G. M. A. Walpot was a Dutch second lieutenant of infantry in Atjeh in 1876, remembered in the official history of the war as the officer who, at the storming of Lambaroe on 7 March 1876, forced first — at the head of his men — the narrow, winding entrance through the breastwork of the enemy fortification.
Lambaroe, 7 March 1876
When Major Van Teijn had ordered the entrance at the eastern face of the great enemy work to be forced from both faces, Walpot pushed through the narrow opening at the eastern face immediately, followed by Captain J. R. Engelhard and a few European soldiers. The abatis of bamboo thorn that covered the approach was being pulled away only with difficulty by the native soldiers; in the press inside, the two officers — Meijer calls them forschgebouwd (powerfully built) — were quickly hand-to-hand with the Atjehnese defenders: Walpot received a klewang cut on the head, Engelhard one over the hand. The European corporal Wager and fusilier Deville sprang swiftly forward to help their officers and brought down several Atjehers; then the mass of the stormers poured in and the fight in the small interior, bloody and short, was decided in minutes.
See Also
- Storming of Lambaroe (7 March 1876)
- J. R. Engelhard
- General van Teijen
- Lambaroe
- Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876
Source
Atjeh van 26 December 1875 tot 4 September 1876, door H. F. Meijer (Breda: P. B. Nieuwenhuijs, 1883), chapter VI, p. 135.