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 ...

Ludolph Hendrik van Oyen (25 April 1889, in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

– 28 July 1953) was the Chief of Staff of the

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. Th ...

from 1942 to 1946, during

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 ...

History

Ludolph Hendrik van Oyen began his military career at the cadet school in Alkmaar from 1906, then, until 1911, at the Royal Military Academy in Breda. From 1922 to 1925 he attended the rank of captain in the Secondary School in The Hague and was afterwards appointed Major and commander of the

ML-KNIL The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force ( nl, Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL) was the air arm of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1939 until ...

. He would remain this under various ranks until he was promoted to Major General in 1940. As commander, he managed to expand the view of the Japanese advance at the beginning of war.

World War II

In 1942 he was appointed deputy commander of Vice-Marshal Sir

Richard Peirse Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Edmund Charles Peirse, (30 September 1892 – 5 August 1970), served as a senior Royal Air Force commander. RAF career The son of Admiral Sir Richard Peirse and his wife Blanche Melville Wemyss-Whittaker, Richard ...

, who commanded the air forces within the ABDACOM, a collaboration between the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and Australian forces on February 25, 1942, and conducted by Senior General Sir Archibald Wavell. After the

Battle of the Java Sea The Battle of the Java Sea ( id, Pertempuran Laut Jawa, ja, スラバヤ沖海戦, Surabaya oki kaisen, Surabaya open-sea battle, Javanese : ꦥꦼꦫꦁꦱꦼꦒꦫꦗꦮ, romanized: ''Perang Segara Jawa'') was a decisive naval battle o ...

the Japanese landed on

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 mos ...

on March 7, and Van Oyen fled along with

Hubertus van Mook Hubertus Johannes "Huib" van Mook (30 May 1894 – 10 May 1965) was a Dutch administrator in the East Indies. During the Indonesian National Revolution, he served as the Acting Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1942 to 1948.Kahin ...

to Australia. Three days later the Dutch East Indies capitulated. In Australia, Van Oyen was charged with completing the flight training of pilots for the

Royal Netherlands Military Flying School Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

who also had gone to Australia. This flight training finally took place on the U.S. airbase in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

. In October 1943, Van Oyen was promoted to

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

and deputy army commander of the KNIL, replacing Lieutenant General

Hein ter Poorten Hein ter Poorten (21 November 1887 – 15 January 1968) was a Dutch military officer. He was the commander of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in World War II. Ter Poorten was also Allied land forces commander in the American-British-Dutch- ...

, who at that time was taken prisoner by the Japanese. Oyens task was rebuilding the Dutch armed forces with a view to a Japanese surrender.

Indonesian war of independence

After the Dutch East Indies was largely recaptured again in 1945 he tried to persuade the British to recover Dutch authority. The KNIL was still under the authority of the British at that time. Both Dutch and British generals felt that Sukarno and the newly proclaimed Republic of Indonesia had to be crushed but the British, led by Lord Mountbatten, and the commander 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 ...

Philip Christison General Sir Alexander Frank Philip Christison, 4th Baronet, (17 November 1893 – 21 December 1993) was a British Army officer who served with distinction during the world wars. After service as a junior officer on the Western Front in the Fir ...

, refused. Eventually Van Oyen offered, as a last means of pressure, his resignation to Van Mook and Lt.-Admiral

Conrad Helfrich Lieutenant Admiral Conrad Emil Lambert Helfrich (11 October 1886 – 20 September 1962) of the Royal Netherlands Navy was a leading Dutch naval figure of World War II. He was born in Semarang. World War II Helfrich was appointed overall com ...

. He was succeeded by Lieutenant-General

Simon Hendrik Spoor General Simon Hendrik Spoor (; 12 January 1902 – 25 May 1949) was the Chief of Staff of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army and the Royal Dutch Army in the Dutch East Indies, from 1946 to 1949, during the Indonesian National Revolution. Car ...

, whose ideas did not differ much from those of Van Oyen. He received an honorable discharge in January 1946.

Trivia

Van Oyen remained until his death in 1953 commander of the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

Corps. He was a knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion, Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, a member of the Order of the Bath, Commander of the Order of Merit and 5th class Silver Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari (Poland).

References

Biography
Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oyen, Ludolph Hendrik van 1889 births 1953 deaths Royal Netherlands East Indies Army generals Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie Military personnel from The Hague