Gatot Soebroto

Gatot Soebroto (10 October 1907 in Banjoemas – 11 June 1962 in Djakarta) was an Indonesian general who began his military career with the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) and rose to be deputy Army chief-of-staff.

Soebroto was born in Purwokerto, Central Java. He began his education at a Eurpeesche Lagere School, an elementary school for the children of Europeans, but was expelled for fighting with Dutch children. He then moved to a Hollands Inlandse School for Indonesians. He did not continue his education after graduating from this elementary school, but instead found a job. However, he did not like this, and decided on a military career.

In 1923, Gatot enrolled in military school in Magelang. After graduating, he joined the Royal Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) and rose to the rank of sergeant. In 1942, the Japanese invaded the Dutch East Indies, and Gatot joined the PETA (Defenders of the Fatherland), an army set up by the Japanese in case of invasion by the allies. He received training in Bogor, and was appointed commander of a company in Banyumas, then a battalion commander.

Gatot was one of the group of ex-KNIL NCOs, which included future president Suharto and future army chief-of-staff Ahmad Yani who joined the BKR (People's Security Agency), the forerunner of the Indonesian Army as soon as it was set up after the Indonesian Declaration of Independence on 17 August 1945. On 5 October 1946, he was appointed commander of the II/Gunung Jati Division in Central Java. On 31 May 1948 he became commander of the Military Police and later that year Military Governor of the Surakarta-Semarang-Pati-Madiun region. He was involved in the suppression of the 1948 Madiun Revolt. In July 1949, he went to Yogyakarta shortly after Army commander Sudirman's return to the city, which at the time was the capital. There he was sick, and had to be treated at the Panti Rapih Hospital.

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