'Ambarawa' is a market town located between
Semarang and
Salatiga in
Central Java,
Indonesia.
Ambarawa was once an important connecting rail link providing a cog railiway locomotive into the central mountain range. The
Semarang-Ambarawa-
Magelang line was fully operational until 1977. It is the site of the ''Museum Kereta Api Ambarawa'' ('Ambarawa Railway Museum').
Ambarawa was the site of Japanese interment camps where up to 15,000 Europeans had been held during the
Japanese occupation during
World War II. Following Japanese surrender and the subsequent
proclamation of Indonesian independence, fighting broke out in the Ambarawa area on 20 November 1945 between British troops evacuating European internees and Indonesian Republicans.
References
★
Java, , Peter, Tuner, Lonely Planet, , ISBN 0-86442-314-4
★
The British Occupation of Indonesia 1945-1946, , Richard, McMillan, Routledge, , ISBN 0-415-35551-6