The Netherlands Armed Forces are the military services of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The core of the armed forces consists of the four service branches: the Royal Netherlands Navy, the Royal Netherlands Army, the Royal Netherlands Air Force and the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. The service branches are supplemented by various joint support organisations. In addition, local conscript forces exist on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba (AruMil) and Curaçao (CurMil). These operate under the auspices of the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Netherlands Marine Corps. The armed forces are organisationally part of the Ministry of Defence.
The International Four Day Marches Nijmegen is the largest multiple day marching event in the world. It is organised every year in Nijmegen, Netherlands in mid-July as a means of promoting sport and exercise. Participants walk 30, 40 or 50 kilometres daily depending on their age and gender and, on completion, receive a royally approved medal (Vierdaagsekruis). The participants are mostly civilians, but there are also a few thousand military participants.
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.
In the Dutch honours system, most orders are the responsibility of ministers of the Netherlands Government. The house orders, however, are awarded at the discretion of the Dutch monarch alone.
The Honorary Medal for Charitable Assistance was created at 18 June 1822 and is after the Military William Order the oldest decoration for bravery in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Furthermore, the Honorary Medal is the highest civilian decoration still being awarded for bravery, and is specifically for those who carried out a voluntary act of bravery or self-sacrifice, with an emphasis on charity.
Christianus Petrus Eliza Robidé van der Aa was a Dutch jurist and author. He was the son of Pierre Jean Baptiste Charles van der Aa.
The avondvierdaagse is an annual Dutch and Surinamese walking event where the participants walk for four days.
The Star for Loyalty and Merit was a civilian award established on 1 January 1894 by Governor-General Carel Herman Aart van der Wijck of the Dutch East Indies. The star replaced the old Medal for Civil Merit, which had limited prestige and status according to the Netherlands government. The star was awarded in gold to "significant and meritorious" natives, and in silver to village chiefs and leaders of the "Eastern foreigner" communities. Dutch (Europeans) were not eligible to receive the star.
The Aceh Medal was founded by King William III of the Netherlands on May 12, 1874, in a royal decree. The medal was presented to troops participating in the First Aceh Expedition and the Second Aceh Expedition.
The Cross for the Four Day Marches is a Dutch decoration awarded for successful participation in the International Four Days Marches Nijmegen held annually at Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The full title of the decoration is Kruis Voor Betoonde Marsvaardigheid. It is more commonly referred to as the Vierdaagse Cross or Vierdaagsekruis.
The Orderly Medal of the Four Day Marches was awarded between in 1965 and 2016 by the KNBLO, or Royal Dutch League for Physical Education, to those who gave support to walkers participating in the International Four Days Marches held annually at Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Klaas Sybrandi, also spelled as Sijbrandi, was a Dutch Mennonite minister, author, translator and involved with several societies and foundations.
The Korps Commandotroepen (KCT) is the special forces unit of the Royal Netherlands Army. It is one of the three principal units tasked with special operations in the Netherlands armed forces. The KCT is tasked with conducting the full spectrum of special operations, focusing on direct action, special reconnaissance, military assistance and counter-terrorism in particular. Its operations are planned and coordinated by the Netherlands Special Operations Command, as are the operations of NLMARSOF.
Cornelis "Cees" Vervoorn is a retired swimmer from the Netherlands. He competed at the 1976, 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics in seven events; in 1980, he finished fourth, sixth and seventh in the 100 m and 200 m butterfly and 4 × 100 m medley relay, respectively. In the 100 m butterfly final, he clocked 55.25, missing the bronze medal by 0.12 s. In the semifinal he swam 55.02, qualifying first for the final.
Berg en Dal is a municipality in the eastern Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It was formed through a merger of the municipalities of Groesbeek, Millingen aan de Rijn and Ubbergen in 2015. The resulting larger municipality maintained the name of Groesbeek until 2016, when it was renamed to Berg en Dal after the village of Berg en Dal.
Johannes Bernardus "Joop" Odenthal was a Dutch footballer, baseball player and football manager. He competed in the men's tournament at the 1952 Summer Olympics, representing the Netherlands.
The Royal Dutch League for Physical Education was a Dutch sports association, focused on sporting and recreational walking. It existed from 1908 until 2015. After a merger with the Netherlands Sports-Walking Organisation in 2004 it was renamed the KNBLO Wandelsportorganisatie Nederland. On 1 January 2015 it and the Dutch Sports-Walking League merged to form the Royal Walking League of the Netherlands. The resulting organisation has 100,000 members and is a major sports association within the NOC*NSF.
The Stadstekenacademie was an 18th-century art academy in Amsterdam. It was the precursor of the Koninklijke Academie and the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten. Other Dutch towns such as Haarlem also had a drawing academy.
Stephanus Gerardus Axters (1901–1977) was a Belgian scholar with a particular interest in the history and literature of Christian mysticism.
The 12 cm K.A. was a Dutch fortress, siege and naval rifled bronze breechloading gun. In the Dutch army it was called Kanon Brons getrokken van 12 cm K.A.. In the Dutch navy: Kanon van 12 cm A No. 2. It was produced in substantial numbers in the Netherlands. There were also steel and steel bronze versions.
