Stammbaum Veenstra, Dijkstra, Peperkamp und Van den Dobbelsteen » Nellie Weichelt (1916-1988)

Persönliche Daten Nellie Weichelt 

• Sie ist geboren am 15. September 1916 in Blora (Indonesië).
• Fakten:
• (diversen) .

  in 1957 naar USA geëmigreerd

• (diversen) .

  On June 16, 1934, my father, Johannes Lodewijk Hennekes, being 22 years old, volunteered for the Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger (KNIL), which translates to the Royal Netherlands Indies Army. On August 29th, he's "declared suitable for military operations abroad" and classified a Gunner 2d Class. On the 26th of the following month, he departs the Netherlands on the steamship, Johan De Witt. He arrives in the former Dutch East Indies (now known as Indonesia) on October 26th and is assigned to the Coastal and Anti-Aircraft Artillery in Soerabaja. A few months later, on February 9, 1935, he's transferred to the 3d Company Coastal and Anti-Aircraft Artillery.
  
  Nearly two years go by and then he's assigned to the Cadreschool Coastal Artillery on February 7, 1937. On the 12th of August, he attains the temporary rank of Gunner 1st Class/Brigadier (Corporal), which is made permanent on February 8, 1938. My father marries Nelli Weichelt (my mother) on the 27th of April in Soerabaja, which was where that my eldest sister was born on July 3, 1939. On the 29th of August, he re-enlists for a period of 6 years and is given the titular rank of Sergeant, which became permanent on August 9, 1940. He's assigned to various units, including the Company Coastal Artillery in Semarang on June 1, 1941 and the Coastal Artillery Detachment in Pekalongan on September 10, 1941.
  
  Living on that island, centered on the Equator, must have been idyllic, but that was before December 7 (December 8 local time), 1941. [My parents had frequently talked fondly of their life in Indonesia.] On February 15, 1942, my father is assigned to the Artillery Milita Depot, and although the exact location is unknown, this move appears to have been in preparation for the invasion of Java.
  
  In the short months following Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Java Sea was fought by combined American, British, Australian and Dutch naval forces under the command of Dutch Rear Admiral, Karel Doorman. The battle was a brave, however futile, effort by the Allied navy to prevent Java from being overtaken by Japanese forces. Bali, Borneo and Sumatra had already fallen.
  
  This sea battle started on February 27, 1942 at approximately 4:16 in the afternoon, local time. Fighting continued on for the rest of the afternoon and into that evening. Admiral Doorman's flagship, de Ruyter, was torpedoed and heavily damaged just before midnight, and over 300 people would die, including Doorman. [Accounts vary as to the exact time his ship was hit and, also, as to the time that she finally went down.] Before his ship sank, Admiral Doorman ordered the USS Houston and the HMAS Perth to retire to Batavia and to not take on survivors. The Allied defeat enabled Japan to begin the land invasion of Java on March 1st, and the Dutch East Indies capitulated to the Japanese on March 8th. And thus, my father was put into Japanese captivity on this date in Magalang. He was 30 years old at the time of his capture.
  
  [My mother was only 25 years old then, and she was suddenly left alone to take care of a young child. Consequently, as bad as it must have been for my father, his Japanese imprisonment deeply affected my mother, too. Most European women were placed into camps, however, my mother could easily pass for Indonesian, thus she remained free. Although my mother was alone now, she was nevertheless able to successfully fend for herself and her young daughter. She lived with, and worked for, some of the Chinese merchants whom the Japanese had seen fit not to imprison. Food was very scarce, and even though others around her would steal food, my mother refused to do so and worked whatever menial job was necessary in order to survive. My mother was proud of the fact that she never stole food from others. She once told a story of a man who, one evening, was eating a bowl of rice that was crawling with bugs. With food being hard to find, and to avoid the bothersome distractions, the man simply darkened the room and continued eating.]
  
  While growing up, I remember my father telling the following story. One day, he and the other prisoners were ordered into formation by their captors who were looking for healthy prisoners for transportation. For some reason, my father and one of his buddies were wearing sunglasses. [Where or how they got them is not known. It must have been early on in his captivity because a prisoner's clothing and possessions became very scarce towards the end of the war.] My father surmised that the Japanese soldiers must have thought that he and his friend were blind, so they managed to remain behind with the sick. The other prisoners were placed onboard a ship for transport. My father later learned that the ship was struck by "friendly fire", causing the boat to sink; however, I can't remember whether I was told if there had been any survivors.
  
  On one occasion at least, my father was allowed to receive visitors. My mother told us years later that on a visit, she nearly didn't recognize my father because of a reddish beard that covered his face. She always thought this funny because he had black hair. [My parents, my two sisters and I were all born with black hair, however, my younger brother was born with reddish-brown hair.]
  
  During the war, the Japanese military forced prisoners into work camps to build and repair airstrips, bridges and railroads as well as perform other labors in southeast Asia. My younger brother collaborated that our father worked in these labor camps, also. Although my father survived his ordeal, there were many others who did not. Conditions were primitive for many of those in captivity. Hunger and disease took their toll. Inadequate food, lack of medical care and supplies, along with poor sanitation, only served to exacerbate the conditions. Add to this the brutality of war, and it's easy to understand why so many died.
  
