D. van den Berg

Properties2
tagsperson, officer, dutch, engineers, biographer, military-history
aliasesVan den Berg, Luitenant-Kolonel der Genie Van den Berg, D. van den Berg

6 min read

D. van den Berg was a Luitenant-Kolonel der Genie (Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers) of the Korps Ingenieurs, Mineurs en Sappeurs — at the time of writing, “in leven Luitenant-Kolonel der Genie” — who in September 1944 published the principal biography of Generaal C. J. Snijders under the title Cornelis Jacobus Snijders (1852–1939): Een leven in dienst van zijn Land en zijn Volk. The biography, the most substantial published source on Snijders’ early engineer service in Atjeh in 1874–1875 and on his later career as Opperbevelhebber van Land- en Zeemacht during the First World War, draws on Snijders’ own unfinished memoirs (Herinneringen uit mijn leven, completed to August 1914), on family papers provided by Mrs. W. M. A. Snijders-Meyer and Ir. C. J. Snijders, and on the cooperation of Luitenant-Generaal b.d. C. van Tuinen.

The Snijders Biography

Van den Berg’s biography, published at Voorburg in September 1944, is divided into three parts: the first covers Snijders’ youth and education (1852–1872); the second his career from commissioning to Opperbevelhebber (1872–1918); the third his retirement work for civil aviation and national defence (1918–1939). The Atjeh chapters, occupying pp. 21–36, give an unusually detailed ground-level account of engineer operations in the middle phase of the Atjeh-oorlog — including the Benting Kota Alam operation of 13 November 1874, the Missigit Longbatta work of 31 December 31 December 1874–January 1875, the Lamara Olejlo fortification of 15 February 15 February 1875, and the Mandarsah Poetih and Pungej Blang Tjoet works — and quote at length the eyewitness account of T. W. G. Merz as transmitted by C. A. Bannink. The chapters on Snijders’ Indies journeys of 1920, 1928, and 1929 (pp. 127–138) include the 1920 visit to Atjeh during which Snijders laid a wreath on the grave of Generaal-Majoor Pel at Kota Radja. A chronological levensloop is given at pp. 172–173.

Van den Berg writes in the third person and reproduces verbatim a number of Snijders’ own Herinneringen, marking them with the siglum “(H. L.)” — Herinneringen Loudon, after the form of address used by the memoirist for himself.

Place in the Atjeh-Historiography

Van den Berg’s biography, although not primarily a work of Atjeh historiography, is an important source for the Atjeh-oorlog precisely because it records in detail the engineer’s side of operations that are otherwise known mainly from the staff and infantry perspective. The technical descriptions of benting construction — sandbag breastworks, bamboe-doerie hedges, ranjoe plantings, traverses with Friesche ruiters, the use of vrije koelies and dwangarbeiders under fire — are otherwise sparsely documented. The biography also preserves the names of a number of engineer officers and infantry officers — Leers, Ruempol, van Zijll de Jong, Kromhout, Cramer, Van den Blijck, Bartelds, Merz — whose own service records are otherwise thin.

See Also

Source

D. van den Berg, Cornelis Jacobus Snijders (1852–1939): Een leven in dienst van zijn Land en zijn Volk (Voorburg: September 1944). Koninklijke Bibliotheek shelfmark 0301 4872. The biography’s preface and end-matter identify the family papers, the memoirs, and the cooperation of Luitenant-Generaal b.d. C. van Tuinen.

D. van den Berg was a Luitenant-Kolonel der Genie (Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineers) of the Korps Ingenieurs, Mineurs en Sappeurs — at the time of writing, “in leven Luitenant-Kolonel der Genie” — who in September 1944 published the principal biography of Generaal C. J. Snijders under the title Cornelis Jacobus Snijders (1852–1939): Een leven in dienst van zijn Land en zijn Volk. The biography, the most substantial published source on Snijders’ early engineer service in Atjeh in 1874–1875 and on his later career as Opperbevelhebber van Land- en Zeemacht during the First World War, draws on Snijders’ own unfinished memoirs (Herinneringen uit mijn leven, completed to August 1914), on family papers provided by Mrs. W. M. A. Snijders-Meyer and Ir. C. J. Snijders, and on the cooperation of Luitenant-Generaal b.d. C. van Tuinen.

The Snijders Biography

Van den Berg’s biography, published at Voorburg in September 1944, is divided into three parts: the first covers Snijders’ youth and education (1852–1872); the second his career from commissioning to Opperbevelhebber (1872–1918); the third his retirement work for civil aviation and national defence (1918–1939). The Atjeh chapters, occupying pp. 21–36, give an unusually detailed ground-level account of engineer operations in the middle phase of the Atjeh-oorlog — including the Benting Kota Alam operation of 13 November 1874, the Missigit Longbatta work of 31 December 31 December 1874–January 1875, the Lamara Olejlo fortification of 15 February 15 February 1875, and the Mandarsah Poetih and Pungej Blang Tjoet works — and quote at length the eyewitness account of T. W. G. Merz as transmitted by C. A. Bannink. The chapters on Snijders’ Indies journeys of 1920, 1928, and 1929 (pp. 127–138) include the 1920 visit to Atjeh during which Snijders laid a wreath on the grave of Generaal-Majoor Pel at Kota Radja. A chronological levensloop is given at pp. 172–173.

Van den Berg writes in the third person and reproduces verbatim a number of Snijders’ own Herinneringen, marking them with the siglum “(H. L.)” — Herinneringen Loudon, after the form of address used by the memoirist for himself.

Place in the Atjeh-Historiography

Van den Berg’s biography, although not primarily a work of Atjeh historiography, is an important source for the Atjeh-oorlog precisely because it records in detail the engineer’s side of operations that are otherwise known mainly from the staff and infantry perspective. The technical descriptions of benting construction — sandbag breastworks, bamboe-doerie hedges, ranjoe plantings, traverses with Friesche ruiters, the use of vrije koelies and dwangarbeiders under fire — are otherwise sparsely documented. The biography also preserves the names of a number of engineer officers and infantry officers — Leers, Ruempol, van Zijll de Jong, Kromhout, Cramer, Van den Blijck, Bartelds, Merz — whose own service records are otherwise thin.

See Also

Source

D. van den Berg, Cornelis Jacobus Snijders (1852–1939): Een leven in dienst van zijn Land en zijn Volk (Voorburg: September 1944). Koninklijke Bibliotheek shelfmark 0301 4872. The biography’s preface and end-matter identify the family papers, the memoirs, and the cooperation of Luitenant-Generaal b.d. C. van Tuinen.

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