W. G. F. Snijders was a Dutch infantry officer who retired in 1905 as Luitenant-Generaal and Inspector of Infantry, the second of the eight sons of the Snijders family of Nieuwe Tonge and the older brother of Generaal C. J. Snijders. His choice of the military career in 1867 set the example that drew his younger brother Cornelis toward the army; and the example of his infantry officer’s uniform on leave in Nieuwe Tonge was, by the younger brother’s own later admission, the immediate cause of his applying to the KMA. W. G. F. Snijders was considered by Minister of War Bosboom as a candidate for the supreme command of the Dutch armed forces in 1914, before the appointment of his younger brother to that post.
The Brother’s Influence
Van den Berg records that the example of the older brother Wilhelm, who became an infantry officer in 1867 and on leave in Nieuwe Tonge “furore maakte” with his fine uniform, drew Cornelis toward a military career. The choice was “uitsluitend gegrond op de uiterlijkheden van het militaire vak”; Cornelis “had geen inzicht in de beteekenis van het beroep.” When the question arose whether Cornelis should apply for infantry or engineers, the father’s calculation was that “de drie hoogere bijdragen, welke hij alsdan voor CORNELIS zou hebben te betalen, vrijwel overeenkwamen met de vier lagere, welke hij vroeger voor WILLEM had geofferd” — the higher engineers tuition for Cornelis being roughly equal to the four lower infantry payments for Wilhelm. Before Cornelis sat the KMA admission exam in June 1869 he was tutored at Breda by his brother Wilhelm.
Considered for the Supreme Command in 1914
In the discussions of 1914 over who should be appointed Opperbevelhebber in case of war, Minister Bosboom — as he later recorded in his In moeilijke omstandigheden — had thought of W. G. F. Snijders, “een opperofficier van groote strategische bekwaamheid en naar ‘s Ministers oordeel toe-gerust met zoodanige geestes- en karaktereigenschappen, dat hij alleszins voor het opperbevel over onze strijdkrachten berekend mocht worden geacht.” The obstacle was his “bekende hardhoofdigheid” — Bosboom judged that, if the deafness had not progressed too far, it need not be an insurmountable bar. In the event, the younger brother Cornelis was appointed, by Koninklijk Besluit of 9 August 1914 No. 7, to the rank of General and to the office of Opperbevelhebber.
See Also
- Cornelis Jacobus Snijders
- N. Bosboom
- Koninklijke Militaire Academie
- Nieuwe Tonge
- Opperbevelhebber van Land- en Zeemacht
- First World War
- 1914
- 1867
- 1905
Source
D. van den Berg, Cornelis Jacobus Snijders (1852–1939): Een leven in dienst van zijn Land en zijn Volk (Voorburg: September 1944), pp. 10, 13, 14, 76–77. Koninklijke Bibliotheek shelfmark 0301 4872.
W. G. F. Snijders was a Dutch infantry officer who retired in 1905 as Luitenant-Generaal and Inspector of Infantry, the second of the eight sons of the Snijders family of Nieuwe Tonge and the older brother of Generaal C. J. Snijders. His choice of the military career in 1867 set the example that drew his younger brother Cornelis toward the army; and the example of his infantry officer’s uniform on leave in Nieuwe Tonge was, by the younger brother’s own later admission, the immediate cause of his applying to the KMA. W. G. F. Snijders was considered by Minister of War Bosboom as a candidate for the supreme command of the Dutch armed forces in 1914, before the appointment of his younger brother to that post.
The Brother’s Influence
Van den Berg records that the example of the older brother Wilhelm, who became an infantry officer in 1867 and on leave in Nieuwe Tonge “furore maakte” with his fine uniform, drew Cornelis toward a military career. The choice was “uitsluitend gegrond op de uiterlijkheden van het militaire vak”; Cornelis “had geen inzicht in de beteekenis van het beroep.” When the question arose whether Cornelis should apply for infantry or engineers, the father’s calculation was that “de drie hoogere bijdragen, welke hij alsdan voor CORNELIS zou hebben te betalen, vrijwel overeenkwamen met de vier lagere, welke hij vroeger voor WILLEM had geofferd” — the higher engineers tuition for Cornelis being roughly equal to the four lower infantry payments for Wilhelm. Before Cornelis sat the KMA admission exam in June 1869 he was tutored at Breda by his brother Wilhelm.
Considered for the Supreme Command in 1914
In the discussions of 1914 over who should be appointed Opperbevelhebber in case of war, Minister Bosboom — as he later recorded in his In moeilijke omstandigheden — had thought of W. G. F. Snijders, “een opperofficier van groote strategische bekwaamheid en naar ‘s Ministers oordeel toe-gerust met zoodanige geestes- en karaktereigenschappen, dat hij alleszins voor het opperbevel over onze strijdkrachten berekend mocht worden geacht.” The obstacle was his “bekende hardhoofdigheid” — Bosboom judged that, if the deafness had not progressed too far, it need not be an insurmountable bar. In the event, the younger brother Cornelis was appointed, by Koninklijk Besluit of 9 August 1914 No. 7, to the rank of General and to the office of Opperbevelhebber.
See Also
- Cornelis Jacobus Snijders
- N. Bosboom
- Koninklijke Militaire Academie
- Nieuwe Tonge
- Opperbevelhebber van Land- en Zeemacht
- First World War
- 1914
- 1867
- 1905
Source
D. van den Berg, Cornelis Jacobus Snijders (1852–1939): Een leven in dienst van zijn Land en zijn Volk (Voorburg: September 1944), pp. 10, 13, 14, 76–77. Koninklijke Bibliotheek shelfmark 0301 4872.