Agustinus Adisutjipto

Agustinus Adisutjipto (more commonly spelled as Agustinus Adisucipto), posthumously promoted as Air vice-marshal (Marsekal Muda Anumerta)^[1] was born in Salatiga, Central Java on 3 July 1916 and raised as a Roman Catholic. He was killed in action in Bantul, Yogyakarta on 29 July 1947. He was an air commodore and an Indonesian national hero.

Adisutjipto was educated at the School of Medicine in GHS (Dutch: Geneeskundige Hogeschool), Batavia and graduated from the Flight School of Luchtvaart Militaire in Kalijati, West Java.

On 15 November 1945, Adisutjipto established the Flight School in Yogyakarta, in the Maguwo Air Field, later renamed Adisucipto Airport, to commemorate his services as a national hero.

During the first of two major Dutch police actions against the Republic of Indonesia, Operation Product, Adisujipto and Abdul Rahman Saleh were ordered to fly to India. They successfully breached the air blockade conducted by the Dutch air force, covering the airspace from Indonesia to India and Pakistan. However, during their journey back from Singapore, while transporting donated medical supplies from the Red Cross of Malaya at Singapore, their Dakota VT-CLA aircraft was shot down by two Dutch P-40 Kittyhawk aircraft in Dusun Ngoto on 29 July 1947, even though Indonesia has asked permission from Netherlands to deliver medical supplies. The remains of their Dakota VT-CLA can be seen in Dirgantara Mandala Museum.^[2]

He was buried in the Kuncen I and II general cemetery. On 14 July 2000, his remains were re-interred in the Monumen Perjuangan (Monument of Struggle) in Dusun Ngoto, Bantul, Yogyakarta.^[3]

Grave of Agustinus Adisutjipto

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