Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Gerardus Johannes Berenschot (24 July 1887 – 13 October 1941) was Commander-in-Chief of the ''Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger'' (Royal Netherlands East Indies Army; KNIL). An

Indo INDO stands for Intermediate Neglect of Differential Overlap. It is a semi-empirical quantum chemistry method that is a development of the complete neglect of differential overlap (CNDO/2) method introduced by John Pople. Like CNDO/2 it uses zer ...

– as Eurasians of Indonesian and Dutch descent – Berenschot was the son of a Dutch officer in the KNIL. G. J. Berenschot was the son of Gerrit Hendrik Berenschot and Florence Mildred Rappa. At the age of 15, he was sent to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, where he attended cadet school at

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Alkmaar is well known fo ...

. He later entered the Royal Military College, from which he graduated first in his class. He was the only commander of Indonesian descent (Indo) in the Dutch East Indies. Upon graduation, he returned to his native East Indies where he distinguished himself as a young subaltern serving in the KNIL during the bloody campaigns in

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

. In 1934 he became the KNIL's Chief of the General Staff and, in July 1939, was promoted to Commander-in-Chief. Berenschot was regarded as a gifted officer with organisational skills and possibly the best Commander-in-Chief the KNIL ever had. Not only was he a skilled soldier, Berenschot also displayed an impressive understanding of politics and diplomacy. Following the fall of the Netherlands in 1940, Berenschot participated in conferences involving Allied leaders at Singapore, where he was well liked and well regarded by his British and US counterparts. On 13 October 1941, the plane carrying Bereschot back from a conference with British Air Chief Marshal

Robert Brooke-Popham Air Chief Marshal Sir Henry Robert Moore Brooke-Popham, (18 September 1878 – 20 October 1953) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. During the First World War he served in the Royal Flying Corps as a wing commander and senior staff o ...

crashed in the suburbs of Batavia. There were no survivors. By order of the colonial authorities, all flags on public buildings were hung at half-mast. Berenschot's remains were buried in the Dutch War Cemetery Pandu in

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

. Bereschot's post of Commander-in-Chief of the KNIL was given to Lieutenant General

Hein ter Poorten Hein ter Poorten (21 November 1887 – 15 January 1968) was a Dutch military officer. He was the commander of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in World War II. Ter Poorten was also Allied land forces commander in the American-British-Dutch ...

, who had the difficult task of preparing the East Indies for the looming war with Japan. COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Begrafenis van generaal Berenschot op het Pandoe-kerkhof te Bandung TMnr 10001588

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Begrafenis van generaal Berenschot op het Pandoe-kerkhof te Bandung TMnr 10001588

Berenschot was married and with three children. His brother was Berend Willem Berenschot.

Awards and decorations

* Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

* Commander of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

Expedition Cross The Expedition Cross () officially known as the Cross for Important Military Operations () was a military decoration of Kingdom of the Netherlands. Created by royal decree on 19 February 1869, by King William III, the cross was awarded for partic ...

with clasps "Atjeh 1906–1910" and "Atjeh 1911–1914" and "Honourable Mention" * Officierskruis baton

Medal for Long, Honest and Faithful Service

External links

*
Short biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berenschot, Gerardus Johannes 1887 births 1941 deaths People from Solok Royal Netherlands East Indies Army generals Royal Netherlands East Indies Army officers Royal Netherlands East Indies Army personnel of World War II Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Indonesia Indo people Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1941