ANAND CHANDRASEKHAR
In the 19th century, young Swiss men from modest backgrounds helped do some of the dirty work of foreign colonial forces in Asia and Africa. While the role of Swiss mercenaries in Europe is well known, researchers have now uncovered documents that tell us more about their exploits in exotic lands.
After a hard day’s work on the farm 19-year-old Thomas Suter* (*fictional character) from a village in Emmental is ready to head to the tavern for a drink. There is a buzz in the air. Everyone is talking about Jürg Keller* who left the neighbouring village last year to join the Dutch Colonial Army (Koninklijk Nederlandsch-Indisch Leger or KNIL).
Recently Keller had sent a letter from Lombok in the Dutch East Indies (present day Indonesia) to his family complaining of the heat, food and natives. It was all very exotic and exciting for Suter and the other tavern-goers who were used to a simple life working in the fields or grazing cattle. Some of the young men secretly hoped to emulate Keller and leave the sleepy valley, abandoning their predictable lives to become mercenaries in tropical lands.
All they had to do was wait for an illegal recruiter – the federal authorities were not keen on Swiss serving foreign powers – to make his rounds in their valley. They would be taken along the Rhine river to Harderwijk in the Netherlands where the KNIL recruitment office was based. Once in Harderwijk, they could stay at the Hotel Helvetia or Café Suisse run by former Swiss mercenaries who would also help them complete the recruitment formalities for a fee. Then it was off by ship to the Dutch East Indies where they would remain for at least six years.
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