Dutch Paratroopers in Indonesia
1948-1950 Paragevechtsgroep Para Combat Group Operations East Indies
May 17, 2007
When the Netherlands was overrun by the Nazis in world war two a small Dutch force was assembled in Great Britain to carry on commando operations. This force was trained alongside British Commandos in Scotland in 1942 and took on the name No 2 (Dutch) Commando Troop as part of the British Royal Army and as such wore the Green Beret. The British military at that time had several foreign units from occupied Europe on its rolls. The group served piecemeal in several operations in the Pacific theater and in Europe before being attached in its entirety to Operation Market Garden (of the movie “A Bridge Too Far” fame) in 1944. This operation took place in the occupied Netherlands and the Dutch commandos parachuted in as guides with elements of the British 1st Airborne Division at Arnheim and the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions at Nijmegen. The Dutch force later helped mark areas for amphibious landings in the Netherlands. At the end of the war No 2 Troop was dissolved and its members went onto form the Dutch Paragevechtsgroep (Para Combat Group).
The Dutch East Indies Colony (present day Indonesia) was occupied by Japan during WW II and afterwards Indonesian rebels under Sukarno and Suharto established an independence of sorts. In 1947 the Dutch initiated Operatie Product ("Operation Product"), it’s Politionele acti ("Police Action") to recapture Indonesia. A key to Operation Product was the elite Para Combat Group. In the broad daylight of December 19, 1948, a force of 320 Dutch Commandos parachuted at 3000 feet from C-47 transports into Maguwo airport outside of the rebel capital of Jakarta. The force then proceeded to capture the stunned Indonesian rebel government including Sukarno with little resistance. Ten days later the force parachuted into the vitally important Djambi oilfields on Sumatra. Less than a week passed and the commandos made a third jump on January 5, 1949 into the Rengat and Ajer Molek oilfields. After serving as something of a fire brigade the Para Combat Group made a fourth jump in March on the southern part of the island of Java. These operations were the first time that paratroopers had been used in combat since WW II by any country and the raids had been textbook. Sixty commandos lost their lives in combat and accidents during this time period and all of their objectives were met. This severely demoralized the Indonesian forces, but United Nations diplomatic intervention prevented further action. The Netherlands had a total of over 120,000 soldiers and sailors who served in Indonesia 1945-1949. Of these 4,751 were killed.
On December 27, 1949 the Dutch government transferred sovereignty to Indonesia and the Para Combat Group disbanded early in 1950.The unit was reformed in the Netherlands in July 1950 as the Korps Commandotroepen (Corps of Commando-troops). They are better known by the acronym KCT. In its new name it has seen combat service in Korea, held the line with NATO during the Cold War, and served on peacekeeping duties in Suriname, Lebanon, the Sinai, Haiti, and Kosovo. They still wear the Green Beret.
Sources
The official Korps Commandotroepen website (in Dutch)
All The Worlds Airborne Operations website by the 1st TSG
Mark T. Hooker, The History of Holland, Westport: Greenwood, 1999
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