Hanff is a subject named in General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh (1943) by M. H. du Croo, in connection with the history of Atjeh and the governorship of H. N. A. Swart.
Account in du Croo’s Generaal Swart (1943)
From Tgk. di Barat
The marechaussée had crept up to the side of and above the huts; then the group under sergeant Hanff flew through the stream to the waterfall and let itself fall with the water down to the huts. However great the shock to the Teungkoe and his people, they were used to war and instantly ready. The Teungkoe took position among the great stones with his men, and immediately his wife, “a true daughter of this fighting people,” stood beside him. He was ready to fire before Hanff was on his feet again; he aimed at the sergeant and pulled the trigger, but the shot misfired, and so did the second. “The hand of his life’s clock faltered for a moment before it was to stand still for ever.” Then it was Hanff’s turn, and his first shot also misfired: “It was almost as though a judgement hung over them.” Meanwhile the other marechaussée fired; a bullet struck the Teungkoe in the right arm, which fell limp, but he quickly passed his carbine to his wife and held the rentjong in his usable left hand. Then his wife came and placed herself in front of her husband. So the woman stood before her man when one bullet mortally wounded them both. He died very quickly and she followed him an hour later.
From H. Behrens
The surprise, narrated by H. C. Zentgraaff and reproduced by du Croo, was made possible by the Ambonese tracker sergeant Dambohpulu, who found the traces of the Teungkoe’s foragers at the Aloeë Soea and followed them for days. Because provisions had run short, Behrens picked the sixteen best marechaussée from his two brigades and sent the rest back to the bivouac — “it was now a picked band.” When smoke was seen rising from a small aloeë, the sixteen were divided into three groups; the group under sergeant Hanff flew through the stream and let itself fall with the water down the waterfall to the huts, where Tgk. di Barat, his wife, two followers with their wives and four children were living. The Teungkoe and his wife were mortally wounded by a single bullet as she stood before her husband.
From Corps of Military Constabulary of Atjeh and Dependencies
Among the officers and brigade commanders of the corps named in du Croo’s book, in addition to Schmidt, are Jhr. J. J. Boreel, F. Darlang, G. F. B. Watrin, Th. J. Veltman, A. Geertsema Beckeringh, F. P. A. van Gheel Gildemeester, A. H. C. Roelofsen, H. Behrens, W. Muurling, C. A. Snell, Van Eck, Hein Meijer, G. F. P. Gosenson, J. van Arkel, W. A. Herold, Kaniess, Scheurleer, Van der Vlerk, G. K. W. F. de Vaynes van Brakell Buys, M. Schouten, W. J. Mosselman, Slooten, Jenae, Bossert, Gackstätter, Wisse, Loeff, Roobaart, Hanff, J. H. C. Vastenou and P. Nutters.
See Also
- Tgk. di Barat
- H. Behrens
- Corps of Military Constabulary of Atjeh and Dependencies
- H. N. A. Swart
- General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh (1943)
- Atjeh
Source
Generaal Swart, Pacificator van Atjeh (“General Swart, Pacifier of Atjeh”), by M. H. du Croo, Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with the collaboration of H. J. Schmidt, Titular Colonel K.N.I.L. (retired), with a foreword by His Excellency Lieutenant-General K.N.I.L. (retired) G. K. Dijkstra (Maastricht: N.V. Leiter-Nypels, 1943), passim.