Adrianus Antonius van Nijnatten (9 February 1880 – 15 August 1948) was a Dutch military officer who served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Biography

Adrianus Antonius van Nijnatten was born on 9 February 1880 in Breda to Gerardus van Nijnatten and Cornelia Koremans. In 1899 he entered as a cadet at the Royal Military Academy in Breda, where he was sworn in around 1904 as a

2nd lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

and was stationed in Doesburg. On 30 October 1905 he married Sofia Louisa Kats in Breda. He had four daughters with her. From 1909 to 1914 he served as a 2nd lieutenant in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army on Celebes. From 1914 to 1921 he was a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in Breda and then in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

, where he later became a

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. Afterwards he was stationed in Venlo as an instructor of the Civil Guard Limburg. Until 1935 he was commander of the 13th Infantry Regiment in Maastricht with the rank of lieutenant colonel. From 1935 to 1938 he was a colonel and commandant of the forces in Amersfoort. On 1 May 1938 he was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and made commander of the Third Army Corps. During the Dutch mobilization following the outbreak of

, he operated out of the headquarters in

Vught Vught () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, and lies just south of the industrial and administrative centre of 's-Hertogenbosch. Many commuters live in the municipality, and the town of Vugh ...

. During the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 he commanded the Third Army Corps in the south and oversaw their retreat behind the water lines. In July 1940 he was demobilized. In May 1942 he went with all the Dutch officers into captivity, first being incarcerated in a hospital in Aachen, then in Nuremberg, Germany. After a few months he was released because he was over 60 years of age. Following a search for him during the beginning of the liberation in June 1944, he went into hiding in Den Bosch. After the liberation of Breda in October 1944 he went to

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022, Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (23 August 1939) * Order of Orange-Nassau ribbon

Knight of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

(4 June 1926) * Officierskruis baton

Officers' Cross (6 December 1917) * Ribbon

Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice (9 March 1931) * BEL Kroonorde Grootofficier BAR

Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown (27 April 1939)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nijnatten, Adrianus Antonius van 1880 births 1948 deaths Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie People from Breda Royal Netherlands Army generals Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II