Henri Winkelman

Henri Gerard Winkelman (17 August 1876 – 27 December 1952) was a Dutch military officer who served as Commander-in-chief of the Armed forces of the Netherlands during the German invasion of the Netherlands. Winkelman was born in Maastricht as the son of Julius Hendrik Winkelman and Charlotte Henriëtte Braams. After he completed his secondary education he attended the Royal Military Academy (KMA) in Breda. His goal was to become an officer in the KNIL, the Dutch colonial army for the Dutch East Indies. During his training he adjusted his goal and became an infantry officer. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1896. He married Arendin Jacomina Coert in 1902 and they had two sons and two daughters. Having completed his military education, he began to climb up the ranks of the Dutch army. In 1913 he was promoted to Captain, in 1923 he became a Major and in 1931 he was given the rank of Major General and became the commander of the Dutch 4th division. In 1934 he became a Lieutenant General, but left the military shortly thereafter. Winkelman campaigned for the position of Chief of Staff of the Dutch Army, but lost to General Izaak Reijnders. Winkelman then decided to retire and was granted an honorable discharge. As a retired officer, he remained active in various ways and consulted. The Dutch mobilised their armed forces on 28 August 1939, four days before Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland. Chief of Staff, General Reijnders, was appointed as Supreme Commander of the Dutch forces, but it was clear from the outset that his personal and professional relationship with Defence secretary Adriaan Dijxhoorn left a lot to be desired, ultimately leading to Reijnders' (honorable) discharge on 5 February 1940. After a brief meeting of the Dutch cabinet General Winkelman was summoned to The Hague (the seat of the Dutch government) and was offered appointment as the new Dutch commander. He accepted the job the following day. Winkelman was well aware of his army's limitations. He had 280,000 men at his disposal; not enough to defend the entire country.