Lot 2787

Description

East Java, Simpang Club, Soerabaia, chits for ten and twenty five, c.1945, the ten with No.9077 on back and the pair joined show the beginning of the name SIMPANG and below WA??. The first with vertical crease otherwise very fine, the second extremely fine and scarce. (2)

Soerabaia, now Surabaya, is Indonesia's second largest city and capital of the province of East Java. During late 1945 it was the site of a battle between pro-independence Indonesian soldiers and militia against British, Indian and Dutch troops. Apparently it was not unusual for officers to engage in savage fighting during the day and then go to the Dutch Simpang Club at night.