The Lamara Olejlo fortification of 15 February 15 February 1875 was a Dutch engineer operation of the Atjeh-oorlog in which Tweede-Luitenant C. J. Snijders of the Compagnie Mineurs en Sappeurs was ordered to march with part of the company and a detachment of 100 dwangarbeiders (forced labourers), with tools and sandbags, to put in a state of defence a benting captured in the night of 14/15 February 15 February on the northern edge of the kampong Lamara Olejlo. Under heavy fire, which cost the Dutch one killed and two officers and eighteen men wounded, the south face was completed and the west and east faces partially completed by about 4 p.m.; the work was continued in the following days by daily working parties sent from Kota Radja under Snijders’ direction, and brought to completion despite constant harassment from Atjeh rifle and gun fire. With the Lamara Olejlo action Snijders’ task with the field column ended; he was then attached to the Staf der Genie at Kota Radja.
Context
After the Missigit Longbatta and the capture of Mandarsah Poetih on 28 January 28 January 1875 and of Pungej Blang Tjoet on 23 January 23 January, Kolonel PEL continued his southward clearing operations. The fortified and partly gun-armed edges of the kampongs Gitjiel Olejlo, Lamara Olejlo, and Lohong continued to harass Mandarsah Poetih. A reconnaissance in the night of 14/15 February 15 February led to the surprise occupation of some fortifications on the northern edge of Lamara Olejlo.
The Fortification, 15 February 1875
Snijders received orders at midday on 15 February 15 February at Kota Radja to march with part of the company and a detachment of 100 dwangarbeiders, with a quantity of tools and sandbags, to Lamara Olejlo and to put the captured benting in a state of defence. On arrival at about 2 p.m., under heavy fire — to suppress which the Dutch artillery had to intervene repeatedly — the work was begun. The south face was completed and the west and east faces partially completed by about 4 p.m., and the foreground was opened up as much as possible, so that the garrison had a usable fighting position for the night. The action cost the Dutch one killed and two officers and eighteen men wounded. Snijders and his workers then returned to the Kraton with the reinforcement troops sent from Kota Radja.
In the following days the work was continued by daily working parties sent from Kota Radja under Snijders’ direction, and brought to completion despite constant harassment from Atjeh rifle and gun fire.
Significance
The Lamara Olejlo action was Snijders’ last operation with the field column. With its completion he was attached to the Staf der Genie at Kota Radja for what were essentially peacetime duties — the maintenance and improvement of buildings, roads, and bridges; the construction of a temporary troop camp at Pante Perak; the ice factory for the Medical Service; the narrow-gauge railway to Olehleh; and so forth — in which he remained for the rest of his time in Atjeh. The action is also notable as the first operation in which Snijders commanded dwangarbeiders rather than vrije koelies; the difference in working parties — between hired coolies and forced labourers — is a recurring feature of Dutch engineer operations in the Atjeh-oorlog and is preserved in the wording of the biographer.
See Also
- Cornelis Jacobus Snijders
- J. L. J. H. Pel
- Lamara Olejlo
- Mandarsah Poetih
- Pungej Blang Tjoet
- Missigit Longbatta operation (31 December 1874 – 13 January 1875)
- Capture of Mandarsah Poetih (28 January 1875)
- Capture of Pungej Blang Tjoet (23 January 1875)
- Benting Kota Alam operation (13 November 1874)
- Benting
- Vrije koelies
- Dwangarbeiders
- Bataillon Mineurs en Sappeurs
- Aceh War
- Koeta Radja
- 1875
Source
D. van den Berg, Cornelis Jacobus Snijders (1852–1939): Een leven in dienst van zijn Land en zijn Volk (Voorburg: September 1944), pp. 32–33. Koninklijke Bibliotheek shelfmark 0301 4872.