Doing justice

Battalion Friesland talks about the Dutch East Indies 1945-1948 This book features nine men talking about their personal experiences in the Dutch East Indies. The men talk about what they experienced and what they felt. Stories in words and pictures. A family member of a fallen soldier also has his say. A story that tells what impact the young man’s death had on his father, mother and brothers. This book is ‘oral history’, ‘sprutsen skiednis’. Written to contribute to a more nuanced portrayal of the struggle in the Dutch East Indies. So that the reader understands that there were many shades of grey in that struggle between ‘right and wrong’. The book is also intended as a tribute to the nine men interviewed and the one soldier who died. Ten men who symbolise the more than eight hundred men of Battalion Friesland. A battalion marked by a strong bond of togetherness and camaraderie. Officers and soldiers, who together and with respect for each other, tried to restore order and peace in the Dutch East Indies.