H. L. Van den Ende was a Dutch first lieutenant of infantry in Atjeh in 1876, commanding the 4th company of the 8th Infantry Battalion at the storming of Lambaroe on 7 March 1876, where he led the storming party at the southern face of the enemy fortification.
Lambaroe, 7 March 1876
Van den Ende, described by H. F. Meijer as a small but nothing less fearless officer, was ordered by Major Van Teijn to take a working share in the assault at the south face. With Second Lieutenant Boersma and some twelve native soldiers he fought through the bamboo-thorn abatis, crossed a dry ditch, and came to the foot of the outer slope of the breastwork before some forty lance- and klewang-armed Atjehers. Determined to storm, he was about to give his men the example, when the native sergeant Tiero pulled him suddenly aside — saving him from an Atjehnese lance thrust. Recognising that to press on alone would be a heroic folly, he collected his little party in the ditch, where more men joined.
The enemy, mistaking the small backward movement for hesitation, sprang over the breastwork at the little band and was largely shot down. One Atjeher came at Van den Ende with drawn klewang; the officer sprang forward and grappled with him, taking a bite in his left arm; Boersma’s revolver misfired, but the native fusilier Makarahha ran the Atjeher through with the bayonet. Freed, Van den Ende went on again and was — with sergeant Tiero — the first on the enemy breastwork and inside the work.
See Also
- Storming of Lambaroe (7 March 1876)
- 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, pp. 135–136.