Hendrik de Iongh

The son of a broker, Hendrik de Iongh and two of his brothers entered military careers. After graduating from High School, he joined the Instruction Battalion in Kampen. In 1900, de Iongh was appointed 2nd Lieutenant in the 6th Regiment, later rising to 1st Lieutenant and Lieutenant-Adjutant. He was then transferred to the Grenadiers Regiment and enlisted in the Higher Military School in 1912. With the rank of captain he was assigned to the Rifle Regiment in 1919 and three years later was awarded his General Staff brevet as adjutant captain. In 1927, he rose to the rank of a major in the Cyclists Regiment and from served as commander of the Rifle Regiment as lieutenant-colonel. Eventually, de Iongh was appointed colonel, commander of the VIII Infantry Brigade and inspector in the Volunteer Landsturm.

De Iongh reached his highest rank in 1934 when he was promoted to major general and inspector of infantry before he was honourably discharged two years later. As a reserve major general he still held the position of inspector in the Volunteer Landsturm (until 1940). For his services, he was appointed Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion and in the Order of Oranje-Nassau. He was also a Commander in the Order of the Crown of Belgium and Knight 1st Class in the Order of the Sword of Sweden.

At the 1912 Olympics de Iongh participated in the sabre and épée individual events but did not advance beyond the second round. In the team event with the sabre, however, he won bronze with the Dutch team behind Hungary and Austria. In 1927, he was elected chairman of the Royal Officers’ Fencing Association. At the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, he acted as jury president for the individual sabre tournament.

In 1905, Hendrik de Iongh married Jeanne Leonore Wiercx with whom he had two sons and one daughter.