The Operation Serigala was a military operation launched by

Indonesian National Armed Forces The Indonesian National Armed Forces (; abbreviated as TNI) are the military forces of the Republic of Indonesia. It consists of the Indonesian Army, Army (''TNI-AD''), Indonesian Navy, Navy (''TNI-AL''), and Indonesian Air Force, Air Force ('' ...

to conduct an Airborne landing around

Sorong Sorong is the largest city and the capital of the Indonesian province of Southwest Papua. The city is located on the western tip of the island of New Guinea with its only land borders being with Sorong Regency. It is the gateway to Indonesia ...

. The unit of this operation consisted of 120 PGT troops supported by

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

and

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

squadrons. The operation ended with an Indonesian success.

Background

On 19 December 1961, Sukarno decreed the establishment of the People's Triple Command or ''Tri Komando Rakyat'' (Trikora) in order to annex what Indonesia called

West Irian Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch colonial empire, Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively n ...

by 1 January 1963. Trikora's operational command was to be called the Mandala Command for the Liberation of West Irian (''Komando Mandala Pembebasan Irian Barat'') with Major-General

Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...

(the future President of Indonesia) serving as its commander. In preparation for the planned invasion, the Mandala command began making land, air, and sea incursions into West Irian. As a result, Indonesia began a policy of confronting the Dutch over control of Western New Guinea. Sukarno also embarked on a policy of "progressive mobilization" to prepare the nation to carry out his commands.

Trikora

On 19 December 1961, President Sukarno made a speech in

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

regarding the liberation of Papua, revolving around "The three principles of Trikora." The three principles of Trikora were: # Prevent The

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

from forming a puppet state in West Papua. # To fly the Indonesian bicolour (the "red and white") in West Papua. # Prepare for mass mobilisation that cover all Indonesians to free West Papua from Dutch imperialism

Operations

The units from this operation consisted of members from PGT with the target of Sorong regions and the surrounding areas. This operation was split into 2 steps. On 17 May 1962, with a C-47 plane, a drop was performed on Teminabuan consisting of 39 people under the leadership of Air Lt. Lambertus Manuhua. Because of bad weather, the troops were separated and landed at wrong places. Many of the forces suffered injuries including Manuhua, who was found by his troops, when he was stuck on tree while suffering a sprain. After two weeks, the forces reunited and planned an attack through Dutch barracks. Manuhua split his forces into two teams. With his team, Manuhua demanded food from the civilians when they rested for a while at a civilian house. The Dutch forces already blockaded their place and combat occurred around the village. In the combat action, Manuhua was killed, and many of his forces decided to retreat. After consolidating their troops on 21 May, the Indonesian forces managed to take over the Dutch barrack at Terminabuan and fly the Indonesian flag on the compound. On 19 May 1962, with Hercules aircraft, an estimated 81 PGT troops landed on Sansapor under the leadership of Air Lt. Suhadi. At 2 am, the forces landed around the Dutch barracks and began an assault. Dutch troops were shocked by the Indonesian attack causing them to suffer a loss in morale. The attack ended quickly when the Dutch retreated, and the Indonesians overtook the barracks.

References

{{reflist 1962 in Southeast Asia 1962 in the Dutch Empire Military operations involving Indonesia Military operations involving the Netherlands Dutch New Guinea 1960s in Western New Guinea Sukarno Military operations involving the Soviet Union Indonesia–Soviet Union relations Netherlands–Soviet Union relations Invasions by Indonesia