Oorlogsvrijwilligers

[2] The fact that there was little international sympathy for the Dutch efforts to restore colonial authority in Indonesia may also have been a factor.

[3] In total, approximately 25,000 OVW personnel would go to the East Indies,[2] of which 5,000 to 6,000 were assigned to the Mariniersbrigade and the rest to the Royal Army.

Five brigades were formed from this last group, the staffs of which were composed of officers from the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army.

To the numbers mentioned must be added several thousand OVW personnel who served on ships of the Royal Navy and with the Netherlands Naval Aviation Service in the Dutch East Indies.

Over the course of 1948, the Oorlogsvrijwilligers were demobilized - except for one battalion that the Dutch army command thought it needed for Operation Kraai, which was to be completed at the end of 1948.