5 APRIL 1946
Last Tuesday took place a great commemoration on the large beach just in front of Puri Dajuma.
It was 60 years when Lt Col I Gusti Ngurah Raï landed here with his soldiers from East Java, after the Dutch army blocked the access to Bali in Gilimanuk.
Native from Bali from the warrior Ksatriya caste, Ngurah RaÏ formed and commanded the Ciung Wanara regiment, the first official military force in Bali following Indonesia’s independence in 1945.
The inscription on the monument boat constructed there and recently refurbished by Puri Dajuma: “returning home after reporting to the republic’s leadership in Yogya” clearly refers to the meeting in Yogyakarta, Central Java, during which Ngurah Raï was tasked with leading the resistance in Bali.
The regiment spearheaded the guerrilla resistance in Bali against the better-armed forces that tried to bring Indonesia under Dutch rule. They perished at Margarana (Tabanan district) 20th of November 1946.
Gathering between the hotel’s lawn and the monument boat, veterans with their orange caps, young people with their green caps from the Indonesian army, military and civil authorities could share this important page of Indonesia’s history, and the guests enjoy it.
Thanks for that, Mike. Probably a bit laidback for me. You’d never hear it over the noise. I’ve just phoned Mrs Crox from the orifice – a chorus of hammering was clearly audible in the background.