Chinese refugees flee the fighting in Sourabaya (Surabaya/Soerabaja) in eastern Java, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).

On a street in Surabaya a group of now homeless Chinese civilians walk towards camera; they carry a small number of personal possessions. The civilians walk away from camera; a number of shirtless and unarmed British soldiers also mill about. Quiet and apparently undamaged streets in the Chinese quarter of Surabaya. Wide shot showing smoke drifting and refugees walking in the opposite direction. Refugees cross shot right-to-left as a jeep emerges from the drifting smoke. A broad and almost completely deserted open area with a pall of smoke in the distance. Reverse angle shows Stuart light tanks on the road and Indian troops on the left of frame. Indian troops outside a low building. Stationary tanks firing; they are a little too far away for the firing to be seen clearly. Indian signallers with their wireless equipment and a tank in the background. Tanks with dense black smoke rising in the distance.

Notes

Dopesheet identifies 3rd Battalion 9th Jat Regiment (divisional infantry) and 2nd Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment (9th Indian Brigade). By the time this film was shot 5th Indian Division had cleared approximately half of the city's length.

The open area seen in this film may be the Sidotopo marshalling yards. This is based on the official history and its map, on captions to contemporary photographs and the dopesheet's reference to 9th Brigade.

The first troops to arrive in Surabaya were 49th Infantry Brigade on 25 October 1945. Initially tense but peaceful, the city erupted into violence after a leaflet drop on 27 October appeared to contradict an agreement between British and Indonesian leaders the previous day. Fighting broke out on 29 October between troops of 49th Brigade and a force of tens of thousands of well trained and equipped Indonesian nationalists and even greater numbers of militia armed with small arms or edged weapons. The commander of the virtually overwhelmed 49th Brigade, Brigadier Mallaby, was killed in disputed circumstances on 30 October while attempting to negotiate and as a result 5th Indian Division was deployed to the city. An ultimatum issued on 9 November by General Christison (commander Allied Forces Netherlands East Indies, AFNEI) was duly refused and Surabaya assaulted from the 10 November by 5th Indian Division with artillery, tank, air and naval gunfire support. The city was cleared methodically and was secure by the end of November. Casualties amounted to 600 British and Indian, while estimates for Indonesian dead range up to 16,000. While the battle was costly for the Indonesians in terms of lives and heavy weaponry it had enormous political impact, unmistakeably demonstrating the resolve of the nationalist movement.

The fighting in Surabaya was well covered by British official photographers whose work is held by the Imperial War Museum's Photograph Archive. See related items.