4de (IVde) Divisie Marechaussee

Properties2
tagsorganization, military, dutch, colonial, knil, marechaussee, atjeh, world-war-ii
aliases4e Divisie Marechaussee, Vierde Divisie Marechaussee, IVde Divisie Marechaussee, Tangse-Geumpang Maréchaussee divisie

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The 4de (IVde) Divisie Marechaussee was the Tangse–Geumpang division of the Korps Maréchaussee van Atjeh en Onderhorigen during 1940–1942, the principal Dutch formation of the central-northern Atjeh plateau guerrilla theatre. In the Dutch staff history’s account (Deel VI, Hoofdstuk V), the IVde Divisie is the staff history’s principal narrative unit of the planned central-northern Atjeh guerrilla — the formation whose brigades were to operate from the Tangse–Geumpang plateau against the Japanese flank and rear in the event of a Japanese landing at Kotaradja.

Organisation as of 1 January 1940

As of 1 January 1940, the IVde Divisie Marechaussee was grouped as follows (each brigade of Maréchaussee numbering 20 men):

Total: 6 brigades (about 120 men).

Operations 1940–1942

The IVde Divisie’s Tangsé detachment was commanded from 1 December 1 December 1941 by Lt Onvlee — the officer entrusted with the safeguarding of the vaandel of the Korps Maréchaussee. When the F. beweging rising broke out in February 1942, the IVde Divisie’s brigades were among the nearest Maréchaussee brigades ordered by Colonel Gosenson on 23 February 23 February to march to Seulimeum for the suppression of the rising — the deployment that would form the initial element of the Seulimeum-colonne.

The IVde Divisie’s Tangsé and Geumpang positions were also the designated refuge of the 2de hoofdgroep under Lt-Col Bekkers after the Japanese landings of 12 March 12 March — the plateau on which the 2de Garnizoensbataljon was to conduct the planned guerrilla in cooperation with the IVde Divisie brigades. The staff history records the failure of this plan: the collapse of the Poort stelling on 13 March 13 March and the capitulation of Tangse on 18 March 1942 ended the planned central-northern guerrilla before it had begun.

Significance

The IVde Divisie is, in the staff history’s Atjeh chapter, the principal narrative unit of the planned central-northern Atjeh guerrilla — the formation whose existence was the basis of the Dutch operational plan for a sustained guerrilla in the Tangse–Geumpang plateau after a Japanese landing. The staff history’s emphasis on the IVde Divisie’s progressive commitment to the Seulimeum-colonne in February 1942 — and on the subsequent collapse of the Tangse stelling in March 1942 — frames the IVde Divisie as the staff history’s principal instance of the structural failure of the Dutch guerrilla plan: the formation whose existence was to have enabled the guerrilla was itself dissolved before the guerrilla could be launched.

See Also

Source

Nederlands-Indië contra Japan, Deel VI: De strijd op Ambon, Timor en Sumatra, bewerkt door C. van den Hoogenband en L. Schotborgh (‘s-Gravenhage: Staatsdrukkerij- en Uitgeverijbedrijf, 1959), Hoofdstuk V (“De strijd in Noord-Sumatra (Atjeh)”), pp. 114–155.

The 4de (IVde) Divisie Marechaussee was the Tangse–Geumpang division of the Korps Maréchaussee van Atjeh en Onderhorigen during 1940–1942, the principal Dutch formation of the central-northern Atjeh plateau guerrilla theatre. In the Dutch staff history’s account (Deel VI, Hoofdstuk V), the IVde Divisie is the staff history’s principal narrative unit of the planned central-northern Atjeh guerrilla — the formation whose brigades were to operate from the Tangse–Geumpang plateau against the Japanese flank and rear in the event of a Japanese landing at Kotaradja.

Organisation as of 1 January 1940

As of 1 January 1940, the IVde Divisie Marechaussee was grouped as follows (each brigade of Maréchaussee numbering 20 men):

Total: 6 brigades (about 120 men).

Operations 1940–1942

The IVde Divisie’s Tangsé detachment was commanded from 1 December 1 December 1941 by Lt Onvlee — the officer entrusted with the safeguarding of the vaandel of the Korps Maréchaussee. When the F. beweging rising broke out in February 1942, the IVde Divisie’s brigades were among the nearest Maréchaussee brigades ordered by Colonel Gosenson on 23 February 23 February to march to Seulimeum for the suppression of the rising — the deployment that would form the initial element of the Seulimeum-colonne.

The IVde Divisie’s Tangsé and Geumpang positions were also the designated refuge of the 2de hoofdgroep under Lt-Col Bekkers after the Japanese landings of 12 March 12 March — the plateau on which the 2de Garnizoensbataljon was to conduct the planned guerrilla in cooperation with the IVde Divisie brigades. The staff history records the failure of this plan: the collapse of the Poort stelling on 13 March 13 March and the capitulation of Tangse on 18 March 1942 ended the planned central-northern guerrilla before it had begun.

Significance

The IVde Divisie is, in the staff history’s Atjeh chapter, the principal narrative unit of the planned central-northern Atjeh guerrilla — the formation whose existence was the basis of the Dutch operational plan for a sustained guerrilla in the Tangse–Geumpang plateau after a Japanese landing. The staff history’s emphasis on the IVde Divisie’s progressive commitment to the Seulimeum-colonne in February 1942 — and on the subsequent collapse of the Tangse stelling in March 1942 — frames the IVde Divisie as the staff history’s principal instance of the structural failure of the Dutch guerrilla plan: the formation whose existence was to have enabled the guerrilla was itself dissolved before the guerrilla could be launched.

See Also

Source

Nederlands-Indië contra Japan, Deel VI: De strijd op Ambon, Timor en Sumatra, bewerkt door C. van den Hoogenband en L. Schotborgh (‘s-Gravenhage: Staatsdrukkerij- en Uitgeverijbedrijf, 1959), Hoofdstuk V (“De strijd in Noord-Sumatra (Atjeh)”), pp. 114–155.

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