  On August 15, 1945, after spending 3 years, 5 months and 7 days as a POW, my father was liberated in Singapore. His current enlistment then expired on August 29th; however, although his military record doesn't give an indication, he must have "re-engaged" himself because he's attached to the 4th Infantry Battalion on September 6th, and on April 14, 1946, he's transferred to the Artillery Depot.
  
  He achieves a temporary rank of Cavalry Sergeant Major-Instructor on April 29, 1947, and is transferred to the division camp in Batavia on June 10th for recuperative leave. The steamship, Volendam, with him onboard, departs the former Dutch East Indies on June 22d and arrives in the Netherlands on the 20th of the following month; however, the stay is brief, and the 26th of November finds him aboard the motorship, Kota Inten.
  
  Arriving in the former Dutch East Indies on the 26th of December, he's again sent to the division camp in Batavia for further assignment, and on January 12, 1948, he's attached to the Artillery Depot but is later transferred to the 1st Section Field Artillery on the 15th of September. On November 13, he's awarded the permanent rank of Cavalry Sergeant Major with seniority in rank judged from April 29, 1947.
  
  On April 7, 1950, he's transferred to the Central Transit Camp at Djakarta and on the 4th of June, he departs Indonesia aboard the motorship, Empire Brent, which arrives in the Netherlands on the 3d of July. He's honorably discharged on the 26th of July because of the reorganization of the Royal Netherlands-Indies Army, and then, on that very date, promptly "engaged himself as a regular military man" with the Royal Netherlands Army. It's also shown (on that same date) that he is still a Cavalry Sergeant Major-Instructor. Between October 16 of 1950 and June 15, 1953, he's attached to several different units. There are two entries on his record for December 1st of 1953, indicating that he's on the candidate list for, and shows his rank as, Warrant Officer Instructor; and although this is how the rank was translated into English, the Dutch rank is actually that of an Adjutant Under Officer.
  
  My father started out his military career as a Gunner 2d Class and survived some harsh years as a Japanese POW. During his military career, he gradually works his way up the ladder where he finds himself instructing all ranks of enlisted men, including senior sergeant majors. Finally, he requests a discharge from voluntary military service and retires from the Dutch Army on March 1, 1955.

• (diversen) .

  On June 16, 1934, my father, Johannes Lodewijk Hennekes, being 22 years old, volunteered for the Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger (KNIL), which translates to the Royal Netherlands Indies Army. On August 29th, he's "declared suitable for military operations abroad" and classified a Gunner 2d Class. On the 26th of the following month, he departs the Netherlands on the steamship, Johan De Witt. He arrives in the former Dutch East Indies (now known as Indonesia) on October 26th and is assigned to the Coastal and Anti-Aircraft Artillery in Soerabaja. A few months later, on February 9, 1935, he's transferred to the 3d Company Coastal and Anti-Aircraft Artillery.
  
  Nearly two years go by and then he's assigned to the Cadreschool Coastal Artillery on February 7, 1937. On the 12th of August, he attains the temporary rank of Gunner 1st Class/Brigadier (Corporal), which is made permanent on February 8, 1938. My father marries Nelli Weichelt (my mother) on the 27th of April in Soerabaja, which was where that my eldest sister was born on July 3, 1939. On the 29th of August, he re-enlists for a period of 6 years and is given the titular rank of Sergeant, which became permanent on August 9, 1940. He's assigned to various units, including the Company Coastal Artillery in Semarang on June 1, 1941 and the Coastal Artillery Detachment in Pekalongan on September 10, 1941.
  
  Living on that island, centered on the Equator, must have been idyllic, but that was before December 7 (December 8 local time), 1941. [My parents had frequently talked fondly of their life in Indonesia.] On February 15, 1942, my father is assigned to the Artillery Milita Depot, and although the exact location is unknown, this move appears to have been in preparation for the invasion of Java.
  
  In the short months following Pearl Harbor, the Battle of the Java Sea was fought by combined American, British, Australian and Dutch naval forces under the command of Dutch Rear Admiral, Karel Doorman. The battle was a brave, however futile, effort by the Allied navy to prevent Java from being overtaken by Japanese forces. Bali, Borneo and Sumatra had already fallen.
  
  This sea battle started on February 27, 1942 at approximately 4:16 in the afternoon, local time. Fighting continued on for the rest of the afternoon and into that evening. Admiral Doorman's flagship, de Ruyter, was torpedoed and heavily damaged just before midnight, and over 300 people would die, including Doorman. [Accounts vary as to the exact time his ship was hit and, also, as to the time that she finally went down.] Before his ship sank, Admiral Doorman ordered the USS Houston and the HMAS Perth to retire to Batavia and to not take on survivors. The Allied defeat enabled Japan to begin the land invasion of Java on March 1st, and the Dutch East Indies capitulated to the Japanese on March 8th. And thus, my father was put into Japanese captivity on this date in Magalang. He was 30 years old at the time of his capture.
  
