Engelandvaarders,_February_24,_1944,_Off_Lowe

Museum_Engelandvaarders_ingang_met_vlaggen

''Engelandvaarder'', (literally translated as "England sailer") was the term given during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to men and women who attempted to escape from the Netherlands across over 100 miles of the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

to reach England and freedom. Only about one in ten were successful in the crossing, with most just disappearing in the sea. Once they reached England many joined the Allied forces to help free their country from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. The period covered is between the capitulation of the Dutch armed forces on 15 May 1940 and the

Allied invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norma ...

on 6 June 1944 (D-Day). In July 1940 three Dutchmen escaped from the occupied Netherlands and crossed the North Sea to England in a twelve-foot boat. They were called "''Engelandvaarders''". This first success encouraged many others to try the crossing. Most of these disappeared and were never heard from again. With time, land routes out of the Netherlands developed, and a number of the Dutch reached England by traveling overland from safe house to safe house to reach

southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland or Sweden and from the neutral country transited to England. A large number of men and women, however, were killed or arrested on their way to England. Many died at sea. Some were captured by the Germans. Of these, some were shot, but most were deported to

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

s. Some escaped from detention, such as

Bram van der Stok Bram van der Stok, (13 October 1915 – 8 February 1993), also known as Bob van der Stok, was a World War II fighter pilot and flying ace, and is the most decorated aviator in Dutch history. In March 1944, he broke out of Stalag Luft III – ...

, the most successful Dutch fighter pilot in World War II, who escaped with Bodo Sandberg and four other ''Engelandvaarders'' from the prisoner of war camp

Stalag Luft III , partof = ''Luftwaffe'' , location = Sagan, Lower Silesia, Nazi Germany (now Żagań, Poland) , image = , caption = Model of the set used to film the movie ''The Great Escape.'' It depicts a smaller version of a single compound in ''Stalag ...

, in a car stolen from the camp commander. Many others were taken to death camps, of whom only a few returned to the Netherlands after the liberation. Upon arriving in England these Engelandvaarders were interrogated by

British secret service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence ...

to be sure Nazi Germany had not slipped a secret agent among their number. This was done in London at the "London Reception Centre" in the building over a period of four years. Once they cleared the interview process they all had a meeting with

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the ...

, who viewed them as her window back to her homeland. A number of the Engelandvaarders were awarded the Dutch Bronze Cross (BK) or the Cross of Merit (KV). Over 1,700 Dutch men and women overcame many difficulties to reach England. Of these 332 joined the Royal Army, 118 the Royal Air Force, 397 the Royal Navy, 176 the

Royal Netherlands East Indies Army The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. The ...

(KNIL) and 164 the merchant navy. 129 served with the

Dutch government-in-exile The Dutch government-in-exile ( nl, Nederlandse regering in ballingschap), also known as the London Cabinet ( nl, Londens kabinet), was the government in exile of the Netherlands, supervised by Queen Wilhelmina, that fled to London after the Germ ...

in London. 111 became secret agents and returned to occupied Netherlands.

Notable Engelandvaarders

Museum Engelandvaarders

On 4 September 2015 the Museum Engelandvaarders was inaugurated by

King Willem-Alexander Willem-Alexander (; Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand; born ) is King of the Netherlands, having acceded to the throne following his mother's abdication in 2013. Willem-Alexander was born in Utrecht as the oldest child of Princess Beatr ...

in the Dutch town of

Noordwijk Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in . On 1 January 2019, the former municipality of Noordwij ...

to commemorate the Engelandvaarders. The museum is in a former munition bunker which was part of the

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticip ...

Soldier of Orange

The Soldier of Orange (Soldaat van Oranje) is a book written by

Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema Siebren Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema (3 April 1917 – 26 September 2007) was a Dutch writer who became a resistance fighter and RAF pilot during the Second World War. Near the end of the war he was adjudant (assistant) to Queen Wilhelmina. He was ...

, first published in 1971. In 1977 the book was made into a movie by Dutch director

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...

. It starred

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

in the part of Erik. In 2010 it was produced on the stage as a musical. The

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

is performed in a Theaterhangar on the former airfield Valkenburg near

Katwijk Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands. The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...

and has since attracted more than 3 million visitors. The running date has been extended multiple times, with the current ending planned for March 2021.

Citations

Bibliography

* Tucker, Spencer C. ''World War II: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection'' Santa Barbara, California : ABC-CLIO, (2014).

External links