Lengkong Incident

The Lengkong incident was an incident that occurred on 25 January 1946, where cadets from the newly formed Indonesian Military Academy and Japanese soldiers unexpectedly engaged in combat.

Events

In the afternoon of 25 January 1946, a group of newly enrolled Indonesian Military Academy cadets in Tangerang led by Major Daan Mogot went to a Japanese base in Lengkong, in what is today South Tangerang, in order to discuss disarmament of the Japanese troops and acquire their weapons. The negotiations, which began with the transfer of some Gurkha prisoners of war, initially went well and the cadets began collecting the weapons, when a shot was fired – the culprit was unknown, with an account describing one of the Gurkhas having accidentally fired the weapon and another describing one of the cadets' weapons firing accidentally.

After the shot, Japanese soldiers retook the seized weapons and began attacking the cadets. In the ensuing shootout, 33 cadets and 3 of their officers, including Daan Mogot, were killed. The Indonesian Army later threatened to send in soldiers to Lengkong, prompting the Japanese garrison to surrender.

Aftermath

The dead cadets and officers were buried in a nearby forest, though they were later reburied on a plot of land near Tangerang's regimental headquarters, and the burial site is today known as the Cadet Heroes' Cemetery (). Among the dead were Soebianto and Soejono Djojohadikusumo, uncles of 8th President of Indonesia Prabowo Subianto. A monument was erected at the site of the incident in 1993, and in 2005 Army Chief of Staff Ryamizard Ryacudu set 25 January, the date of the incident, as a commemoration day for the Military Academy.

References

{{coord missing, Indonesia

Indonesian National Revolution
Tangerang
Conflicts in 1946
Battles involving Indonesia
Battles involving Japan
Battles of the Indonesian National Revolution