Monumen Operasi Lintas Laut Jawa – Bali

Jakarta, IDM – The Java-Bali Sea Cross Operation Monument in Cekik Village, Jembrana, is one of the milestones commemorating the historic naval battle in the Bali Strait.

Reporting from Detik, Wednesday (26/4), when entering the monument area, visitors can see two tanks and two sea mines at the entrance as well as two mines and missiles in front of the monument. It is said that the weapons on this monument are original and were used during the war.

Then, before visitors climb to the top of the ship’s anchor statue, there are historical pictures of naval battles on the walls of the monument and on the back of the monument there is a large inscription with 290 names of the fighters at that time.

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It is said that the heroic incident of Troop M led by Marine Captain Markadi carried out an expedition mission across the Bali Strait. This troop was formed to save Bali, which was then occupied by allied troops who landed in October 1945.

This battle was very meaningful for the Indonesian Navy, because the story of the Banyuwangi-Gilimanuk seaborne operation was actually the first joint (amphibious) landing operation in TNI history and the first sea battle in the history of the founding of the Republic of Indonesia.

On April 4 1946, the first naval battle was recorded which succeeded in repelling the Dutch troops, even with minimal weapons. Troop M, led by Markadi, fought desperately to withstand attacks from Dutch patrol boats.

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Troop M on the ship fought close combat with the Dutch troops. This position was considered advantageous, because the Dutch ship could not properly aim the heavy machine gun mounted on the front deck towards the opponent, because the size of the Indonesian ship was smaller.

The Dutch guns were at a dead angle and were only able to hit the sails of the Indonesian troops’ ships. In contrast, Troop M was free to shoot and throw hand grenades, including incendiary grenades that fell on the deck and machine guns of the Dutch ship.

This made the Dutch withdraw from the battle which only lasted about 15 minutes. However, this battle made a big history in maintaining independence after the proclamation of August 17 1945 because it succeeded in hampering Dutch movements. (at)

Gilimanuk, Melaya, Jembrana Regency, Bali 82252, Indonesia