Portrait of a Wounded KNIL Soldier  1882

The Dutch dubbed this West-African soldier ‘Kees Pop’, an ultra-Dutch name, because they were unable to pronounce his original name. Many soldiers were recruited from the former slave centre of Elmina (now Ghana) into the Dutch East Indies Army (KNIL) to fight the rebellious Indonesians. ‘Pop’ signed on in 1869 for a twelve-year tour of duty; he fought in the Aceh War and ...