Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

(Ret.) Mochammad Idjon Djanbi (13 May 1914 – 1 April 1977) previously known as Rodes Barendrecht "Rokus" Visser, also spelled as ''Barendregt'', was a Dutch-born

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesia ...

soldier who served as a Dutch commando during World War II, ''

Korps Speciale Troepen (KST; 'Special Forces Corps') was a Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) special forces unit that was established for deployment against the Indonesian revolutionaries during the Indonesian National Revolution. It was formed in 1948 with t ...

'' officer and eventually became first commander of Kopassus.

Military career

Military career during World War II

Born the son of a successful Tulip farmer. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939 Visser was drafted into the Dutch army. Visser fought during the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940. As a conscript

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

Visser was assigned to the Dutch Legion in United Kingdom. He volunteered in 1942 to be Radioman in No. 2 Dutch Troop, No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando. Along with other allied troops, Visser participated in his first battle in

Operation Market Garden Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...

, when the unit was incorporated into

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

. Two weeks later, Visser was reassigned to

101st Airborne Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute multiple battalion-size air assault operati ...

and landed in

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,Veghel. In the weeks that followed, he took part in the fierce battle in the region. Visser also made himself useful by capturing Germans who wanted to surrender. On 1 November 1944, Visser was reassigned to Royal Commando and conducted amphibious assault in Walcheren. This unit tried to land on 1 November in Westkapelle in Zeeland. However, the action led to so many losses that the Marines had to withdraw. The next morning another attempt was made, with Visser in charge of a number of landing craft ( LCVP). It worked and the marines advanced to Domburg. They went to Veere by vessels for the supply of ammunition and the removal of wounded. This all happened under enemy fire from snipers positioned in trees. Visser was awarded the Bronze Cross for his bravery during these operations.

Military Career in Royal Netherlands East Indies Army

Visser attended officer school prior to being sent to Asia. In 1945, he rejoined No. 2 Dutch Troop in India and attended a paratrooper school. In Ceylon, he underwent jungle training together with Raymond Westerling intended to join other

allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

forces in Asia to fight the Japan forces in

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 ...

. However, Japan was surrendered before Visser was sent to the

. Visser was assigned to be an instructor in a Dutch special forces school in India known as ''School Opleiding Parachutisten /SOP'' ( Paratrooper School). The school was later moved to

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

in 1946 and then moved again to

Hollandia Hollandia may refer to: * HVV Hollandia, Dutch football team * Hollandia Victoria Combinatie, defunct Dutch football team * ''Hollandia'' (1742 ship), a ship of the Dutch East India Company, wrecked in 1743 on her maiden voyage * Jayapura, a city ...

. During this time he also conducted operations with DST like the South Sulawesi campaign of 1946–1947. Visser grew to like living in the Dutch East Indies, and asked his wife (a British woman he had married during the war) and his son and daughters to remain with him in the Dutch East Indies. His wife wished to provide a more secure future for her children and she and her family returned to the UK where she opted for divorce. By the time he returned in 1947, the school had already moved to Cimahi,

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

, and Visser was promoted to

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 ...

. During 1947–1949, the paratrooper school led by Captain Visser continued to educate elite paratroopers until Indonesia's independence in 1949. Captain Visser then opted to stay in Indonesia as a civilian, moved to

, worked as a flower farmer in Pacet, Lembang, embraced

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

, married his Sundanese lover and adapted the name Mochammad Idjon Djanbi.

Military Career in Indonesian Army

On 15 April 1952, Colonel Alexander Evert Kawilarang began to form ''Kesatuan Komando Tentara Territorium'' III/Siliwangi (Kesko TT), the early name of Kopassus and the basis for this special forces unit. Not long after, Kawilarang managed to located and meet with Visser who had remained a peaceful and law-abiding citizen in the newly independent Indonesia, settled in West Java, married an Indonesian woman, and was known locally as ''Mochammad Idjon Djanbi''. He was the first recruit for the Army special forces and given the rank of major, as well as its first commander. Due to him, the unit which later became ''Kopassus'' wear red berets (color used by paratroopers wing Corps of Regiment Speciale Troepen and traditionally favored by airborne troops in Europe) instead of the distinctive green beret. In 1956, with increasing combat capability of special forces, Army leadership saw opportunity to place the unit under the hands of indigenous officers. Due to lack of tact, this angered Djanbi and caused him to resign his position as commander. Later he was given position at a plantation as a result of the nationalization of a number of foreign-owned plantation. Prior to his retirement in 1969, he was promoted to be lieutenant colonel at the special force anniversary.

Trivia

*He climbed several mountains in Europe and in Indonesia such as the

Lawu The Lawu ( jv, ꦭꦮꦸ), or Mount Lawu ( jv, ꦒꦸꦤꦸꦁꦭꦮꦸ, Gunung Lawu) is a massive compound stratovolcano straddling the border between East Java and Central Java, Indonesia. The north side is deeply eroded and the eastern s ...

, Mount Merapi and Bromo.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawilarang, Alexander Evert Dutch people of the Indonesian National Revolution Royal Netherlands East Indies Army officers Royal Netherlands East Indies Army personnel of World War II Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II Netherlands in World War II Dutch emigrants to Indonesia Indonesian military personnel 1914 births 1977 deaths Converts to Islam Indonesian former Christians Indonesian Muslims British Army personnel of World War II