Operation Serigala

Operation Serigala
Part of Operation Trikora
Date 17 May - 15 August 1962 Location Dutch New Guinea,Sorong Result Indonesian victory Dutch forces suffered losses of moral Indonesian forces managed to captured Dutch barrack
Belligerents
Indonesia Soviet Union	Netherlands
Commanders and leaders
Lt. Lambertus Manuhua  † Lt. Suhadi	Jan de Quay
Strength
4 aircraft 120 troops	Thousands of troops
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Operation Serigala was a military operation launched by Indonesian National Armed Forces to conduct an Airborne landing around Sorong. The unit of this operation consisted of 120 PGT troops supported by C-47 and C-130 squadrons. The operation ended with an Indonesian success.

Background

On 19 December 1961, Sukarno decreed the establishment of the People's Triple Command or Tri Komando Rakyat (Trikora) in order to annex what Indonesia called West Irian by 1 January 1963. Trikora's operational command was to be called the Mandala Command for the Liberation of West Irian (Komando Mandala Pembebasan Irian Barat) with Major-General Suharto (the future President of Indonesia) serving as its commander. In preparation for the planned invasion, the Mandala command began making land, air, and sea incursions into West Irian. As a result, Indonesia began a policy of confronting the Dutch over control of Western New Guinea. Sukarno also embarked on a policy of "progressive mobilization" to prepare the nation to carry out his commands.

Trikora

On 19 December 1961, President Sukarno made a speech in Yogyakarta regarding the liberation of Papua, revolving around "The three principles of Trikora." The three principles of Trikora were:

1. Prevent The Netherlands from forming a puppet state in West Papua.
2. To fly the Indonesian bicolour (the "red and white") in West Papua.
3. Prepare for mass mobilisation that cover all Indonesians to free West Papua from Dutch imperialism

Operations

The units from this operation consisted of members from PGT with the target of Sorong regions and the surrounding areas. This operation was split into 2 steps.

On 17 May 1962, with a C-47 plane, a drop was performed on Teminabuan consisting of 39 people under the leadership of Air Lt. Lambertus Manuhua. Because of bad weather, the troops were separated and landed at wrong places. Many of the forces suffered injuries including Manuhua, who was found by his troops, when he was stuck on tree while suffering a sprain. After two weeks, the forces reunited and planned an attack through Dutch barracks. Manuhua split his forces into two teams. With his team, Manuhua demanded food from the civilians when they rested for a while at a civilian house. The Dutch forces already blockaded their place and combat occurred around the village. In the combat action, Manuhua was killed, and many of his forces decided to retreat. After consolidating their troops on 21 May, the Indonesian forces managed to take over the Dutch barrack at Terminabuan and fly the Indonesian flag on the compound.

On 19 May 1962, with Hercules aircraft, an estimated 81 PGT troops landed on Sansapor under the leadership of Air Lt. Suhadi. At 2 am, the forces landed around the Dutch barracks and began an assault. Dutch troops were shocked by the Indonesian attack causing them to suffer a loss in morale. The attack ended quickly when the Dutch retreated, and the Indonesians overtook the barracks.