The officier van Gezondheid — officer of health — was the medical officer of the Netherlands Indies Army, attached to the larger garrisons and posts in Atjeh.
P. H. R. Beuming records that on the large posts of the geconcentreerde linie an officier van Gezondheid was stationed and a sick-room was found, and that most overseas posts and main bentings likewise had sick-rooms and a medical officer.
In action
The medical officer’s conduct under fire supplies one of Beuming’s set pieces. In the patrol of 7 March 1896 the officer of health 2nd class C. van der Meer, while bandaging the wounded, was struck by a shot in the head and fell unconscious; scarcely returned to consciousness, wijdde deze kranige officier van Gezondheid zich onverwijld weder aan zijn taak en verbond de gewonden, zonder zich over zijn eigen wond te bekommeren — this gallant officer of health devoted himself again without delay to his task and bandaged the wounded without troubling about his own wound. Beuming calls it voorwaar een toonbeeld van opofferende naastenliefde, truly a model of self-sacrificing charity.
After the surprise of Anak Galoeng, with four officers and twenty-nine other ranks wounded, de officier van Gezondheid had de handen vol werk en allen, die niet gewond waren, hielpen mede verbinden — the officer of health had his hands full and all who were not wounded helped to bandage. At Lho-Nga on 25 September 1897 the wounded of the Goeah Teroes patrol were brought into the sick-room and treated at once by the officer of health.
See Also
- C. van der Meer
- Patrol of Captain Van Blokland (7 March 1896)
- Surprise of Ana’ Galoeng (29 June 1896)
- Patrol to the Goeah Teroes on the Glé Betoes (25 September 1897)
- Voorpostenbenting
- Panteh-Perak
Source
Schetsen uit den strijd op Groot-Atjeh, met speciaal vervaardigde kaart en toepasselijke photo’s, bewerkt door P. H. R. Beuming, oud-onderofficier van het Ned.-Indische Leger (Amsterdam, December 1911; uitgegeven ten bate van het te stichten Herstellingsoord voor Rijks-Ambtenaren). Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen, Br N 82-144
Acknowledgement of sources. The material in this article derives from Schetsen uit den strijd op Groot-Atjeh, met speciaal vervaardigde kaart en toepasselijke photo’s, bewerkt door P. H. R. Beuming, oud-onderofficier van het Ned.-Indische Leger (Amsterdam, December 1911). Dutch passages are quoted in the original with an English rendering.