Qualla: Battle of Tjiater Pass https://qualla.com/battle-of-tjiater-pass en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:27 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/q/q/u/9/battle-of-tjiater-pass-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Tjiater Pass https://qualla.com/battle-of-tjiater-pass Battle of Tjiater Pass: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-tjiater-pass/ Photo credit United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army, Public domain. Fortifications designed for a regiment were held by a single company. That mismatch -- between what the defenses required and what the defenders could spare -- defined the Battle of Tjiater Pass before the first shot was fired. In early March 1942, on the volcanic foothills of Tangkuban Perahu in West Java, roughly 2,000 Japanese soldiers under Colonel Toshinari Shoji attacked undermanned Dutch colonial positions guarding the mountain road to Bandung. Three days later, the pass had fallen, and with it, any realistic hope of holding the Dutch East Indies.

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Image: United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/q/u/9/battle-of-tjiater-pass-wp/qqu9-battle-of-tjiater-pass-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Tjiater Pass: The Road Through the Mountains https://qualla.com/battle-of-tjiater-pass/ Photo credit United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army, Public domain. After winning the Battle of the Java Sea on 27 February 1942, Japanese forces landed across Java. Shoji's detachment came ashore at Eretan Wetan, near present-day Indramayu, at dawn on 1 March and quickly seized the Kalijati airfield. From Japanese-controlled Subang, two routes l...

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Image: United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/q/u/9/battle-of-tjiater-pass-wp/qqu9-battle-of-tjiater-pass-the-road-through-the-mountains.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Tjiater Pass: Pillboxes in the Fog https://qualla.com/battle-of-tjiater-pass/ Photo credit United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army, Public domain. The Tjiater fortifications consisted of trenches, two lines of casemates, and barbed wire, with the first defensive line stretching about two kilometers in front of a ravine. It had been designed for a full infantry regiment. When the battle began around noon on 5 March, a single...

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Image: United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/q/u/9/battle-of-tjiater-pass-wp/qqu9-battle-of-tjiater-pass-pillboxes-in-the-fog.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Tjiater Pass: A Traffic Jam and a Massacre https://qualla.com/battle-of-tjiater-pass/ Photo credit United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army, Public domain. Pesman sent his reserves toward the pass, but a traffic jam on the approach road delayed them. By the time reinforcements reached the area, Japanese soldiers had already infiltrated positions between the lines, blocking access to the second defensive position. Dutch troops in the...

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Image: United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/q/u/9/battle-of-tjiater-pass-wp/qqu9-battle-of-tjiater-pass-a-traffic-jam-and-a-massacre.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Tjiater Pass: The White Flag at Lembang https://qualla.com/battle-of-tjiater-pass/ Photo credit United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army, Public domain. By nightfall on 7 March, Japanese forces occupied Lembang. At about 7:30 PM, a Dutch messenger arrived carrying a flag of truce. The Dutch had intended to discuss only a local surrender of troops around Bandung, but Japanese Sixteenth Army Commander Hitoshi Imamura demanded somet...

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Image: United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/q/u/9/battle-of-tjiater-pass-wp/qqu9-battle-of-tjiater-pass-the-white-flag-at-lembang.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Tjiater Pass: What the Pass Decided https://qualla.com/battle-of-tjiater-pass/ Photo credit United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army, Public domain. Tjiater Pass was not the largest engagement of the Dutch East Indies campaign, but it was the hinge. A numerically inferior Japanese force -- roughly 2,000 to 2,400 men against a scattered Dutch garrison of 9,000 -- exploited air superiority, superior training, and the defenders'...

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Image: United States Army Forces in the Far East and/or Eighth U.S. Army | Public domain

]]> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/q/q/u/9/battle-of-tjiater-pass-wp/qqu9-battle-of-tjiater-pass-what-the-pass-decided.mp3 0:06 6 full