 5,379.33 km2 including various smaller islands to the east, southeast and north that are administrat ...

, Dutch East Indies, 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 enterta ...

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 Mad ...

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 environ ...

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

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British World War II, 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 S ...

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 distin ...

(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 The Indonesian Air Force ( id, Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Udara (TNI-AU), literally "''Indonesian National Military-Air Force''") sometimes shortened as IDAF / IdAF, is the aerial branch of the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The I ...

. In early 1947 Perdanakusuma was promoted to air commodore and tasked with establishing a branch of the air force in

Bukittinggi Bukittinggi ( min, Bukiktinggi, Jawi: , formerly nl, Fort de Kock) is the third largest city in West Sumatra, Indonesia, with a population of 111,312 in 2010 and 121,028 in 2020, and an area of 25.24 km2. It is in the Minangkabau Highland ...

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 List of islands by area, 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 Isl ...

. 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 federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

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

Kalibata Heroes Cemetery The National Main Heroes Cemetery in Kalibata ( id, Taman Makam Pahlawan Nasional Utama, Kalibata, colloquially known as Kalibata Heroes Cemetery ( id, Taman Makam Pahlawan Kalibata, or ''TMP Kalibata'') is a military cemetery in Kalibata, South ...

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 Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Internasional Halim Perdanakusuma) is an international airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. The airport is located in East Jakarta and the airfield is conjoined with the Halim Perdanaku ...

in Jakarta is named after him. Two upcoming railway stations near the airport ( Halim LRT station of

Greater Jakarta LRT The Greater Jakarta LRT or Jabodebek LRT is a light rail system currently under construction in Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, as well as the adjacent areas of West Java and Banten, both within the Jakarta Metropolitan area. It is bei ...

and Halim railway station 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