Kaban Djahé is the highland town in the Karo plateau of the East Coast residency of Sumatra, the route via which General Overakker withdrew the troops from elsewhere on Sumatra to Central Atjèh after the fall of Java in March 1942, and the eastern terminus of the Alasweg that ran 130 km. westward across the mountains to Koeta Tjané in the Alasvalley. Piekaar’s Atjèh and the War with Japan treats Kaban Djahé as the strategic hinge of the entire Dutch defense of northern Sumatra — the gateway through which the troops from Upper-Djambi, Sumatra’s West Coast and Tapanoeli had to pass to reach the Alas valley, and the headquarters from which General Overakker directed the retreat until 14 March 1942.
Account from De Buitenbezittingen (1917) — Kaban Djahe
Kaban Djahe (also rendered Kaban Jahe, modern Kabanjahe) served, in the Sumatra road plan of the B.O.W., as the northern terminus of the Alasweg — the 137 K.M. road built from Kaban Djahe to Koeta Tjané in the Alas lands at a cost of f 1,173,000, and reported by the Encyclopaedisch Bureau as “in the main completed” by the end of the 1904–1914 decade. The road opened the Alas lands of the Atjeh and Dependencies residency to direct road communication with the Karo highlands and the wegennet of the East Coast of Sumatra.
The Bureau’s account lists the Alasweg as project no. 13: “Weg Kaban Djahe–Kota Tjane (Alasweg). Length 137 K.M.; cost f 1,173,000. For the connection of the Alas lands with the Karo-hoogvlakte and the wegennet of the East Coast. In the main completed.” The Kaban Djahe–Koeta Tjané Alasweg is the southern complement to the Bireuen–Takengon Gajo-weg: where the Gajo-weg opens the Gajo lands to the northern coast of Atjeh, the Alasweg opens the Alaslanden to the southern East Coast network.
The Alasweg junction
The defense of the Atjèh highlands rested on two motor roads: “Takéngón from Bireuën along the over 100 km. long Gajóweg, Koeta Tjané in the Alas valley from Kaban Djahé in the East Coast residency of Sumatra along the 130 km. long Alasweg.” Kaban Djahé stood at the eastern end of this second road. “Meanwhile our troops had blown up the main bridge in the over 130 km. long road from Kaban Djahé to Koeta Tjané, located 8 km. from Kaban Djahé.” The bridge’s destruction on 12 March 1942 was a key feature of the delaying action fought by the Dutch rear guard. The Bataks who accompanied the retreat with “horas” calls at Blang Kédjérèn on 28 March 1942 reflect the Karo origin of this eastern approach.
General Overakker’s headquarters
“On 14 March general Overakker had moved his headquarters from Kaban Djahé to the Alasvalley and first established it at Koeta Tjané, later at the former Japanese undertaking ‘Boekit Toesam’.” The move followed the Japanese landings on North Sumatra of 12 March 1942. “With the troop movements associated with this an immediate start had been made on 9 March. However, when on 12 March the Japanese landings on North Sumatra took place, they were not yet completed.” A part of the Japanese troops landed at Tandjong Tiram “immediately advanced to Pematang Siantar, from there to advance along the East side of the Toba-lake over Baligé to Siborongborong. With the occupation of Siborongborong the last retreat route of our troops to Central-Atjèh, namely the road from Siborongborong along the South side of the Toba-lake over Sidikalang, was cut off.”
The cut-off of the retreat
“A large part of our troops from Upper-Djambi, Sumatra’s West Coast and Tapanoeli had however by then already passed Siborongborong and reached the Alasvalley undisturbed. The Japanese namely, under the assumption that our main force was located in Sumatra’s West Coast, advanced from Siborongborong Southward to Taroetoeng. From there the advance was continued in two columns to Padang Sidempoean namely over Sibolga, which was occupied on 14 March and over Sipirok. Only at the border between Tapanoeli and Sumatra’s West Coast did the Japanese notice their mistake and turned their attention to the Alasvalley. Unfortunately a part of our troops was no longer able to break through due to the rapid advance of the Japanese and taken prisoner of war. On 16 March the capitulation of these troops had taken place.” After the fall of the Alas valley the few European women and children of Blang Kédjérèn were transferred to Kaban Djahé at the end of March 1942, and the European women and children were “accommodated in the internment camp at Brastagi.”
See Also
- Alasvalley
- Koeta Tjané
- Blang Kédjérèn
- Takéngón
- Major-General Overakker
- 1942
- 14 March 1942
- Wegenplan Sumatra
- Alaslanden
- Koeta Tjané
- Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden
- Oostkust van Sumatra
- 1904
- 1914
Account from Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu
Town on the official route from Medan to Blang Kedjerèn.
Source: J. Jongejans, Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 79, 80.
Sources
De Buitenbezittingen 1904 tot 1914, Deel I, bewerkt door het Encyclopaedisch Bureau, Mededeelingen van het Bureau voor de Bestuurszaken der Buitenbezittingen, Aflevering X (Weltevreden: Landsdrukkerij, 1917), pp. 53–56 (section “De aanleg van wegen op de Buitenbezittingen”).
Atjèh and the War with Japan, by Dr. A. J. Piekaar, translated from the Dutch original Atjèh en de oorlog met Japan (1949) (‘s-Gravenhage/Bandung: N.V. Uitgeverij W. van Hoeve; English edition), Chapter IV, Chapter V § 3.
Land en Volk van Atjeh Vroeger en Nu, by J. Jongejans, Oud-Resident van het Gewest Atjeh en Onderhoorigheden, with a foreword by Dr. H. Colijn (Baarn: Hollandia Drukkerij N.V., c. 1938), pp. 79, 80.