Presentation of the Lombok Cross by Queen Wilhelmina on the Malieveld

Soldiers from the Royal Netherlands East-Indies Army (KNIL) are honoured for their actions on Lombok (an island east of Bali). The Netherlands violently consolidated its colonial hold there at the cost of the livesof thousands of in habitants and looted the palace full of treasures. Young Queen Wilhelmina pins the Lombok Cross, made from the melted-down copper of captured cannons, on one of the men. The Dutch colonial empire is here being celebrated.