Jan Joseph Godfried van Voorst tot Voorst Jan Joseph Godfried , Baron van Voorst tot Voorst ( Godfried ) Jr . ( December 29 , 1880 , Kampen — November 11 , 1963 , Vierakker ) was the second highest officer in command of the Dutch armed forces during World War II and a renowned strategist , who wrote numerous articles and books on modern warfare . Private life . He was the fifth child of Jan Joseph Godfried baron van Voorst tot Voorst sr . ( 1846 – 1931 ) , lieutenant general and president of the Senate , and Anna Cremers ( 1851 – 1933 ) . With his first wife , Jkvr . Octavia Ottine van Nispen tot Pannerden ( 1885 – 1947 ) , he had 6 children . His second wife , Jkvr . Joanna Maria Alfrida Louisa ( 1910 – 1992 ) , was a daughter of the Dutch Prime Minister Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck . Military career . After he completed his secondary education , he was admitted to the Royal Military Academy ( KMA ) in Breda in 1898 . In 1901 , he graduated first in his class , and enlisted in an infantry regiment in Haarlem . During the general railway strikes in 1903 , he was the only lieutenant in charge of a unit protecting the train station of Haarlem . In 1907 , he became a personal adjutant of Queen Wilhelmina , and in this function accompanied her on various state visits . During the First World War and the mobilization of the Dutch Army , he served in various ranks . These experiences and his concerns regarding the Schlieffen Plan led him to write a study highlighting the critical importance of the province of Limburg in German strategic planning . The publication was translated into Spanish , English , French and Norwegian . In 1920 , Godfried became a member of the general staff and represented the Netherlands in the disarmament conference in Geneva . In the wake of the Great Depression , he managed to restore order after the 1934 riots in Amsterdam . This was the first time that armored vehicles were deployed by the Dutch army . In 1935 , he supervised the Dutch troops monitoring the 1935 plebiscite in the Saar . Throughout the 1920s and 1930s , he was highly critical of the " broken rifle " movement and the prevailing pacifist mentality of Dutch society and politics , which he deemed naïve . In later life , he would comment that this era was the low point in the history of Dutch defense . In 1936 , he published a widely - read book on the German rearmament — an early warning against Nazi militarism . By the late 1930s , Dutch politicians finally realized that their country would not be able to remain neutral in the looming conflict with Nazi Germany . During the hasty and belated military preparations , Godfried firmly rejected the ideas of general Izaak Reijnders . Godfried warned against Blitzkrieg tactics and mechanized warfare , whereas Reijnders believed that a possible German invasion would be preceded by long political and diplomatic tensions . Although , Reinders ' s plans were initially adopted , his conflict with the secretary of defense Adriaan Dijxhoorn led to the resignation of the former . Since two brothers of the van Voorst tot Voorst family served in the general staff and because their catholic background was controversial among Protestants , Dijxhoorn appointed the retired general Henri Winkelman , who supported the strategic plans of Godfried . Much time was lost due to these internal arguments , and when Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on May 10 , 1940 , the Dutch armed forces were insufficiently prepared . Godfried attempted to defend the Grebbeberg , but was ultimately forced to withdraw to the West of the Netherlands . After the Rotterdam Blitz and the German threat to annihilate other Dutch cities , he advised Winkelman to surrender . After the Battle of the Netherlands , he refused to pledge an oath of loyalty to the Nazis , and as a consequence , he was sent ( together with his brother , H . F . M . baron van Voorst tot Voorst ) to a prisoner - of - war camp in Germany for the 5 remaining years of the war . Following the end of Nazi Germany , he returned to the Netherlands , where he assumed various military and civil positions . In 1960 , on his 80th birthday , he was awarded the titular rank of general .