Gerardus Johannes Berenschot

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Gerardus Johannes Berenschot (July 24, 1887, Sumatra – October 13, 1941, Java) was born in the Dutch East Indies. The son of a Dutch KNIL officer and an Indonesian woman, Berenschot was sent to the Netherlands at the age of 15, where he attended a cadet school at Alkmaar. He later entered the Royal Military College, from which he graduated first in his class.

Upon graduation, he was sent back to his native East Indies where he distinguished himself as a young subaltern serving in the KNIL (Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger) during the bloody campaigns in Aceh.

In 1934 he became the KNIL's Chief of the General Staff, and in July 1939 was replaced by Hein ter Poorten upon his promotion to Commander-in-Chief.

An extremely gifted officer with phenomenal organisational skills, General Berenschot was perhaps the best Commander-in-Chief the KNIL ever knew. Not only was he well trained in the arts of warfare, but he also displayed an impressive understanding of politics and diplomacy.

Following the fall of the Netherlands in 1940, General Berenschot successfully participated in the Singapore Conferences, where he was well liked and well regarded by his British and American counterparts.

On October 13, 1941, the plane carrying the General back from a conference with British Air Chief Marshal Brooke-Popham crashed in one of the native suburbs of Batavia. There were no survivors.

General Johannes Bereschot's post of Commander-in-Chief of the KNIL was given to Lieutenant General Hein Ter Poorten, who had the difficult task of preparing the East Indies for the coming war with Japan.