History
A Netherlands colony prior to WWII, the area that is today Indonesia was quickly occupied by the Japanese. The Celebes and the Moluccas fell in January and February 1942. and Timor on the 20th. General Wavell, commanding the American, British, Dutch and Australian forces in South East Asia was ordered to move his headquarters to Ceylon - (Sri Lanka) on February 25th, news came of the imminent invasion by the Japanese 16th Army of Java, defended by only 30,000 troops under the Dutch General ter Poorten. After Allied forces lost the Battle of the Java Sea, the Allies began to pull out of Indoesia. On March 5th, the Dutch were obliged to evacuate Batavia, which was declared an "open city", and on March 9th the Dutch and Allied forces in Java surrendered. Most of Indoesia remained in Japanese hands for the duration of the war. After the war, the new Indoesian Air Force equipped itself with abandoned Japanese aircraft, and used them in the late 1940's against the Dutch. Later, Indonesia gain independence from the Netherlands.