Defense on Aruba is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Netherlands Military forces that protect Aruba include the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Netherlands Marine Corps and the Netherlands Coastguard. There is also a small indigenous "Arubaanse Militie" of about platoon strength, and a shared Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard consisting of three Damen Stan 4100 patrol boats.
Hubertus Johannes "Huib" van Mook was a Dutch administrator in the East Indies. During the Indonesian National Revolution, he served as the Acting Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1942 to 1948. Van Mook also had a son named Cornelius van Mook who studied marine engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also wrote about Java - and his work on Kota Gede is a good example of a colonial bureaucrat capable of examining and writing about local folklore.
The Military William Order, or often named Military Order of William, is the oldest and highest honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is named after St. William of Gellone (755–814), the first Prince of Orange. Its motto is Voor Moed, Beleid en Trouw. The chivalric order was established on 30 April 1815 by King William I and was presented for feats of excellent bravery on the battlefield and as a meritorious decoration to senior military officers. Comparable with the French Légion d’Honneur but far less often awarded, it is open to everyone regardless of rank or nobility—not only to Dutch military, but also to foreigners. To date, membership in the Order is extremely rarely awarded, and only for exceptional bravery in battle.
Lieutenant General Gerardus Johannes Berenschot was Commander-in-Chief of the Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger. An Indo – as Eurasians of Indonesian and Dutch descent – Berenschot was the son of a Dutch officer in the KNIL.
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The KNIL's air arm was the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force. Elements of the Royal Netherlands Navy and Government Navy were also stationed in the Netherlands East Indies.
The Netherlands entered World War II on May 10, 1940, when invading German forces quickly overran the country. On December 7, 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Netherlands government in exile also declared war on Japan. Operation Market Garden, which started in 1944, liberated the southern and eastern parts of the country, but full liberation did not come until the surrender of Germany on May 5, 1945.
Colonial troops or colonial army refers to various military units recruited from, or used as garrison troops in, colonial territories.
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force was the air arm of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in the Dutch East Indies from 1939 until 1950. It was an entirely separate organisation from the Royal Netherlands Air Force.
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies, was a Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which declared independence on 17 August 1945. Following the Indonesian War of Independence, Indonesia and the Netherlands made peace in 1949. In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the Dutch ceded the governorate of Dutch Malacca to Britain, leading to its eventual incorporation into Malacca (state) of modern Malaysia.
Belanda Hitam was an Indonesian language term used to refer to Black soldiers recruited by the Dutch colonial empire for service in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL), the colonial army of the Dutch East Indies. The recruitment of Black soldiers into the KNIL resulted from a combination of factors, including the heavy losses suffered by Dutch forces in the Java War and concerns over the reliability of indigenous KNIL troops. Between 1831 and 1872, over 3,000 West Africans, mostly Akan people, were recruited from the Dutch Gold Coast for KNIL service in the East Indies.
Indos are a Eurasian people of mixed Indonesian and European descent. The earliest evidence of Eurasian communities in the East Indies coincides with the arrival of Portuguese traders in the 16th century. Eurasian communities, often with distinct, specific names, also appeared following the arrival of Dutch (VOC) traders in the 17th and 18th century.
Surinam, also unofficially known as Dutch Guiana, was a Dutch plantation colony in the Guianas, bordered by the equally Dutch colony of Berbice to the west, and the French colony of Cayenne to the east. It later bordered British Guiana from 1831 to 1966.
The Korps Marechaussee te voet were a colonial gendarmerie of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL), principally used for counter-insurgency in the Dutch East Indies.
Major-general Ludolph Hendrik van Oyen was the Chief of Staff of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army from 1942 to 1946, during World War II.
The Prins Hendrik Barracks are former barracks in the Netherlands city Nijmegen.
Portrait of a Wounded KNIL Soldier is an Amsterdam impressionist portrait painting by Isaac Israëls, signed and dated to 1882. It has been in the Rijksmuseum since 2000.
The 1st Infantry Battalion of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army was a Dutch colonial military unit that was active in the Dutch East Indies during World War II and the Indonesian National Revolution.
The history of Suriname during World War II was mainly focused on protecting the bauxite industry and guarding the borders with French Guiana which was part of Vichy France. From November 1941 onwards, 2,000 American troops were stationed in Suriname who transformed Airstrip Zanderij into a major airport, and constructed defensive works. No actual battles took place in Suriname. There was a political crisis in 1943, because Governor Johannes Kielstra used the state of emergency to imprison political opponents.
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Women's Corps was the women's branch of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) that consisted of female oorlogsvrijwilligers. It was founded during World War II on 5 March 1944 in Melbourne and disbanded at the conclusion of the Indonesian War of Independence with the abolition of the KNIL on 26 July 1950.
The Royal Netherlands Army (Volunteer) Women's Auxiliary Corps was the women's branch of the Royal Army of the Netherlands Armed Forces from 1943 to 1952. The VHK was the predecessor of the Royal Netherlands Army Women's Department, which existed from 1951 to 1982.
