His mother died during his second year at the school, and Oerip left to undertake military training Koninklijke Militaire Academie in Meester Cornelis, Batavia (modern-day Jatinegara, Jakarta).

Upon graduating in 1914, he became a lieutenant in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army; during almost 25 years of service he was stationed on three different islands and promoted several times, eventually becoming the highest-ranking Native officer in the country.

On 14 October 1945, several months after Indonesia proclaimed its independence, Oerip was declared the chief of general staff and acting Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces.

Working to build a united force from the fractured former military groups in the country, Oerip received little oversight owing to irregularities in the chain of command.

The two oversaw almost three years of development during the Indonesian National Revolution, until Oerip resigned in early 1948 because of the political leadership's lack of trust in the army.

Oerip Soemohardjo was born Moehammad Sidik ("Little Muhammad"[1]) in his family's home in Sindurjan, Purworejo, Dutch East Indies (a colony of the Netherlands), on 22 February 1893.

[6] The boys were raised partly by servants, and at a young age Sidik began showing leadership qualities, commanding groups of neighbourhood children in fishing and games of football.

The brothers attended the school for Javanese headed by their father, and as a result received special treatment; this led to them becoming complacent and frequently misbehaving.

[19] After finishing the year at OSVIA, he decided to enrol at Koninklijke Militaire Academie in Meester Cornelis, Batavia (modern-day Jatinegara, Jakarta).

[26] In Malinau, Oerip patrolled the border between the Dutch East Indies and the British-controlled Kingdom of Sarawak (part of modern-day Malaysia); he also worked to prevent conflicts and headhunting among Dayak tribes.

Although the villa was small, the couple used its 2 hectares (4.9 acres) of land to open a large flower garden,[41] with their income subsidised by Oerip's pension from the KNIL.

Upon his release three and a half months later, Oerip refused an offer to form a new, Japanese-backed police force and returned to KEM,[47][48] where he and his wife rented paddy fields to grow rice while continuing to operate their flower garden.

[50] Although no longer active in the military, Oerip occasionally received former KNIL members, including Abdul Haris Nasution and Sunarmo, who brought news of events outside the village.

The couple continued their work, harassed and surveilled by the Japanese and pro-Japanese Indonesians, until the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in early August 1945 signified that Japan would soon withdraw.

[53] On 14 October 1945 – nine days after the Indonesian National Armed Forces was formally established – Oerip was declared its Chief of General Staff and left immediately for Jakarta.

[e] In a cabinet meeting the following day,[55] he was ordered to build a national army, headquartered in Yogyakarta,[f] in preparation for an expected assault by Dutch troops coming to reclaim the Indies.

Meanwhile, rank and file members of the TKR were drawn from numerous groups, including former PETA, current Pemuda (young Indonesian revolutionaries), and the BKR.

[60] Following a government decree on 20 October Oerip became subordinate to both the acting Minister of Defence Soeljoadikoesoemo and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Soeprijadi.

[i] However, to deal with more important issues, such as establishing a military police and preventing enemy paratroopers from landing, he passed edicts that applied nationally.

On 23 February 1946, Oerip was appointed head of the 11-member Committee to Reorganise the Army (Panitia Besar Reorganisasi Tentara), formed by presidential decree.

This was realised on 3 June 1947, when the government declared the union of the laskar and TRI into a new military organisation, the Indonesian National Armed Forces (Tentara Nasional Indonesia, or TNI).

[73] To meet the Dutch threat, Oerip intended to attack while the former colonists were still consolidating their forces, a plan that was quashed by the government's attempts at diplomacy.

He preferred guerrilla tactics to formal military conflicts, once telling a subordinate that the best attack would be one with a hundred snipers hidden behind enemy lines.

[75] Oerip was strongly against the Renville Agreement, an ultimately unsuccessful treaty that led to the withdrawal of 35,000 troops from western Java and the formalisation of the Van Mook Line between Dutch and Indonesian forces.

[78] Disgusted with what he perceived as the government's lack of trust in the military, Oerip tendered his resignation,[79] although he continued to serve as an advisor to the Minister of Defence, Vice President Hatta.

[j][80] After several months of growing steadily weaker and undergoing treatment from Dr Sim Ki Ay,[81] on the evening of 17 November 1948 Oerip collapsed and died from a heart attack in his room in Yogyakarta.

[91][92] Since 1965, the chalice has been kept in the Catholic chapel of the Indonesian military academy in Magelang, which also includes a dedication to him prompted by a discussion between Rohmah (Oerip's wife) and a missionary friend of hers.