  [My mother was only 25 years old then, and she was suddenly left alone to take care of a young child. Consequently, as bad as it must have been for my father, his Japanese imprisonment deeply affected my mother, too. Most European women were placed into camps, however, my mother could easily pass for Indonesian, thus she remained free. Although my mother was alone now, she was nevertheless able to successfully fend for herself and her young daughter. She lived with, and worked for, some of the Chinese merchants whom the Japanese had seen fit not to imprison. Food was very scarce, and even though others around her would steal food, my mother refused to do so and worked whatever menial job was necessary in order to survive. My mother was proud of the fact that she never stole food from others. She once told a story of a man who, one evening, was eating a bowl of rice that was crawling with bugs. With food being hard to find, and to avoid the bothersome distractions, the man simply darkened the room and continued eating.]
  
  While growing up, I remember my father telling the following story. One day, he and the other prisoners were ordered into formation by their captors who were looking for healthy prisoners for transportation. For some reason, my father and one of his buddies were wearing sunglasses. [Where or how they got them is not known. It must have been early on in his captivity because a prisoner's clothing and possessions became very scarce towards the end of the war.] My father surmised that the Japanese soldiers must have thought that he and his friend were blind, so they managed to remain behind with the sick. The other prisoners were placed onboard a ship for transport. My father later learned that the ship was struck by "friendly fire", causing the boat to sink; however, I can't remember whether I was told if there had been any survivors.
  
  On one occasion at least, my father was allowed to receive visitors. My mother told us years later that on a visit, she nearly didn't recognize my father because of a reddish beard that covered his face. She always thought this funny because he had black hair. [My parents, my two sisters and I were all born with black hair, however, my younger brother was born with reddish-brown hair.]
  
  During the war, the Japanese military forced prisoners into work camps to build and repair airstrips, bridges and railroads as well as perform other labors in southeast Asia. My younger brother collaborated that our father worked in these labor camps, also. Although my father survived his ordeal, there were many others who did not. Conditions were primitive for many of those in captivity. Hunger and disease took their toll. Inadequate food, lack of medical care and supplies, along with poor sanitation, only served to exacerbate the conditions. Add to this the brutality of war, and it's easy to understand why so many died.
  
  On August 15, 1945, after spending 3 years, 5 months and 7 days as a POW, my father was liberated in Singapore. His current enlistment then expired on August 29th; however, although his military record doesn't give an indication, he must have "re-engaged" himself because he's attached to the 4th Infantry Battalion on September 6th, and on April 14, 1946, he's transferred to the Artillery Depot.
  
  He achieves a temporary rank of Cavalry Sergeant Major-Instructor on April 29, 1947, and is transferred to the division camp in Batavia on June 10th for recuperative leave. The steamship, Volendam, with him onboard, departs the former Dutch East Indies on June 22d and arrives in the Netherlands on the 20th of the following month; however, the stay is brief, and the 26th of November finds him aboard the motorship, Kota Inten.
  
  Arriving in the former Dutch East Indies on the 26th of December, he's again sent to the division camp in Batavia for further assignment, and on January 12, 1948, he's attached to the Artillery Depot but is later transferred to the 1st Section Field Artillery on the 15th of September. On November 13, he's awarded the permanent rank of Cavalry Sergeant Major with seniority in rank judged from April 29, 1947.
  
  On April 7, 1950, he's transferred to the Central Transit Camp at Djakarta and on the 4th of June, he departs Indonesia aboard the motorship, Empire Brent, which arrives in the Netherlands on the 3d of July. He's honorably discharged on the 26th of July because of the reorganization of the Royal Netherlands-Indies Army, and then, on that very date, promptly "engaged himself as a regular military man" with the Royal Netherlands Army. It's also shown (on that same date) that he is still a Cavalry Sergeant Major-Instructor. Between October 16 of 1950 and June 15, 1953, he's attached to several different units. There are two entries on his record for December 1st of 1953, indicating that he's on the candidate list for, and shows his rank as, Warrant Officer Instructor; and although this is how the rank was translated into English, the Dutch rank is actually that of an Adjutant Under Officer.
  
  My father started out his military career as a Gunner 2d Class and survived some harsh years as a Japanese POW. During his military career, he gradually works his way up the ladder where he finds himself instructing all ranks of enlisted men, including senior sergeant majors. Finally, he requests a discharge from voluntary military service and retires from the Dutch Army on March 1, 1955.

• Sie ist verstorben am 19. September 1988 in Norfolk, Norfolk County, Virginia (USA), sie war 72 Jahre alt.
• Ein Kind von Leonie Weichelt und Maria Helena Oversier
• Diese Information wurde zuletzt aktualisiert am 17. Februar 2013.

Familie von Nellie Weichelt

Sie ist verheiratet mit Johannes Lodewijk Hennekes.

Sie haben geheiratet am 27. April 1938 in Soerabaja (Nederlands Indië), sie war 21 Jahre alt.

Kind(er):

1. (Nicht öffentlich)
2. (Nicht öffentlich)
3. (Nicht öffentlich)
4. (Nicht öffentlich)

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