M. C. Thomson

Properties2
tagsperson, dutch, military, colonial, knil, marechaussee, atjeh, world-war-ii, prisoner-of-war
aliasesLt M. C. Thomson, Luitenant Thomson, Thomson, luitenant Maréchaussee Atjeh 1942

10 min read

M. C. Thomson was a lieutenant of the Netherlands Indies Army Maréchaussee who served in the IIde divisie on the Westkust van Atjeh during the Japanese invasion of March 1942, fought at Lam No under Captain Kloprogge, refused to surrender at the Lae Boetar capitulation of 29 March 29 March 1942, and after a six-week guerrilla march reached the column of Captain Van Dormolen in the Medanse — only to be captured there on 26 April 26 April 1942. In the Dutch staff history’s account (Deel VI, Hoofdstuk V), Thomson’s six-week march is the longest individual escape-and-evasion episode of the Atjeh campaign.

The Lam No crossing (March 1942)

When Captain Kloprogge crossed the river at Lam No by vlerkprauwtje with a single brigade on 13 March 13 March 1942, Thomson was left with the remainder of the troops and the transport materieel on the opposite bank, with orders to repair the pont that had been set adrift by verzetslieden and had washed up on the beach. From soldiers of the Lho’Nga airfield garrison who appeared on his side of the river, Thomson learned of the Japanese landings at Kotaradja on 12 March 12 March and of the Japanese march down the Westkust.

Thomson subsequently brought his brigade south to join Kloprogge at Tapatoean, arriving on 18 March 18 March 1942 with the women and children evacuated from Meulaboh. He continued with the column south to Bakongan and on to Lae Boetar.

Refusal to surrender at Lae Boetar

At the Lae Boetar capitulation of 29 March 29 March 1942, Thomson — together with Captain Steinhorst, Lt Mathus and the officier van gezondheid V. A. C. L. Dingemans — refused to lay down arms. Steinhorst was captured and killed by opstandelingen; Mathus and Dingemans were captured by the Japanese and “enige tijd daarna terechtgesteld.” Thomson alone escaped.

The Van Dormolen march (March – April 1942)

Thomson received permission from Kloprogge to attempt to break through to the still-fighting Dutch troops around Blangkedjeren. On 23 March 23 March 1942 he was detached with three Maréchaussee brigades (about 60 men, with two machine guns but no motor vehicles) and ordered to delay the Japanese advance south of Bakongan. He was to withdraw to the Singkelse and, at Koeala Kepeng (on the Simpang-rivier halfway between Bakongan and Singkel), to find large prauwen that had been promised him; with these he was to drop down the river and join the rest of the troops.

On 24–25 March 25 March 1942 he successfully laid several ambushes in the sparsely inhabited country, killing dozens of Japanese. At Koeala Kepeng, however, the promised prauwen were missing — “later bleek dat zij door de bevolking waren verstopt.” A small prauw was eventually found that could carry only eleven men; the rest had to march. By desertion Thomson’s strength fell to 33 men, and finally to 18 (three officers and fifteen onderofficieren en soldaten).

Around 30 March 30 March 1942 Thomson made contact with a detachment under Captain Van Dormolen, who had executed a tegenstoot on the orders of major Van Aarsen from the Koeta Boeloebenteng-stelling (see Hoofdstuk IV of the staff history) and was still in the terrein. Thomson briefed Van Dormolen on the Westkust situation, and the two detachments were combined. From the local population the combined force heard that General Overakker had capitulated some days before — news that “een slechte invloed op het moreel van de inheemse troepen” had, producing further desertions.

Capture at the “Merijke” onderneming (26 April 1942)

The combined Van Dormolen–Thomson column reached a kampong on the cultuuronderneming „Merijke” in the Medanse on 8 April 8 April 1942. Van Dormolen contacted the still-serving Dutch administrateur, who agreed to supply food and shoes for the next day. On the morning of 9 April 9 April 1942 a patrol reported Japanese in a ladang opposite the kampong. Van Dormolen ordered the kampong evacuated; it was already surrounded, but the small group succeeded in slipping away. Van Dormolen then noticed that he had left his actetas containing f 2000,— in the house; one soldier returned for it but was captured by the Japanese, who used him — under pistol threat — to call the group back. Van Dormolen, hearing the soldier’s tone, suspected the coercion and refused to return; Thomson (later, in captivity) confirmed the soldier’s account of the coercion.

The group — by now reduced to six men — moved on, foraging by night. Near Pematangsiantar the group met a bevolkingspatrouille with a Dutch-speaking Indonesian, who informed them that the zelfbestuurder of the streek had an urgent message and begged Van Dormolen to come with him. The zelfbestuurder, “zeer hulpvaardig,” explained that the Japanese had ordered every kampong to report the presence of Europeans, on pain of severe punishment. On 24 April 24 April 1942 Van Dormolen decided to report to the Japanese at Pematangsiantar; on 26 April 26 April 1942 the group — now six men — was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp at Medan.

Significance

Thomson’s six-week march from Lae Boetar to Medan — through Bakongan, the Singkelse, the Koeta Boeloebenteng-stelling, the Merijke onderneming and Pematangsiantar — is, in the staff history’s Atjeh chapter, the longest sustained evasion narrative of the campaign. The staff history’s emphasis on Thomson’s small-unit leadership, on the steady attrition by desertion of the indigenous soldaten, and on the bevolking’s reporting of the group to the Japanese, frames the march as a case study of the impossibility of sustained Dutch guerrilla in the face of a hostile population.

See Also

Source

Nederlands-Indië contra Japan, Deel VI: De strijd op Ambon, Timor en Sumatra, bewerkt door C. van den Hoogenband en L. Schotborgh (‘s-Gravenhage: Staatsdrukkerij- en Uitgeverijbedrijf, 1959), Hoofdstuk V (“De strijd in Noord-Sumatra (Atjeh)”), pp. 129–143.

