The Bombardment of Pedir on 29-31 December 1873 was the punitive operation carried out by a Dutch squadron — consisting of the warships Zeeland, Metalen Kruis, Citadel van Antwerpen, Borneo and Banda — against the radja of Pedir on the north coast of Atjeh, in punishment for his march with his men to the Kraton to help defend it against the second Aceh expedition of Lieutenant-general Van Swieten. The squadron was ordered to bombard the chief kampong and, if possible, to destroy it by a landing.
Background
During the second Aceh expedition, which had landed east of the Atjeh river on 9 December 1873, the Dutch received intelligence that the radja of Pedir on the north coast had marched with his men to the Kraton to help defend it against the Dutch. This was a clear act of hostility against the expedition, and the supreme commander ordered a squadron — consisting of the Zeeland, the Metalen Kruis, the Citadel van Antwerpen, the Borneo and the Banda — to punish Pedir, to bombard the chief kampong and, if possible, to destroy it by a landing. The order was fulfilled in the days of 29 to 31 December 1873.
Significance
The bombardment of Pedir was part of the wider naval operations of the second Aceh expedition, in which the navy rendered great services on several occasions. It also marked the beginning of a long series of Dutch operations against Pedir, which remained a persistent centre of resistance throughout the Atjeh-oorlog. In 1876 the Dutch decided to set up a fortification at Pedir and to place an official there under the protection of a sufficient military force; in the establishment of this they met all kinds of opposition and difficulties from the population, among whom a self-reliant chief in Pedir, Toekoe di Tiroe, proved particularly hostile. In February 1877 it was decided to move the establishment from Pedir to Segli, and in May 1878 the governor Van der Heyden himself led an expedition to Gighen and the upper lands of Pedir against Toekoe di Tiroe.
See Also
- J. van Swieten
- Pedir
- Toekoe di Tiroe
- Segli
- Gighen
- Second Aceh Expedition (1873-1874)
- Aceh War
- Capture of the Kraton (24 January 1874)
Source
De geschiedenis van Nederland in onzen tijd, by J. A. de Bruyne, Directeur der Hoogere Burgerschool te Zierikzee. Deel IV. 1872-1883. Nieuwe uitgave. Schiedam: J. F. Dupont, 1912, Hoofdstuk I, p. 29.