U. Bernstorff von Sperling — a count (Graaf) and operations manager of the Atjeh state railways — was killed on the morning of 24 February 24 February 1942 at a sabotaged bridge approximately 25 km south of Kotaradja, in the second of the two opening acts of the F. beweging rising. In the Dutch staff history’s account (Deel VI, Hoofdstuk V), the murder of Von Sperling — together with the murder of Tiggelman the same night — closes the first action period of the pre-invasion Atjehnese rising and triggers the Dutch operational response that would shape the March campaign.
The inspection trip of 24 February 1942
On the morning of 24 February 24 February 1942, having learned of the sabotage to the railway track between Kotaradja and Seulimeum, Von Sperling wished personally to inspect the damage done to the track. He was assigned a single brigade of infantry from Kotaradja as escort for the inspection. The column comprised three elements: Von Sperling’s car, with his Atjehnese chauffeur, in front; an escort brigade in a bus behind; and the captain company commander on a motorcycle in the rear.
At a bridge over the railway some 25 km south of Kotaradja the column was halted by a barricade — a road-block thrown up across the bridge — defended by a band of about 60 men, armed with edged weapons, an armed Atjehnese band. Most of the band wore for the most part white armbands — bands bearing the letter F, the insignia of the F. beweging that would, on interrogation of a Menadonese soldier some days later, be identified as the sign by which members of the movement were to be marked out for friendly treatment by the Japanese.
The murder
Against the explicit advice of the military commander, Von Sperling stepped out of his car and proceeded alone in the direction of the bridge. He spoke a few words to the band — apparently mistaking the white-armband men for auxiliary police — and attempted single-handedly to clear the barricade. At this point Mr Von Sperling was suddenly struck by one of the band with a bludgeon to his neck, by which he was fatally wounded. The escort brigade commander responded by shooting the attacker; further soldiers opened fire on the band, which hastily took flight.
The staff history records two details that frame the incident. First, the captain company commander — an officer with little Atjeh experience who had in the meantime also drawn near — ordered the firing stopped, and measures to pursue the band were left undone. Second, the white armbands worn by most of the band bore the letter F — an insignia whose meaning was, at that moment, not understood in Kotaradja, but which would be explained within days by the arrest of a Menadonese soldier who boasted of Japanese sympathies. Under interrogation the soldier confessed that he had been recruited by Atjehnese into a far-reaching so-called F. beweging, whose members were to be considered friends and cooperators by the Japanese and were to wear the white-and-red-F armband on the arrival of the Japanese.
Significance
Von Sperling’s murder is, in the staff history’s Atjeh chapter, the moment at which the F. beweging — a Japanese-sponsored underground whose existence the Dutch had not previously suspected — became visible to the Dutch command. The compiler’s emphasis on the white armbands, on the Menadonese soldier’s confession, and on the Fujiwara identification of the “F.” transforms the murder from a single act of sabotage into the terminus ad quem of Dutch ignorance of the F-organisation. The murder also closes the first action period of the pre-invasion rising; a period of relative calm follows, broken only by the second sabotage wave of 7–8 March 8 March 1942 that runs into the Japanese landings.
See Also
- Nederlands-Indië contra Japan
- murder of Von Sperling
- murder of Tiggelman at Seulimeum
- F-beweging
- F-organisatie
- Fujiwara (Japanese intelligence officer)
- Atjehsche Staatsspoorwegen
- Atjeh-tram
- Seulimeum
- 1942
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. 124–125.
U. Bernstorff von Sperling — a count (Graaf) and operations manager of the Atjeh state railways — was killed on the morning of 24 February 24 February 1942 at a sabotaged bridge approximately 25 km south of Kotaradja, in the second of the two opening acts of the F. beweging rising. In the Dutch staff history’s account (Deel VI, Hoofdstuk V), the murder of Von Sperling — together with the murder of Tiggelman the same night — closes the first action period of the pre-invasion Atjehnese rising and triggers the Dutch operational response that would shape the March campaign.
The inspection trip of 24 February 1942
On the morning of 24 February 24 February 1942, having learned of the sabotage to the railway track between Kotaradja and Seulimeum, Von Sperling wished personally to inspect the damage done to the track. He was assigned a single brigade of infantry from Kotaradja as escort for the inspection. The column comprised three elements: Von Sperling’s car, with his Atjehnese chauffeur, in front; an escort brigade in a bus behind; and the captain company commander on a motorcycle in the rear.
At a bridge over the railway some 25 km south of Kotaradja the column was halted by a barricade — a road-block thrown up across the bridge — defended by a band of about 60 men, armed with edged weapons, an armed Atjehnese band. Most of the band wore for the most part white armbands — bands bearing the letter F, the insignia of the F. beweging that would, on interrogation of a Menadonese soldier some days later, be identified as the sign by which members of the movement were to be marked out for friendly treatment by the Japanese.
The murder
Against the explicit advice of the military commander, Von Sperling stepped out of his car and proceeded alone in the direction of the bridge. He spoke a few words to the band — apparently mistaking the white-armband men for auxiliary police — and attempted single-handedly to clear the barricade. At this point Mr Von Sperling was suddenly struck by one of the band with a bludgeon to his neck, by which he was fatally wounded. The escort brigade commander responded by shooting the attacker; further soldiers opened fire on the band, which hastily took flight.
The staff history records two details that frame the incident. First, the captain company commander — an officer with little Atjeh experience who had in the meantime also drawn near — ordered the firing stopped, and measures to pursue the band were left undone. Second, the white armbands worn by most of the band bore the letter F — an insignia whose meaning was, at that moment, not understood in Kotaradja, but which would be explained within days by the arrest of a Menadonese soldier who boasted of Japanese sympathies. Under interrogation the soldier confessed that he had been recruited by Atjehnese into a far-reaching so-called F. beweging, whose members were to be considered friends and cooperators by the Japanese and were to wear the white-and-red-F armband on the arrival of the Japanese.
Significance
Von Sperling’s murder is, in the staff history’s Atjeh chapter, the moment at which the F. beweging — a Japanese-sponsored underground whose existence the Dutch had not previously suspected — became visible to the Dutch command. The compiler’s emphasis on the white armbands, on the Menadonese soldier’s confession, and on the Fujiwara identification of the “F.” transforms the murder from a single act of sabotage into the terminus ad quem of Dutch ignorance of the F-organisation. The murder also closes the first action period of the pre-invasion rising; a period of relative calm follows, broken only by the second sabotage wave of 7–8 March 8 March 1942 that runs into the Japanese landings.
See Also
- Nederlands-Indië contra Japan
- murder of Von Sperling
- murder of Tiggelman at Seulimeum
- F-beweging
- F-organisatie
- Fujiwara (Japanese intelligence officer)
- Atjehsche Staatsspoorwegen
- Atjeh-tram
- Seulimeum
- 1942
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. 124–125.