The Tentara Sukarela Pembela Tanah Air or Army of the Homeland Defense Volunteers – in Japanese , k 土 防衛 義勇軍 ( kyōdo bōei giyûgun ? ) – more often referred to as PETA , is a paramilitary unit formed by the Japanese Imperial Army in during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies during the Second World War .

The A statement, the Osamu Seirei n o 44 issued by the commander of the sixteenth Japanese army , the lieutenant general Kumakichi Harada , announces the formation of PETA as volunteer army. The troop’s training was centralized at the Bogor military complex, which was named after Bo-ei Giyugun Kanbu Resentai , when it was dissolved at the end of the war, it had 69 battalions ( daidan ) deployed in Java. (about 37,000 men) and Sumatra (about 20,000 men).

On [Who?] Considers that PETA training started with a letter from Raden Gatot Mangkupradja to Gunseikan (the head of the Japanese military government), in the month of, which contained, inter alia, a request to enable Indonesians to assist the Japanese Government in the military field. However, some [ref. necessary] considered that it was only a Japanese strategy designed to arouse patriotic enthusiasm by giving the impression that the idea of ​​forming PETA came from the very middle of the Indonesian leadership.

The , elements of Blitar’s PETA , under Suprijadi’s command , rose up. The insurrection was “calmed down” by troops from both PETA and Heiho .

The the day after the declaration of independence , the Japanese authorities announced the dissolution of PETA units.

In particular, military pre-eminence in many areas will include former PETA members in key positions, including Soedirman , the commander-in-chief of the Indonesian military, and a certain Soeharto .

In memory of the PETA soldiers, a monument was erected in Bogor and inaugurated on .

Notes and references

  • Ensiklopedi Nasional Indonesia (1989 edition)
  • Cayrac-Blanchard, Françoise, Indonesia, the army and the power , L’Harmattan, 1991
  • Cribb, Robert, Gangsters and Revolutionaries – The Jakarta People’s Militia and the Indonesian Revolution 1945-1949 , Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1991