Franciscus Cornelis Gerardus "Fred" van der Poel (5 February 1902 – 23 January 1980) was a Dutch military officer, and a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. He played one match for the

Netherlands national football team The Netherlands national football team ( nl, Nederlands voetbalelftal or simply ''Het Nederlands elftal'') has represented the Netherlands in international men's football matches since 1905. The men's national team is controlled by the Royal Du ...

in 1923. During World War II, he was taken prisoner of war by Japan and worked on the Burma Railway. He survived and fought in the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...

on the Dutch side.

Biography

Van der Poel was born on 5 February 1902 in

Surakarta Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and Sukoh ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. Between 1922 and 1923, he played for . He played in one match for the

in 1923 which was a 8–1 victory against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In 1921, van der Poel joined the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. On 14 February 1925, he left for the Dutch East Indies as

second 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 ...

in the infantry. On 15 August 1942,

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 ...

van der Poel was taken prisoner of war by Japan. He was first sent to No.4 Branch Camp in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

. On 25 January 1943, he was shipped from Batavia by ''Tacoma Maru 2'', and arrived in Changi Prison in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

on 28 January. On 18 April, he was transferred by train 58 to Camp Nong Pladuk near Ban Pong,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. Camp Nong Pladuk was a transit camp from which prisoners were put to work on the Burma Railway. Van der Poel survived World War II, however the

started. In 1946, he was promoted

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 ...

and stationed at

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...

, Java. In April 1948, he became vice-chairman of the ''Voetbalbond Batavia''. In 1949, the Netherlands recognised Indonesian independence. Therefore, van der Poel was honourably discharged on 25 July 1950, due to the dissolution of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. Van der Poel died on 23 January 1980 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, Netherlands, at the age of 77.

References

External links

Fred van der Poel at Voetbal Stats
(in Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Poel, Fred van der 1902 births 1980 deaths Dutch footballers Netherlands international footballers Association football goalkeepers People from Surakarta Royal Netherlands East Indies Army officers Royal Netherlands East Indies Army personnel of World War II Burma Railway prisoners