Gotfried Coenraad Ernst van Daalen
Gotfried Coenraad Ernst van Daalen | |
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KNIL | |
Battles/wars | Aceh War |
Gotfried Coenraad Ernst "Frits" van Daalen (23 March 1863 – 22 February 1930) was a Dutch military officer of the
Biography
Van Daalen was named after his Dutch father, Gotfried Coenraad Ernst (Frits) van Daalen, who was born in
As a young officer with the rank of lieutenant and captain, van Daalen was awarded several prestigious military distinctions for proven bravery. He first became Knight of the
Although notorious for his controversial approach during the final phases of the protracted Aceh War and his consequent conflicts with both
He was eventually promoted to the highest rank of
Controversy
Van Daalen's Gajo-, Alas-, and Batak Campaign of the Aceh War in 1904 is mostly remembered for his brutal crackdown of the last Acehnese and Batak pockets of resistance. His force included 10 European officers, 13 European non-commissioned officers, and 208 Javanese and Ambonese military police officers (Dutch: Marechaussee). Particularly, the battle at Koetö Réh, which was built by the Alas people, stood out, as the rebels refused to surrender, and the death toll of 561 fighters included 189 women and 59 children.[3] During the 1904 campaign, van Daalen lost 12 men and caused the death of at least 2,922 civilians, including at least 1,149 women and children.[2]
The press reported on the death toll,
Although absolved from any crimes, van Daalen had a permanent stain on his reputation, and all of his subsequent promotions were contentious. After the investigation, van Daalen re-enlisted.[2]
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Van Daalen (second from the left) and four of his senior officers during the "Gajo-, Alas-, and Batak Campaign", 1904.
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The infamous photograph of the Koetö Réh rebel stronghold in Alasland after the KNIL troops destroyed it that swayed Dutch public opinion against Van Daalen's brutal approach during the final stages of the Aceh War.
See also
- Aceh War
- Kuta Reh massacre
- Alas people
- Gayonese people
- Henricus Marinus Neeb
- Mỹ Lai massacre
Publications
- Vilan van de Loo: De Atjeh-generaal. Het militaire leven van Frits van Daalen. Amsterdam, Uitgeverij Prometheus, 2024. ISBN 9789044654554
References
- ^ Naarding, W. Het conflict Snouck Hurgronje-Van Daalen. Een onderzoek naar de verantwoordelijkheid. (Utrecht, 1938)
- ^ a b c d e H.L. Zwitzer (1989). "Daalen, Gotfried Coenraad Ernst van (1863–1930)". Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands (in Dutch). Retrieved 26 January 2022.
- ISBN 9789062879458.
- kampungLikat 220 men killed, 2 wounded, none taken prisoner; in kampung Kuta Lingat Baro 344 men killed, 1 wounded, none taken prisoner; etc. etc.