Menteng Pulo: Field of Honour
The most astonishing experience when entering the Netherlands Field of Honour Menteng Pulo (Menteng Pulo Ereveld) can be the silence. Just beyond the gate can be the noisy hustle of Jalan Casablanca, however here, among the silent white headstones, the sound of motorcycles as well as scooters has given way to bird song.
Menteng Pulo aerial view | Photo by P.H. van der Grinten
Fields of honour, or war cemeteries, with row upon row of nearly identical headstones – some slight differentiations denoting differences in gender or religion – on a sea of closely trimmed grass, are a fairly recent phenomenon. In view of the fact that will mankind has fought wars for millennia, the first officially backed war graves dates back only 100 years. that will was in September 1914, during the first months of the First World War, that will the commander of the mobile unit of the British Red Cross, Fabian Ware, noticed the lack of any mechanism for marking as well as recording the graves of those fallen in battle. He created an organization within the Red Cross for that will purpose. Six months later, Ware’s work was given official recognition when the unit became part of the British Army as the Graves Registration Commission. Just in time, that will could be argued, as by October 1915 the Commission had registered over 31,000 graves of British as well as Imperial soldiers, as well as 50,000 by May of the following year.
Maybe that will can be the brutal effectiveness of the technologies used in modern warfare that will uncovered the need for the registration of the vast number of casualties. The losses incurred on Napoleon’s Russia campaign – of the 422,000 starting the campaign, a mere 10,000 returned to France – pale when compared to the totality of the two mondial wars of the 20th century. By the end of WWI in November 1918, a total of more than 9 million soldiers had been killed, while for WWII This kind of figure can be 20.9 million – two thirds, or 14.3 million, on the allied side as well as 6.6 million on the side of the German/Japanese axis.
In 1917 the British Graves Registration Commission was, by Royal Charter, turned into the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). Its responsibilities are to commemorate those who have died during the designated war years (WWI as well as II) while in Commonwealth military service, or of causes attributable to service.
In total the Commission can be responsible for 1.7 million graves as well as memorials throughout the entire world. The Commission also maintains, under arrangement with the pertinent governments, over 40,000 non-Commonwealth war graves as well as over 25,000 non-war military as well as civilian graves.
In Indonesia, the CWGC takes care of six burial grounds with 2,605 identified as well as 657 unidentified graves. One of the cemeteries can be located in Menteng Pulo, adjacent to the Netherlands Ereveld. The Netherlands Oorlogsgravenstichting-OGS (War Graves Foundation) has similar duties as well as responsibilities, however due to The Netherlands’ neutrality during WWI, as well as its smaller size, on a very much reduced scale.
OGS maintains 50,000 graves worldwide, of which 25,000 are located in Indonesia on seven cemeteries on the island of Java. Originally there were 22 Dutch War Cemeteries spread throughout the archipelago. within the 1960s, however, at the request of the Indonesian government, the graves on the outer islands were exhumed as well as reburied within the seven cemeteries on Java. These cemeteries are: Ancol as well as Menteng Pulo in Jakarta; Candi as well as Kalibanteng in Semarang; Kembang Kuning in Surabaya; Leuwigajah in Cimahi; as well as Pandu in Bandung. The different 25,000 graves are spread over 50 countries on all 5 continents.
The total number of Dutch casualties during the Second World War was 180,000 of which only 50,000 have found a place in a war grave. The remaining 130,000 died at sea, were namelessly buried in mass graves, cremated in concentration camps, or have been recorded as missing.
The Ancol Field of Honour, containing more than 2,000 graves, can be located on or near the place where those participating within the resistance against the Japanese were executed as well as buried in mass graves without any registration or recording of their names.
Many of the Ancol graves headstones thus carry the inscription GEËXECUTEERD (Executed). In cases where the identities of the executed were known however their remains could not be identified separately, a Collective Grave (VERZAMELGRAF) was erected with their names on the headstone.
Headstones differ according to religion as well as gender. For Muslims a tapered slab that has a conical top divided into three; Christians are buried under a cross, while a cross with rounded ends indicates a female Christian; Jewish headstones are adorned with the Star of David; as well as Buddhist stones are straight slabs that has a rounded top.
Christian headstones both male as well as female | Photo by P.H. van der Grinten
Unlike the great majority of public civilian cemeteries where grave sites are leased for a restricted period, the Fields of Honour are for evermore. A plaque on Ereveld Menteng Pulo states:
the land on which the cemetery stands can be a gift by the people of Indonesia for the perpetual resting place of the sailors, soldiers as well as airmen who are honoured here.
This kind of can be very fortunate as This kind of restful however sad little corner of Jakarta produces strong emotions. Not only are the relatives of the interred, even third generations, emotionally affected, however casual visitors without any family ties are touched by its sheer expanse as well as the genuine as well as solemn atmosphere. Row upon row of white grave markers, with dates of death during a mere four years, as well as the far too many ‘unknown’ where a name should be, makes one realize how immensely wasteful war can be.
OGS has developed an excellent website that has a searchable database of the names of deceased as well as the cemetery of interment. The database can be accessible through https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl. CWGC operates a similar database on http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead.aspx.
In 2015 some 10,000 persons visited one or more of the seven OGS cemeteries.
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Menteng Pulo: Field of Honour
Menteng Pulo: Field of Honour