Onderneming tegen Soembawa (1908) was the undertaking against Bima and the island of Soembawa between 16 February and 9 May 1908, the closing piece of H. N. A. Swart’s service in the eastern part of the archipelago.
Swart made “the apparently more than reckless undertaking against Bima and Soembawa with a handful of military constabulary into a classic example of swift and conclusive pacification.” By royal decree of 2 September 1909 no. 41 he was promoted Commander of the Militaire Willemsorde for his distinction in the operations on Soembawa in that period. The 1ste luitenant der marechaussee (“military constabulary”) J. H. C. Vastenou, Knight 4th Class of the M.W.O. and after his death entered in the registers as Knight 3rd Class, fell on Soembawa on 19 February 1908; his grave monument stands in the cemetery at Makassar. Rear-Admiral C. Baron de Vos van Steenwijk distinguished himself as Luitenant ter Zee on the expedition and was decorated with the M.W.O. 4th class.
See Also
Source
Generaal Swart, Pacificator van Atjeh (“General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh”), by M. H. du Croo, Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with the collaboration of H. J. Schmidt, Titular Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with a foreword by His Excellency Lieutenant-General K.N.I.L. (retired) G. K. Dijkstra (Maastricht: N.V. Leiter-Nypels, 1943), Chapter VII; illustrations.