Gombong is a subject named in General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh (1943) by M. H. du Croo, in connection with the history of Atjeh and the governorship of H. N. A. Swart.
Account in du Croo’s Generaal Swart (1943)
From H. N. A. Swart
Swart, who besides his myopic astigmatism was afflicted with “an unusual interest in education”, kept a large and warm place in his memory for the school. When a boy asked him one day whether he could become an officer — “Hm, well, are you really clever enough for that?” said Swart; “Yes indeed, but can you not help me?” — the lieutenants conferred and the result was a cursus for boys eligible for more extended education. Swart’s verdict: “A really good institution; I have always regretted that it was abolished and that the boys were then distributed among the orphanages” (“A really good institution; I always regretted that it was abolished and the boys then distributed among the orphanages”). Throughout his long service he repeatedly and with great pleasure met old and successful pupillen, often as non-commissioned officers and often with the M.W.O. or an honourable mention; a colonel who headed the Topografische Dienst and a well-known buiten-werker had been his pupils at Gombong.
From Java
H. N. A. Swart remained obstinately on Java and in the vredesgarnizoenen from 1890 until his captaincy in 1898; he served at Magelang, Gombong, Semarang and Batavia. Van Heutsz’s solution of the teacher problem for volksonderwijs took the Javanese desa as its model; at the census of 1930 Java’s literacy rate was 5.5 per cent against Atjeh’s 1.1. Banishment to Java was the penalty T. Béntara Titeuë demanded in 1913 and which Dutch law could not impose for slight wounding.
From Korps Pupillen te Gombong
Korps Pupillen te Gombong was the institution at Gombong in Central Java for the children of soldiers killed in action or pensioned, at which H. N. A. Swart served as instructor from 20 August 1891.
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), passim.