Merdeka Rising - Rory Marron

Drama and Tragedy in the Indonesian Revolution…

'The pace zips along…' — Army Rumour Service

'A good, realistic read of an incident overlooked and based on actual events. Well worth reading!' — Stuart Guild (27th Field Regiment Royal Artillery, Burma 1944-5

As Java erupts in violent revolution against Dutch colonial rule, thousands of Europeans interned by the Japanese become hostages to fortune. Their only hope is a tiny force of peacekeepers—British, Indian, Gurkha and surrendered Japanese—who stand against the murderous hordes. New loyalties are tested while old scores are settled in blood amidst massed, spine-chilling roars of 'Merdeka!' (Freedom!).

'An ambitious, unconventional, compelling saga of men at war, captivity, forced prostitution, murder, political dirty tricks and mob terror in Japanese-occupied and revolutionary Indonesia. Rory Marron's Black Sun, Red Moon and it's finale, Merdeka Rising gives us an almost tangible glimpse of the chaos that was Java in 1945-46. His writing, infused with imaginative speculation, is sweeping, poignant, passionate and unflinching.' (Publishers Catalogue.)

Japan's sudden surrender ends the Second World War but triggers the Indonesian declaration of independence from the Netherlands, catching the returning Dutch and 'Southeast Asia's peacekeepers', Britain, by surprise. In a chaotic, mistrustful peace Lord Mountbatten orders the Japanese to defend the white colonial order. Recent foes have no choice but to become allies...of a kind. In greatest peril are 80,000 European women and children interned by the Japanese. These defenceless civilians, abandoned and half-starved, some of them former sex slaves, become hostages to the future of a free Indonesia.

As their former jailors become their guardians, protecting them from hostile mobs, hatreds and prejudices are hastily re-examined. British, Gurkha and Indian troops, veterans of the long Burma campaign arrive in Java expecting a warm welcome from grateful civilians and easy duties. Very soon their orders are rewritten, their mission and motives questioned, as they face determined, frequently suicidal opposition. In the mayhem of siege and slaughter, once sworn enemies stand shoulder to shoulder against a murderous human tide. Yet when loyalties are questioned fragile, new bonds are threatened and Japanese must face Japanese in a private, deadly, finale.

Five fates hang in the balance:

Kate van Dam is struggling to survive the squalor and deprivation of an internment camp. Faced with a sick mother, little food and medicines she accepts the dubious offer of 'hostess work' at Japanese officers' club....

Lamban longs for independence for Indonesia. A chance encounter with an activist plunges him into a teeming, dangerous world of secret societies, plots and the whirlwind of revolution....

For Lt Kenichi Ota, Japan's surrender saves him from a suicidal last stand. But to save the woman he loves he will have to fight again....

Seaforth Highlander Alun MacDonald has had his fill of the British Army but finds himself facing a new, unpredictable foe and having to trust his former enemies with his life....

War Correspondent Meg Graham is expecting to cover Japan's defeat. Instead she is pitched into a ruthless struggle for an empire unrestrained by rules of war.