Date of birth:

April 8th, 1923 (Roosendaal/North Brabant, Netherlands)

Date of death:

March 29th, 1949 (Purwokerto/Java, Dutch Indies )

Buried on:

Dutch War Cemetery Candi
Plot: C. Grave: 57.

Nationality:

Dutch

Sold. Ekl. 2 MP IV
KNIL

Wilhelmus was born on 8 April 1923 in Roosendaal and lived in Breda. He was a soldier in the KNIL, but it is not known exactly how he came to serve in the army. He may have fled to England during the German occupation and joined the KNIL from there.

Two days after the Japanese surrender on 15 August 1945, Soekarno and Mohammed Hatta declared Indonesia's independence. This was followed by the chaotic Bersiap period, during which foreigners – mainly British, Chinese and Japanese – and European and Indian Dutch people declared enemies were victims of extreme violence. Against this backdrop, Wilhelmus was assigned to the Military Police. In this capacity, Wilhelmus was involved in investigating crimes, controlling military traffic, traffic control, the treatment of prisoners of war, maintaining discipline, combating infectious diseases and assisting the General Police.

Wilhelmus initially served in and around Batavia, but after the Second Police Action from 19 December 1948 to 5 January 1949, he was transferred with his battalion to Poerwokerto. Because the Military Police had to take action against nationalist rebels and was regularly called upon to maintain order, it was unable to perform many other tasks.

The number of incidents with serious or fatal consequences encountered by the battalion continued to increase after the Action. Wilhelmus was killed in one of these incidents on 29 March 1949. He was 25 years old and was laid to rest at the Dutch military cemetery Candi in Semarang.

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• Photo 1: Oorlogsgravenstichting
• - Wilhelmus van Nispen| Oorlogsgravenstichting
  - Wilhelmus van Nispen | Brabantse Gesneuvelden
  

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