By the time the Allied forces arrived at the end of October 1945, the "Pemuda" ("youth") foothold in Surabaya City was described as "a strong unified fortress". Fighting broke out on 30 October after the British commander, Brigadier A. W. S. Mallaby was killed in a skirmish. The British retaliated with a co-ordinated sweep that began on 10 November, under the cover of air attacks. Although the Colonial forces largely captured the city in three days, the poorly armed Republicans fought for three weeks, and thousands died as the population fled to the countryside.