Date of birth:

August 31st, 1926 (Breda/North Brabant, Netherlands)

Date of death:

February 2nd, 1948 (Chikalon-kulon/Java, Dutch Indies)

Buried on:

Dutch War Cemetery Menteng Pulo
Grave: VII193.

Nationality:

Dutch

Sld.4-10 RI

Piet was born on 31 August 1926 in Breda. As a conscript, he joined the Royal Netherlands Army in Vught in 1947, where he was assigned to the 4-10 Infantry Regiment. Due to the outbreak of revolutionary violence during the Indonesian struggle for independence, he was sent to the Dutch East Indies to restore peace and Dutch authority. On 2 February 1947, he departed on board the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt for Batavia, where he went ashore after a sea voyage of more than a month.
On Java, Piet worked for the Intelligence and Security Service (IVD), responsible for gathering information about the Republican forces and sympathisers active in the area controlled by the Dutch. The IVD fulfilled a crucial task for the effective execution of military operations, but after the First Police Action from 21 July to 4 August 1947, the IVD faced acute staff shortages, as a much larger area now had to be secured. The nature of their work and the pressure under which they operated led to IVD personnel frequently committing serious acts of abuse during interrogations. The extent to which Piet witnessed this is unknown.
On 2 February 1948, Piet, Sergeant Buik and four Ambonese soldiers were travelling in a convoy of trucks to pick up prisoners of war. In Tjikalong Kulon, ten kilometres after leaving the base, the convoy was ambushed by revolutionaries. The message sent earlier about picking up the prisoners of war turned out to be false, and the revolutionaries were waiting for them by the side of the road. In the firefight that ensued, all six occupants of the truck were killed, including Piet. He was 21 years old.
A few hours later, the burning vehicle with the six bodies is found by Piet's colleague at the IVD, Sergeant Adriaan van Uden. Adriaan narrowly escaped the attack; he was originally supposed to travel with the convoy instead of Sergeant Buik. Piet finds his final resting place at the Dutch military cemetery Menteng Pulo in Jakarta.

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• Photo 1: Oorlogsgravenstichting
• Photo 2: Oorlogsgravenstichting
• - Petrus Henricus Koolen | Oorlogsgravenstichting
  - Piet Koolen | Brabantse Gesneuvelden
  

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