Jan Willem Termijtelen

Jan Willem Termijtelen was a Dutch naval officer. During the Second World War he was Chief of Naval Staff and Commander of the Navy in the United Kingdom .

Jan Willem Termijtelen was born in 1893 . His parents were captain Jan Willem Termijtelen and Aaltje Maria Catharina Wijnveldt. The family had produced more naval and army officers and had many connections with the Dutch East Indies . His grandfather, for example, was Henri Antoine Termijtelen , lieutenant colonel der infanterie of the Indonesian army ( knight in the Military William Order ).

Jan Willem Termijtelen completed the five-year HBS in The Hague and in 1910 went to the Royal Institute for the Navy in Willemsoord, Den Helder . In 1912/1913 he served as Senate President of the Midshipmen Corps.

After Termijtelen was appointed midshipman of the first class in 1913 , he was sent to the Dutch East Indies .

This was followed by his swearing in as an officer in the Royal Netherlands Navy . In 1916 he was posted to the Torpedo Service in Den Helder. During the First World War he became involved in mine clearance. In a mine accident aboard Hr.Ms. Hellevoetsluis in November 1918 he was seriously injured. Fortunately, he made a full recovery. 

From 1919 Termijtelen served in the Submarine Service , including as commander of submarines K I and K IV . In 1921 , for example, he went to the Dutch East Indies with the K IV. From 1923 to 1934 he was successively adjutant to the Minister of the Navy and to Prince Hendrik . These confidential functions suited him well. During this period he was part of the cordon sanitaire around Prince Hendrik . Afterwards he was appointed adjutantin extraordinary service of Queen Wilhelmina. 

He temporarily commanded a division of minesweepers in 1933 and after his departure from the court he was commander of the minelayer Prins van Oranje in the Dutch East Indies until 1936 . In 1936 he was appointed Sous Chief of the Naval Staff under Rear Admiral Furstner . In the summer of 1939 he was given command of the new light cruiser Tromp , with which he sailed to the Dutch East Indies.

Termijtelen was promoted to captain-lieutenant in 1935 and in 1939 to captain-ter-zee. 

The Second World War broke out in the Netherlands on May 10, 1940 and after five days of fighting, the Netherlands had to surrender to the Germans. The Dutch East Indies was spared the violence of war for the time being. In that region, Termijtelen was commander of the Tromp until July 1941 . Having arrived from Australia , Tromp spent two weeks in Surabaya , where the transfer of command took place. The crew saw the commander leave with regret.

He left the Dutch East Indies for London at the request of Furstner , at that time Minister of the Navy in the government-in-exile. Furstner had great confidence in him and appointed him Chief of Naval Staff. In fact, Termijtelen became acting Secretary General of the Ministry of the Navy. He remained so until 1945 . At the same time he held the administrative position of Commander of the Navy in the United Kingdom and from 1944 Director of the Air Force.

At the beginning of 1942 it looked as if Termijtelen's placement in London would come to an end. It was considered that he should represent the Netherlands to the Combined Chiefs of Staff in Washington , but in the end Furstner wished to keep him in London. He considered him too valuable a figure for the role he could play in Washington on behalf of the Netherlands. On February 13, 1942 , Termijtelen visited President Roosevelt in the White House with Major General Dijxhoorn and Envoy Loudon to discuss this role. From 1943 in London he was charged with the plans to participate as effectively as possible in the allied struggle against Japan after the liberation of the mother country.

In 1941 Termijtelen was promoted to rear admiral and in 1944 to vice admiral .

After the Second World War , Termijtelen remained in service with the Royal Netherlands Navy until 1947 . As Chief of Naval Staff in the Netherlands , he was the second man in the naval top, directly under the Commander of the Naval Forces . The most important task was the reconstruction of the Dutch navy. After leaving the Royal Netherlands Navy , he joined the KNMI in De Bilt . Early 1948he became director of the Department of Oceanography and Maritime Meteorology there. After his retirement there, he was asked to re-enter the service for a period of time in the position of director in general service, which was specially created for him.

He died on September 12, 1977.