Bureau for War Equipments on Sumatra was a specialized administrative and logistical military bureau established in June 1873 by the Dutch East Indies Government in Batavia to organize intelligence, transport, and munitions for the Second Aceh Expedition against the Aceh Sultanate.
Purpose and Organization
Created immediately after the defeat of the First Aceh Expedition, the bureau was administratively separated from the Department of War. As noted by General G. G. Booms in 1875, the personnel of the bureau were assigned directly to the headquarters staff of Commander-in-Chief General J. van Swieten, operating as a temporary, de facto General Staff of the KNIL.
Achievements in Campaign Preparation
Throughout late 1873, the bureau synthesized scattered geographical reports, interrogated informants, and organized the Transport and Coolie System in Aceh. Its preparatory work enabled General J. van Swieten to land over 13,000 troops at Koerong Raba Bay, capture Meuraxa, and successfully occupy Kraton of Aceh in January 1874.
See Also
- General Staff of the KNIL
- Dutch East Indies Government
- J. van Swieten
- G. G. Booms
- Second Aceh Expedition
- Batavia
Source
Over de eerste expeditie tegen Atjeh: Een antwoord aan Generaal de Stuers, G. G. Booms, ‘s-Gravenhage: A. van Hoogstraten & Zoon, 1875, pp. 13-15; Atjeh gedurende de tweede expeditie en later, Een Oud Officier, Batavia: Ogilvie & Co., 1876, pp. 11-14.