{{title lang|nl}} [[File:Het doorwaden van een kali tijdens een patrouille, Bestanddeelnr 255-8350.jpg|thumb|300px|OVWs on patrol wading through a river on Java, March 1946.]] In order to contain [[Bersiap|the violence]] in the [[Dutch East Indies]] after the [[Surrender of Japan|Japanese capitulation]] in 1945 and to restore colonial order, the [[Netherlands]] sent battalions of '''''Oorlogsvrijwilligers''''' (OVWs; {{langx|en|War Volunteers}}) to the colony. They were recruited in 1944 and 1945, mostly in the southern provinces of the Netherlands,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nos.nl/75jaarbevrijding/bericht/2306315-oorlogsvrijwilligers-melden-zich-massaal-in-het-zuiden|title=75 jaar bevrijding <nowiki>|</nowiki> Oorlogsvrijwilligers melden zich massaal in het zuiden|publisher=[[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting]]|language=nl|access-date=21 May 2022}}</ref> and initially intended for deployment in Europe.<ref name="defensie">{{cite web|url=https://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/tijdlijn-militaire-geschiedenis/1945-1949-van-nederlands-indie-naar-indonesie|title=1945-1949: van Nederlands-Indië naar Indonesië|publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (Netherlands)|Ministry of Defence]]|language=nl|access-date=21 May 2022}}</ref> Others had signed up for the fight against [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] in the summer of 1945.
The [[Indonesian National Revolution|emergency situation]] in the East Indies prompted the [[Schermerhorn–Drees cabinet]] to send the Dutch military overseas. They arrived in [[Straits Settlements|British Malacca]] in November 1945. The [[United Kingdom|British authorities]], who temporarily exercised authority in the Dutch East Indies after the war in Asia, refused to admit the Dutch troops there. They feared that this would escalate the already tense political situation.<ref name="defensie"/> The fact that there was little international sympathy for the Dutch efforts to restore colonial authority in [[Indonesia]] may also have been a factor. It was not until late February 1946 that the ''Oorlogsvrijwilligers'' were admitted and took over the positions of the British. They were stationed in enclaves around a number of large cities on [[Java]] and [[Sumatra]].<ref name="oorlogsbronnen">{{cite web|url=https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/artikel/nederlandse-oorlogsvrijwilligers-moeten-koloniaal-gezag-herstellen|title=Nederlandse oorlogsvrijwilligers moeten koloniaal gezag herstellen|date=21 September 2021|publisher=[[Network of War Collections]]|language=nl|access-date=21 May 2022}}</ref>
In total, approximately 25,000 OVW personnel would go to the East Indies,<ref name="defensie"/> of which 5,000 to 6,000 were assigned to the ''[[Mariniersbrigade]]'' and the rest to the [[Royal Netherlands Army]]. Five brigades were formed from this last group, the staffs of which were composed of officers from the [[Royal Netherlands East Indies Army]]. To the numbers mentioned must be added several thousand OVW personnel who served on ships of the [[Royal Netherlands Navy]] and with the [[Netherlands Naval Aviation Service]] in the Dutch East Indies. Later, the ''Oorlogsvrijwilligers'' were supplanted by much larger numbers of Dutch [[Conscription|conscripts]].<ref name="oorlogsbronnen"/>
From the very beginning of their presence in the East Indies, the OVWs were involved in combat operations. The [[Indonesian National Revolution#Formation of the Republican government|Indonesian nationalists]] did not accept the renewed military presence of the Dutch and responded with armed actions against the Dutch enclaves. More large-scale military action by the OVWs came during [[Operation Product]] in the summer of 1947.
Over the course of 1948, the ''Oorlogsvrijwilligers'' were demobilized - except for one battalion that the Dutch army command thought it needed for [[Operation Kraai]], which was to be completed at the end of 1948. This battalion was only able to leave service in 1949. Not all OVW staff were repatriated. Some chose to extend their employment and others emigrated to [[Australia]] or [[New Zealand]].<ref name="oorlogsbronnen"/>
==Notable ''Oorlogsvrijwilligers''== * {{Ill|Gerard Leonard Reinderhoff|nl}} (1904–1977), [[military attaché]] * {{Ill|Herman Vos|nl|Herman Vos (burgemeester Woerden)}} (1910–1965), independent politician and mayor * {{Ill|Jan Schelvis|nl}} (1917–1992), [[Dutch resistance|resistance fighter]] during [[Netherlands in World War II|World War II]] * {{Ill|Jan Loman|nl}} (1918–2006), [[Visual arts|visual artist]] * {{Ill|Daniël de Moulin|nl}} (1919–2002), resistance fighter during World War II, surgeon, and medical historian * [[Ted Meines]] (1921–2016), resistance fighter during World War II and [[Veteran|veterans' rights activist]] * {{Ill|Chris van Oosterzee|nl}} (1922–1989), resistance fighter during World War II and financial manager * {{Ill|Ben Bouman|nl}} (1923–2015), resistance fighter during World War II and military historian * {{Ill|Halbe Brandsma|nl}} (1923–2000), Knight of the [[Military Order of William]] for actions in [[East Java]] on 2 May 1946<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/onderscheidingen/dapperheidsonderscheidingen/databank-dapperheidsonderscheidingen/1947/07/17/brandsma-h|title=Militaire Willems-Orde: Brandsma, H.|publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (Netherlands)|Ministry of Defence]]|language=nl|access-date=21 May 2022}}</ref> * {{Ill|Gerard Hueting|nl}} (1924–2017), resistance fighter during World War II * [[Willem Oltmans]] (1925–2004), resistance fighter during World War II, author, and [[Investigative journalism|investigative journalist]] * {{Ill|Carel van Lookeren Campagne|nl}} (1925–2017), [[Undersecretary#Netherlands|state secretary]] and director of [[Douwe Egberts]] and [[Heineken N.V.|Heineken]] * {{Ill|Gerardus Antonius Adrianus Adelaar|nl}} (1925–1966), [[Reformed Political Party]] politician and mayor
==See also== * [[Friesland Battalion]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
[[Category:Volunteer military units and formations of the Netherlands]] [[Category:Volunteer units and formations of the Indonesian War of Independence]] [[Category:Military units and formations of the Dutch East Indies in the Indonesian War of Independence]]