Issue #15, June, 2004 Streng geheim First in, Last out!

 

 

Regiment Stoottroepen Prins Bernhard

Origin and history

The youngest regiment of the Royal Netherlands Army, the REGIMENT STOOTTROEPEN, was founded on September 21, 1944 at Eindhoven by order of His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard. The roots of the regiment lie in the underground organizations, as we knew them in the Netherlands during the Second World War.

Prince Bernhard ordered the resistance leader "Peter" Borghouts to form out of the former resistance in The Netherlands, especially the National Commando Groups (Landelijke Knok Ploegen: LKP), army units: Stoottroepen.

Not, or hardly trained, with 'borrowed' or 'captured' weapons, badly dressed, frequently on a slipper and a shoe or even on wooden shoes the 'Stoters-of-the-first-hour' fought, side by side with the Allies, south of the large rivers with the objective to liberate the remaining part of The Netherlands.

The English and the Americans looked rather strange at this quick-formed small army. However, the Stoters compensated the shortage of training, clothing and full armor by their idealism and their very much-praised efforts.

Unfortunately, they had to pay for it: between September '44 and May 5, '45 more than a hundred Stoottroepers were killed in action.

After May '45 the Stoottroepen were included in the new Royal Netherlands Army. Out of them four battalions War-volunteers were formed, they were the first to be deployed in the former East Indies; later five battalions conscripted Stoters followed them.

At the end of 1957, 41 Infantry Battalion Stoottroepen was formed and stationed at Ermelo.

In the course of the years the 'walk'-infantry battalion was transformed in a Mechanized Infantry Battalion.

In 1962, it was deployed in New Guinea as 41 Infantry Battalion Stoottroepen.

In 1994, 41 Mechanized Infantry Battalion was liquidated, while simultaneous 13 Infantry Battalion Stoottroepen and the 11 Mortar Company Stoottroepen "Margriet" were established.

Both units belong to the Airmobile Brigade and are stationed in the Johan Willem Friso-barracks at Assen. Both units were recently deployed in Bosnia supervised by the UN.

After May '45, during campaigns in the former Dutch East Indies, New Guinea and Bosnia, many Stoottroepers had been killed in action. Every year on the second Sunday of October, they are commemorated in a sober but impressive manner at Beneden-Leeuwen (see also Stoottroepen-Chapel), by which everyone of the 374 killed Stoottroepers is mentioned by name.

All the late units of the Stoottroepen that had been deployed in more than fifty years, have formed strong associations and have yearly meetings. During these meetings the experiences, the joint misery, the killed comrades are commemorated. But also the many moments of joy and experienced fellowship are passed through once more.