Henri Winkelman
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- This page is about the Dutch general, for the town in Arizona see: Winkelman, Arizona.
| Henri Winkelman | |
| Born | August 17, 1876 Maastricht, Netherlands |
|---|---|
| Died | December 27, 1952 (aged 76) Soesterberg, Netherlands |
Henri Gerard Winkelman (August 17, 1876 - December 27, 1952) was a Dutch General best known for his command of the Dutch troops during the German invasion of the Netherlands.
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[edit] Pre-war
Winkelman was born in Maastricht as the son of Julius Hendrik Winkelman and Charlotte Henriëtte Braams. After he completed his secondary education he attended the Royal Military Academy (KMA) in Breda. His goal was to become an officer in the KNIL, the Dutch Colonial Army. During his training he adjusted his goal and became an infantry officer, he was promoted to Lieutenant in 1896. He married Arendin Jacomina Coert in 1902 who would give him 2 sons and 2 daughters. After being successfully educated in the art of war, he began to climb up the ranks of the Dutch army. In 1913 he was promoted to Captain, in 1923 he became a Major and in 1931 he had made it to be a General and became the commander of the Dutch 4th division. In 1934 he became a lieutenant General and left the military after an honorary discharge because General I.H. Reijnders was chosen as supreme commander. However, being a retired officer, he remained active in a number of ways, mostly in a passive way by giving advice.
When the war began in September 1939 and the Dutch had mobilised their army, there was a lot of friction between Adriaan Dijxhoorn, the Dutch secretary of defence, and the supreme commander Reijnders leading to the latter’s discharge. This proved to be risky situation as the Netherlands now lacked a commander in chief. After a brief meeting of the Dutch cabinet Winkelman was summoned to The Hague (the seat of the Dutch government) and was offered to become the new Dutch commander. He accepted.
[edit] War
Winkelman was appointed as the supreme commander in a period in which the situation wasn't very favourable. Winkelman was convinced that the Dutch defence should be centered on the heart of the country (approximately the area now occupied by the Randstad) and that the focus should be on a defensive war which would last until the Allies were able to repulse the German offensive. The question was if the Dutch should defend along the rivers (Rhine, Meuse, like they had against the French and Spanish in the Napoleonic Wars and Eighty Years' War (and like the Germans did in 1944 against the Allies) or if they should fortify the Veluwe. Because along the rivers there was very little shelter and the Germans would be superior in the air, Winkelman choose to fortify the Veluwe.
However when the Germans attacked the Netherlands on May 10th, 1940, they did something Winkelman had not counted on. At first the German Army did what Winkelman expected, apart from the excessive use of paratroopers. They crossed the Dutch border with relative ease, and were stopped near the main Dutch defences. Though the German Blitzkrieg tactics, which overwhelmed the Allies proved to be so successful, the Dutch Army surprisingly stopped the German invasion for almost five days. The German paratroop attack on The Hague turned out to be a disaster, as did the attempt to cross the Afsluitdijk. Hitler had expected to conquer the Netherlands in one day, and on May 14, ordered that Dutch resistence be crushed at once. The bombing of Rotterdam followed, and with the same threat to other major Dutch cities, Winkelman was forced to sign the document of surrender.
[edit] Post-War
After he had signed the Dutch surrender, he refused to collaborate with the Germans in any way and was therefore interned on 2 July 1940 for the remainder of the war. He was honourably discharged after the war on October 1st 1945 and given the Order of William, the oldest and highest honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. An army base in Nunspeet was named the Generaal Winkelmankazerne in his honour, which was transferred to another base at Harskamp as of May 15th 2007 after the former closed down. He died peacefully in his home on December 27th 1952.
[edit] References
- de Jong Dr. L., Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de Tweede Wereldoorlog, Staatsuitgeverij, The Hague, 1981
- Middelkoop T. van, Een soldaat doet zijn plicht, Europese Bibliotheek, Zaltbommel, 2002
- Go2War2 (Respected and authoritative Dutch website on World War II)
- De Bange Meidagen van '40, Lecturama, Rotterdam, 1978
- Nederlands Legermuseum (Dutch Army Museum)
- Verzetsmuseum (Dutch Resistance Museum)