M. C. Thomson was a lieutenant of the Netherlands Indies Army Maréchaussee who served in the IIde divisie on the Westkust van Atjeh during the Japanese invasion of March 1942, fought at Lam No under Captain Kloprogge, refused to surrender at the Lae Boetar capitulation of 29 March 29 March 1942, and after a six-week guerrilla march reached the column of Captain Van Dormolen in the Medanse — only to be captured there on 26 April 26 April 1942. In the Dutch staff history’s account (Deel VI, Hoofdstuk V), Thomson’s six-week march is the longest individual escape-and-evasion episode of the Atjeh campaign.

The Lam No crossing (March 1942)

When Captain Kloprogge crossed the river at Lam No by vlerkprauwtje with a single brigade on 13 March 13 March 1942, Thomson was left with the remainder of the troops and the transport materieel on the opposite bank, with orders to repair the pont that had been set adrift by verzetslieden and had washed up on the beach. From soldiers of the Lho’Nga airfield garrison who appeared on his side of the river, Thomson learned of the Japanese landings at Kotaradja on 12 March 12 March and of the Japanese march down the Westkust.

Thomson subsequently brought his brigade south to join Kloprogge at Tapatoean, arriving on 18 March 18 March 1942 with the women and children evacuated from Meulaboh. He continued with the column south to Bakongan and on to Lae Boetar.

Refusal to surrender at Lae Boetar

At the Lae Boetar capitulation of 29 March 29 March 1942, Thomson — together with Captain Steinhorst, Lt Mathus and the officier van gezondheid V. A. C. L. Dingemans — refused to lay down arms. Steinhorst was captured and killed by opstandelingen; Mathus and Dingemans were captured by the Japanese and “enige tijd daarna terechtgesteld.” Thomson alone escaped.

The Van Dormolen march (March – April 1942)

Thomson received permission from Kloprogge to attempt to break through to the still-fighting Dutch troops around Blangkedjeren. On 23 March 23 March 1942 he was detached with three Maréchaussee brigades (about 60 men, with two machine guns but no motor vehicles) and ordered to delay the Japanese advance south of Bakongan. He was to withdraw to the Singkelse and, at Koeala Kepeng (on the Simpang-rivier halfway between Bakongan and Singkel), to find large prauwen that had been promised him; with these he was to drop down the river and join the rest of the troops.

On 24–25 March 25 March 1942 he successfully laid several ambushes in the sparsely inhabited country, killing dozens of Japanese. At Koeala Kepeng, however, the promised prauwen were missing — “later bleek dat zij door de bevolking waren verstopt.” A small prauw was eventually found that could carry only eleven men; the rest had to march. By desertion Thomson’s strength fell to 33 men, and finally to 18 (three officers and fifteen onderofficieren en soldaten).

Around 30 March 30 March 1942 Thomson made contact with a detachment under Captain Van Dormolen, who had executed a tegenstoot on the orders of major Van Aarsen from the Koeta Boeloebenteng-stelling (see Hoofdstuk IV of the staff history) and was still in the terrein. Thomson briefed Van Dormolen on the Westkust situation, and the two detachments were combined. From the local population the combined force heard that General Overakker had capitulated some days before — news that “een slechte invloed op het moreel van de inheemse troepen” had, producing further desertions.

Capture at the “Merijke” onderneming (26 April 1942)

The combined Van Dormolen–Thomson column reached a kampong on the cultuuronderneming „Merijke” in the Medanse on 8 April 8 April 1942. Van Dormolen contacted the still-serving Dutch administrateur, who agreed to supply food and shoes for the next day. On the morning of 9 April 9 April 1942 a patrol reported Japanese in a ladang opposite the kampong. Van Dormolen ordered the kampong evacuated; it was already surrounded, but the small group succeeded in slipping away. Van Dormolen then noticed that he had left his actetas containing f 2000,— in the house; one soldier returned for it but was captured by the Japanese, who used him — under pistol threat — to call the group back. Van Dormolen, hearing the soldier’s tone, suspected the coercion and refused to return; Thomson (later, in captivity) confirmed the soldier’s account of the coercion.

The group — by now reduced to six men — moved on, foraging by night. Near Pematangsiantar the group met a bevolkingspatrouille with a Dutch-speaking Indonesian, who informed them that the zelfbestuurder of the streek had an urgent message and begged Van Dormolen to come with him. The zelfbestuurder, “zeer hulpvaardig,” explained that the Japanese had ordered every kampong to report the presence of Europeans, on pain of severe punishment. On 24 April 24 April 1942 Van Dormolen decided to report to the Japanese at Pematangsiantar; on 26 April 26 April 1942 the group — now six men — was taken to a prisoner-of-war camp at Medan.

Significance

Thomson’s six-week march from Lae Boetar to Medan — through Bakongan, the Singkelse, the Koeta Boeloebenteng-stelling, the Merijke onderneming and Pematangsiantar — is, in the staff history’s Atjeh chapter, the longest sustained evasion narrative of the campaign. The staff history’s emphasis on Thomson’s small-unit leadership, on the steady attrition by desertion of the indigenous soldaten, and on the bevolking’s reporting of the group to the Japanese, frames the march as a case study of the impossibility of sustained Dutch guerrilla in the face of a hostile population.

See Also

Source

Nederlands-Indië contra Japan, Deel VI: De strijd op Ambon, Timor en Sumatra, bewerkt door C. van den Hoogenband en L. Schotborgh (‘s-Gravenhage: Staatsdrukkerij- en Uitgeverijbedrijf, 1959), Hoofdstuk V (“De strijd in Noord-Sumatra (Atjeh)”), pp. 129–143.

Graph View