* Amsterdam, 19 Sept 1877; + Vlissingen 14 July 1951
When Heinrich Adolf Cramer attended school in Amsterdam, he consistently was the best pupil of his class. He scored the highest mark on the entrance examination to the military preparatory academy (cadettenschool; a boarding school for students preparing them for the Military Academy) in Alkmaar. He opted to become an officer in the Dutch East Indies Army and had his tuition fees waved (in exchange for the obligation to serve in the Dutch East Indies for at least 9 years). Upon graduation (as the student with the best grades), he enrolled at the Royal Military Academy (KMA), Breda. Five years later, he graduated with the rank of 2nd lieutenant, infantry, again as the best of his class. He had a stellar career, which took him back and forth to the Indies many times. Highlights were accompanying a British ornithological expedition to West Papua (1910-1911) and his appointment as commander of the Dutch East Indies army (1929-1932).
Near the end of January, 1900, Cramer was sent to the Dutch East Indies, where he was stationed at the well-known army encampment at Meester Cornelis (Jatinegara), a village just south of Jakarta inhabited by a large number of Indo-Europeans. He must have enjoyed social life there; during his time at the KMA, this had not been possible. On 30 March 1901, he was engaged to Anna Adolphine von Stülpnagel (the youngest daughters of Wilhelm Ferdinand von Stülpnagel and Catharina Albertina Beer). They got married on 18 September that year, just before their departure to Muntok, one of the centers of tin mining in the Dutch East Indies, on the island of Banka. It was a remote location.
The headquarters of the Banka Tin Exploitation business were in Muntok. It continuously recruited indentured workers from China for highly unattractive jobs in tin mining (today, around half of Muntok’s population is of Chinese descent). The main purpose of the army encampment was to maintain peace and order, in particular when tin workers became restless and agitated.
On 21 Sept. 1902, Cramer was promoted to 1st lieutenant.
In Muntok, their first child was born: Albertina Christina Paulina (7 July 1902). On 5 October 1903, my grandfather, Johan Coenraad Wilhelm; and his twin brother Christiaan Arnold Ferdinand, were born. Christiaan lived a mere three months (he died on 29 December 1903); I located his tombstone in 2019).
In August 1905, Cramer returned to the Netherlands to receive additional training at the Hoogere Krijgsschool in The Hague, after scoring well on a competitive five-day entrance examination. It was the first time his wife and children visited the Netherlands. Cramer enrolled for three years and was sent back to the Indies, arriving early 1909. He initially worked for the topographical survey in Salatiga, another large army encampment in the Indies, in an education role.
In January 1910, he was tasked with accompanying the expedition of the British Ornithological Union to Western Papua (or Dutch New Guinea)—and probably left his family either in Salatiga or Batavia. Participants were, among others, Cecil Godfrey Rawlings, physician Sandy Wollaston, Walter Goodfellow, Guy Shortridge, and Wilfred Stalker). The initial plan was to explore bird species in the area, but after a large gift of the British Royal Geographical Society, they expanded the goal of the expedition to include cartography and climbing the Carstensz mountain—part of the Dutch New Guinea snowy mountains. The Dutch colonial administration made ships, equipment, food, and support staff (indentured laborers and convict workers) available to support this expedition, in total around 300 men, under the command of Cramer.
The expedition turned out to be a complete fiasco. The Dutch were deeply suspicious about the representatives of a much stronger colonial power exploring their colonies, in particular because they brought a cartographer along. They disingenuously advised the group to follow the Mimika river up to the mountains, rather than the neighboring Utakwa river, which they knew would lead the British group to their goal (they wanted to leave the exploration of the mountains to a competing Dutch group).
Worse was to come. Within a week after arriving in the area, Stalker drowned while collecting birds. An encampment near a river bend was flooded, leading to the loss of all food and equipment stored there. Often, the steamship were delayed for weeks because of inclement weather. Sloops and canoes capsized and all contents were lost or stolen by locals. Because of continuous torrential rain, it took more than 3 months to transport sufficient food to the first base camp 40 kilometers up the river. Coal often ran out and indentured workers deserted. The health of the members of the expedition suffered and malaria took its toll. The Timika river was either too shallow, making it impossible to navigate or it was overflowing, making the currents too rapid.
Nevertheless, there were some interesting findings. The group established contact with the Tapiro, which consisted of unusually small human beings. They were quickly named the Tapiro pygmies. They discovered a mountain, which they named Mount Idenburg (after the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies). Members of the British expedition publicized their encounters with this group widely. The group also collected a great number of birds, animals, and plants, as well as a number of ethnographic objects. The British explorers presented their findings in a number of well-written and accessible books accompanied by photographs.
Sources
Stamboeken H.A. Cramer, Nationaal Archief, The Hague
Dutch New Guinea expedition
Verslag van de militaire exploratie van Nederlandsch-Nieuw-Guinee 1907-1915, samengesteld door het Departement van Oorlog in Nederlandsch-Indie; met medewerking van andere Departementen en van het Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen. Weltevreden, Landsdrukkerij: 1920
Wollaston, A. F. R. Pygmies & Papuans: The Stone Age to-Day in Dutch New Guinea. London: Smith, Elder, 1912.
Rawling, C.G. The Land of the New Guinea Pygmies: An Account of the Story of a Pioneer Journey of Exploration into the Heart of New Guinea. London: Seeley, 1913.
Ogilvie-Grant, William. Report on the Birds Collected by the British Ornithologists’ Union Expedition and the Wollaston Expedition in Dutch New Guinea. London: Ibis, 1915.
Reports by H.A. Cramer on the British Ornithological Expedition, Nationaal Archief, The Hague
indomusings 