Bonga was a Dutch lieutenant of infantry in Atjeh in 1876, the officer of the watch of the west hill-post above Biloel Zuid in the night of 2–3 June 1876, who rallied the fleeing watch and retook the lost position at rifle-point.
The night of 2–3 June 1876
Bonga lay in the watch hut as commander of the resting half of the 56-man watch of the unfinished hill post, when at half past three Atjehers, closing in the dark from three sides, fired into the post at point-blank range. Before orders could pass, both the watching and resting men had broken and run down the footpath. Bonga managed, near the large stone beside the path, to stop thirteen men — all Europeans — collected a few more fleeing fusiliers around him, and advanced, keeping up his fire, against the enemy holding the plateau. The Atjehers soon fled the way they had come. The position was recovered at a cost of 3 killed and 7 wounded; the enemy had looted his personal goods but, luckily, neither the ammunition chest nor the weapons.
H. F. Meijer, printing the event in Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876 (1883), presents it with its moral: the enemy had once more taught his lesson — yet also shown that one determined officer was enough to undo even a completely successful surprise.
See Also
- Surprise of the west hill-post at Biloel Zuid (2-3 June 1876)
- Biloel Zuid
- Guerilla warfare in Groot-Atjeh
Source
Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876, door H. F. Meijer (Breda: P. B. Nieuwenhuijs, 1883), chapter VII, pp. 192–194.