1.1K views · 14 reactions | The Dutch prime minister has apologised to the Indonesian people for the actions of its troops during the nation's War of Independence. Mark Rutte made the apology after a long-awaited historical review found Dutch troops used extreme violence as they sought to regain control of their former colony. | ABC Pacific | Facebook

After the murder of five RAF aircrew and twenty Indian soldiers by Indonesian nationalists, the village of Bekassi (Bekasi) in Java, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), is burned in reprisal, December 1945. Days after Japan’s surrender, Indonesian nationalists declared independence from the Netherlands. In September, British troops arrived in Java to take the surrender of Japanese forces and to recover prisoners of war and internees. Relations between British and Indonesian forces soon broke down, wi