Merdeka

I realised that the struggle in Indonesia was very important as it concerned the destiny of over 70 million people. I knew that if the struggle for Independence failed, the western world would be equally to blame. TOM ATKINSON

Merdeka (Indonesian; Malaysian): ‘independent’ or ‘free’. ‘Merdeka’ became Indonesia’s national battle-cry and salute during its fight for independence from the Dutch Empire in the 1940s.  

Indonesia: a state formed of over 17,000 islands, Indonesia was under Dutch control for nearly 200 years until it declared independence in 1945 under President Sukarno.  

This is the previously untold story of Tom Atkinson – soldier, political speech writer, farmer, hotelier and publisher. At the core of Indonesia’s fight for independence in the 1940s, Tom contributed to the release of Indonesia from centuries of colonial oppression. After being stationed in Indonesia during WWII in the RAF, he founded the Indonesian Information bulletin and was later President Sukarno’s speech writer for over a decade.  

Both a political commentary and a love story, Merdeka casts a new light on the formation of a nation, following Tom through the Second World War to his time in post-war Indonesia, then his return to the UK. 

About the Author:

CHRIS MOORHOUSE is a Yorkshireman by birth but also proud to be an honorary Scotsman as labelled by Rab Wilson, the well known poet of the Scots language. He worked in analytical chemistry and later in the computer industry. After moving to Scotland, he worked in a bookshop in Ayr. Now a full time writer, his hobbies include reading – mainly history books – and buying and selling used books. Currently living in Bicester, Oxfordshire, Chris is helping to educate his two young grandsons to be book lovers.

TOM ATKINSON had a very interesting life. After serving in the RAF throughout WWII, he spent the next twenty years in the diplomatic service of the Republic of Indonesia, having been in a position to help the young Republic to become established, during the latter part of his RAF service. This is described in his contribution to this book. 

Tom left Indonesia just before the horror of the military take-over in 1965, when a million or so Indonesians were slaughtered. Since then he has been a hotelier in the remote north-west of Scotland, followed by ten years on a small self-sufficient farm in west Wales.

Returning to Scotland, he founded Luath Press, and wrote a series of guide books to his beloved West and North of Scotland.

Later he helped his herbalist daughter to breathe new life into Napiers of Edinburgh, a herbal consultancy established in 1860, and he operated Napiers Mail Order business for three years, before retiring for the third time.