Hugo Desiré Rijhiner (8 March 1905 – 6 January 1991) was a Surinamese officer in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army who was awarded the

Military William Order The Military William Order, or often named Military Order of William (Dutch: , abbreviation: MWO), 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 Oran ...

for his actions in the Battle of Rotterdam. Together with Harry Voss, Rijhiner remains one of only two Surinamese soldiers to have been awarded the Military William Order.

Biography

Rijhiner joined the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) in the 1920s. After he was promoted to

sub-lieutenant Sub-lieutenant is usually a junior officer rank, used in armies, navies and air forces. In most armies, sub-lieutenant is the lowest officer rank. However, in Brazil, it is the highest non-commissioned rank, and in Spain, it is the second high ...

on 24 June 1939, Rijhiner was granted a temporary leave from the military and subsequently left the

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 ...

for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, with the intention to travel onwards to Suriname. While he was in the Netherlands, the

Second World War 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 ...

broke out, and Rijhiner was mobilized for the war effort in Europe. During the Battle of Rotterdam, Rijhiner was responsible for the defence of an ammunition depot in

Overschie Overschie is a neighborhood of Rotterdam, Netherlands, formerly a separate village with its own municipality. The village of Overschie was located on the intersection of four rivers called "Schie": the Delftsche Schie, Schiedamsche Schie, Delfs ...

. While inspecting his troops on 12 May 1940, Rijhiner was shot in his left thigh by friendly fire, presumably because his wearing a KNIL uniform with a Dutch army coat and helmet was considered suspicious by one of the soldiers. Despite being wounded, and against the advice of his superiors, Rijhiner moved back to the front the next day, to defend the ammunition depot. This move was the basis for the decision to award Rijhiner with the Military William Order, which was promulgated by royal decree by Queen

Wilhelmina of the Netherlands Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World War ...

on 26 June 1946. After the surrender of the Dutch army on 14 May 1940, Rijhiner went into hiding and joined the Dutch resistance while adopting the hiding name "Reinier". He was eventually apprehended by the '' Sicherheitsdienst'' and after a short incarceration at

Scheveningen Scheveningen is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict (''wijk'') of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is po ...

prison sent to a camp in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

Notes

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rijhiner, Hugo Knights Fourth Class of the Military Order of William Royal Netherlands East Indies Army officers 1905 births 1991 deaths People from Paramaribo 20th-century Dutch military personnel Royal Netherlands East Indies Army personnel of World War II Dutch resistance members