General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Simon Hendrik Spoor (; 12 January 1902 – 25 May 1949) was the

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

of the

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (; KNIL, ; ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The KNIL's air arm was the Royal Netherl ...

and the

Royal Dutch Army The Royal Netherlands Army (, KL) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised making the Dutch standing army one of the ...

in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, from 1946 to 1949, during the

Indonesian National Revolution The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during A ...

Career

Spoor was educated at a secondary school in The Hague, the cadet school in

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 ...

and the Royal Military Academy in

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

. In 1923 he was appointed as second lieutenant of infantry and was seconded to the

from 1924 in Dutch Borneo. From 1929 to 1932 he studied at the Higher War College in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. After having served in the General Staff 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 ...

for two years, in 1934 he took a position as teacher of strategy and tactics at the Royal Military Academy in

. In 1938, Spoor returned to the Dutch East Indies, as Head of the Political Affairs Department of the General Staff and the Higher War College in Bandung. He taught

Laws of war The law of war is a component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of hostilities (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territories, ...

and East Indies

Martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

. He was also an employee of the military 'Javabode'.

World War II

In March 1942 Spoor belonged to the select group of senior officials and military staff who after the capitulation of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army high command in Java to the

Japanese Imperial Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

emigrated to Australia. He was charged with building the Netherlands Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS). He became a staff member to the American General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

during the

New Guinea campaign The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Territory of New Guinea on 23 January and Territory of Papua on ...

and was also present at the invasion with General MacArthur.

Indonesian National Revolution

By Royal Decree of 19 January 1946, the then 44-year-old Colonel Spoor was appointed army commander in the Dutch East Indies with the temporary rank of lieutenant general. On 31 January, he took over the command of Lieutenant General L H van Oyen. In March 1946 Major General D C Buurman van Vreeden, as well as Spoor former staff officer of the KNIL, were assigned to him as

, Major Julius Tahija became his personal

Adjudant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commiss ...

. Operationally the army commander functioned in the Dutch East Indies, until autumn 1946, under the Allied

South-East Asia Command South East Asia Command (SEAC) was the body set up to be in overall charge of Allied operations in the South-East Asian Theatre during the Second World War. History Organisation The initial supreme commander of the theatre was General Sir A ...

(SEAC) (under

Mountbatten The Mountbatten family is a British family that originated as a branch of the German princely Battenberg family. The name was adopted by members of the Battenberg family residing in the United Kingdom on 14 July 1917, three days before the Br ...

), such that only small numbers of Dutch troops were allowed in Java. From September 1946 the integration of the Dutch troops coming from 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 ...

into the

KNIL The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (; KNIL, ; ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its Dutch colonial empire, colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The KNIL's air arm ...

troops required a large and cumbersome organization. He led the two large Dutch military offensives () into Java against Indonesian Republican positions;

Operation Product Operation Product was a Dutch military offensive against areas of Java and Sumatra controlled by the de facto Republic of Indonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution.Vickers (2005), p. 99 It took place between 21 July and 4 August 1947. ...

and

Operation Kraai Operation Kraai (Operation Crow) was a Dutch military offensive against the '' de facto'' Republic of Indonesia in December 1948, following the failure of negotiations. With the advantage of surprise, the Dutch managed to capture the Indonesi ...

Death

General Spoor died unexpectedly on 25 May 1949. He was buried on 28 May 1949 in the Dutch War Cemetery Menteng Pulo in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, among 'his men'. Some critics say he was poisoned, the Dutch historian Jaap de Moor explains in his biography about General Spoor that he was just an 'overworked man'.

Ranks

*31 July 1923: 2nd Lieutenant *31 July 1926: 1st Lieutenant *23 November 1934: Captain *27 May 1943: Major *10 January 1944: Lieutenant-Colonel *17 February 1945: Colonel *19 January 1946: Major General (temporary Gen.-Maj., also Army Commander) *2 September 1946: Lieutenant General *23 May 1949: General

Awards and decorations

* Commander of the

Military William Order The Military William Order, or often named Military Order of William ( Dutch: , abbreviation: MWO), is the oldest and highest honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is named after St. William of Gellone (755–814), the first Prince of Ora ...

(posthumously, June 1949) * Knight of the

Order of the Dutch Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion was until recently awar ...

* 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 ...

with Swords *

Bronze Lion The Bronze Lion () is a high Royal Dutch award, intended for servicemen who have shown extreme bravery and leadership in battle favouring The Netherlands; in some special cases it can be awarded to Dutch or foreign civilians. It was first created ...

Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

in bronze (United States) * Officer's Cross * Mobilization Cross 1914–1918 * War Commemorative Cross with Dutch East Indies 1941–1942 clasp * Decoration for Order and Peace with clasps for 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, and 1949 In April 2009, his widow, Mans Spoor-Dijkema, gave Spoor's medals to Bronbeek museum where his uniform was already exhibited.

References

* Generaal Spoor: Triomf en tragiek van een legercommandant, J.A. de Moor, Boom, Amsterdam,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spoor, Simon 1902 births 1949 deaths Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie Knights Commander of the Military Order of William Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Military personnel from Amsterdam Dutch military personnel of the Indonesian National Revolution Recipients of the Bronze Lion Recipients of the Medal of Freedom Royal Netherlands East Indies Army generals