Henk Alkema

Henri Jacques "Henk" Alkema (6 January 1912 – 15 July 1944) was a Dutch professional cyclist and painter. He became Dutch national motor-paced champion in 1936 and participated at the 1936 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. He died during World War II while being a prisoner of war victim of Japanese imprisonment.
Biography.
Alkema started with cycling when he was young and became a member of the cycling club "Excelsior" in The Hague. He started with motor-paced track cycling in 1933. He trained in the winter of 1933–34 with Wiersma and rode his first competition in 1934. It was a succes and finished third. He was a main rival at the 1935 Dutch national championships. His biggest achievement was winning the Dutch national motor-paced championships in 1936. He represented the Netherlands at the 1936 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Zürich. He also competed at international competitions in Leipzig, Chemnitz, Breslau and Neurenberg winning multiple prizes. He won the bronze medal at the 1938 national championships. He was trained by jiu jitsu European Champion M. van Nieuwenhuizen in The Hague. He retired from cycling in October 1938.
Besides cycling, Alkema was also a portrait and landscape painter.
During World War II, Alkema was enlisted in the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army. He was imprisoned in Bandung and became a prisoner of war victim of Japanese imprisonment and had to work on the Burma Railway. He died of pneumonia in Nakompaton, Thailand on 15 July 1944, aged 32. He is buried at the Kanchanaburi War Cemetery.