Defenders of the Homeland

Defenders of the Homeland
郷土防衛義勇軍 (Tentara Sukarela) Pembela Tanah Air
Colour used by PETA battalions
Active	3 October 1943 – 15 August 1945
Country	Dutch East Indies and British Malaya[1]
Allegiance	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Defending the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies and British Malaya from Allied invasion
Size	66 Battalions in Java, 3 Battalions in Bali, c. 20,000 men in Sumatra, c. 2,000 men in Malaya
Nickname(s)	PETA
Colors	Purple,   Green,   Red, &   White
March	Mars Tentara Pembela[2]
Engagements	1945 PETA revolt in Blitar

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The Defenders of the Homeland (Japanese: 郷土防衛義勇軍, romanized: Kyōdo Bōei Giyūgun; Indonesian: (Tentara Sukarela) Pembela Tanah Air, PETA) was a volunteer army established on 3 October 1943 in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) by the occupying Japanese. The Japanese intended PETA to assist their forces in opposing a possible invasion by the Allies. By the end of World War II, there were a total of 69 battalions (daidan) in Java (around 37,000 men) and Sumatra (approximately 20,000 men). On 17 August 1945, the day after the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, the Japanese ordered the PETA daidan to surrender and hand over their weapons, which most of them did. Indonesia's inaugural President, Sukarno, supported the dissolution rather than turning the organisation into a national army as he feared allegations of collaboration had he allowed a Japanese-created militia to continue to exist.^[3][4][5]

During the Indonesian War of Independence, former PETA officers and troops, such as Suharto and Sudirman, formed the core of the fledgling Indonesian National Armed Forces.