Anthonie Peter de Graaff (

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, 12 April 1928 –

Waalwijk Waalwijk () is a municipality and a city in the southern Netherlands. It had a population of in and is located near the motorways A59 and N261. The villages of Capelle, Vrijhoeve-Capelle, Sprang (the former municipality of Sprang-Capelle) and ...

, 4 January 2008) was a Dutch writer. The author, who himself served in the Dutch East Indies from March 1949 to the beginning of October 1950 as sergeant

combat medic A combat medic, or healthcare specialist, is responsible for providing emergency medical treatment at a point of wounding in a combat or training environment, as well as primary care and health protection and evacuation from a point of injury ...

of the 425th Infantry Battalion, has written twenty books about the issues faced by the soldiers (mainly

conscripts Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day und ...

) who were sent to the East Indies during the ''

politionele acties ' ( en, police actions) refers to two major military offensives undertaken by the Netherlands on Java and Sumatra against the Republic of Indonesia during its struggle for independence in the Indonesian National Revolution. In Indonesia they ar ...

'' in the wake of

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 opposing ...

. De Graaff's best known work is the book ''De heren worden bedankt'', with a total of seven editions. With his books, De Graaff had become a mouthpiece for many Dutch veterans of the Indonesian War of Independence and he exposed abuses that happened to Dutch soldiers during and after the conflict. In 1995, a reconciliation trip by De Graaff to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, which also involved talks with former enemies, led to commotion among his veteran audience. In 2000, De Graaff was knighted in 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 ...

. In 2007 he was awarded the ''Kolonel J.L.H.A. Antoni Waardering'' by the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

for his books. De Graaff died on 4 January 2008 of a

cerebral infarction A cerebral infarction is the pathologic process that results in an area of necrotic tissue in the brain (cerebral infarct). It is caused by disrupted blood supply ( ischemia) and restricted oxygen supply ( hypoxia), most commonly due to thromboemb ...

, aged 79. His 19th book (''Eindelijk erkenning'') was published in the spring of 2008. De Graaff's 20th and last book, of which he had written 56 pages at the time of his death, was published posthumously in January 2009. Its title is ''Vaarwel, kameraad!''

Published works

*''De heren worden bedankt: met het vergeten leger in Indië, 1949–1950''. 1986. *''De weg terug: het vergeten leger toen en nu''. 1988. *''Brieven uit het veld: het vergeten leger thuis''. 1989. *''De heren worden bedankt; De weg terug; Brieven uit het veld''. 1990. (a hardcover bundle of De Graaff's first three books) *''Met de T.N.I. op stap: de laatste patrouille van het vergeten leger''. 1991. *''Notities van een soldaat: het dagboek van soldaat A.A. van der Heiden''. 1994. *''Zeg, Hollands soldaat…'' 1995. *''Merdeka''. 1995. *''Vertel het je kinderen, veteraan!'' 1999. *''Levenslang op patrouille''. 2000. *''De laatste patrouille''. 2001. *''Op patrouille in blessuretijd''. 2001. *''Indië-veteraan ben je levenslang''. 2002. *''Indië blijft ons bezighouden''. 2003. *''Indië vergeet je nooit!'' 2004. *''Indië bepaalde ons leven''. 2004. *''Indonesië als eindstation''. 2005. *''Leven in twee werelden''. 2007. *''Indië blijft onze denkwereld''. 2007. *''Eindelijk erkenning''. 2008. *''Vaarwel, kameraad!'' 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graaff, Anton P. de 1928 births 2008 deaths Dutch male writers Dutch veterans' rights activists Indonesianists Knights of the Order of Orange-Nassau Royal Netherlands East Indies Army personnel Writers from Amsterdam