Souvenir batik cloth made for soldiers serving in the Dutch East Indies during the Netherland’s campaign to retake control of Indonesia between 1945 and 1950. Decorated with unit crests and symbols, the names of key places such as military bases or battle sites, depictions of various military vehicles and equipment, along with idyllic scenes of pastoral Indonesia, rice paddies, volcanoes, palm trees and village huts are all common themes of these cloths. Colourful and durable as well as easily carried and kept among the limited personal effects most soldiers were permitted to have, such souvenirs were a tangible reminder of a soldier’s service.
