The Beginning of the 2nd World War

In the month of August of that summer we were vacationing in Bergen-aan- Zee where our parents had rented a house. We went to the beach every day. This was rudely disturbed by the government call mobilizing the army, because of the threatened outbreak of war. I remember vividly how people thronged together around the notices that had been put up everywhere on storefronts and public buildings calling on all reservists to immediately report to their units. It was amazing to see the beach empty out. In no time not a soul was left. Everybody was involved of course in this national emergency. People were upset and in a hurry to get home. My father left immediately for his post as a company commander of the 5th Infantry Regiment in Amersfoort. We followed immediately after. The bus came to pick us up, although I seem to remember that the oldest among us rode their bikes home. This took us a whole day because the distance was approximately 100 km.

In the first months after the Allies had declared war against Germany very little happened in terms of hostilities. They called it "the twilight war" or "the phony war". Both sides were gathering their strength in preparation for a real confrontation. This phony war lasted from September 1939 till April 1940. And then everything changed and all hell broke loose.

We woke up early in the morning on the 10th of May 1940 from the noise of a large fleet of airplanes that flew over from the East to the West. We were so excited about it. I remember that Nico and I in our pyjamas climbed out of the window of his room at the back of the house into the eavestrough so that we could have a clear view. We had never seen so many planes together.

It was scary but fun too. However the fun quickly came to an end when we noticed fighter planes trying to intercept them. It was a scary noise to hear them fire at these bigger machines. Some of the empty bullet shells made a racket falling down on our roof. It became even more scary when one of the planes was shot down. Then we knew for sure that it was war. It did not take us long then to get inside.

I remember the whole family listening to the radio, hearing the news of the war. We also listened to our Queen denouncing "met vlammende verontwaardiging" (with a burning anger. Boy, she really did sound angry!) this unwarranted attack by the German forces on a peaceful nation.

The next thing I remember is that we were evacuated because we lived too close to the firing line of the Grebbe Linie (Grebbe Line) one of the defensive lines in the country. I do not remember getting ready or packing and locking up, which is strange because the situation must have been very tense. My father was not there because he was with his regiment in the Grebbe Line. I do not know who was in charge of our evacuation and I wonder now how they managed to get things and people organized. Everybody went, children, personnel, nobody excluded. It was a very long column and some came in a separate convoy with horse drawn wagons to bring supplies.

On the road from Barneveld to Voorthuizen we met a large group of young men in black uniforms. They belonged to the Landwacht or in German: Wacht Abteilung. Among us they were known as the WA. This was a Nazi organization consisting of Dutch members, whom we all considered to be traitors and collaborators with the enemy. They were coming into their own now that the Germans had invaded the country. We were scared when we saw them coming. And wouldn't you know, one of the older boys, Cor Dykstra, must have made a remark in passing them, because suddenly they stopped (and so did we) and they piled on top of Cor, beating him up. Fortunately it did not take too long and Cor could go on on his own steam. But we were very frightened by this first experience of Nazi brutality not knowing that in years to come it would become a common experience for many people.

A little farther on we came through a forward defensive line of Dutch Cavalry troops. They were lying in wait behind an embankment for things to come, as we filed past. We cheered them on. They looked so invincible that we were convinced that no German would be able to get by them. Later on we heard that they had put up a fierce resistance against the advancing German troops, but they could not stand against the overwhelming power of modern armor.

In the beginning we did not know where we were going, but we went East. To "Kamp the Paalberg" just South of Ermelo. Now don't imagine that this was a summer camp like we have them now with all the modern facilities. It was in fact a large terrain on the heath accessible by dirt roads. The dirt there is pure sand. On this terrain were a number of wooden barracks. That is all. Some were for dining, some for the camp administration, and some could be used as cabins to sleep in. I don't remember if there was electricity. There were pumps for water. There were outhouses. They were totally inadequate for so many people, but we managed. Fortunately the weather was beautiful.

My memory is lacking in many places. There are just flashes of things that happened. We slept upon fresh straw. A whole group of us kids together, which was a lot of fun of course. We did not sleep much that first night. The only topic of discussion was the war and the Germans. We were convinced that our troops would hold them. What did we know of modern warfare? The air was full of rumours: “The Germans had been stopped at the River IJssel and the bridges had been blown up” and “The IJssel was red with the blood of dead Germans”. We cheered when we heard this of course. But nobody knew what was really going on.

On Saturday night there was some sort of a crisis, because Mr VanWyk, who was an elder in the church and who had to serve in that capacity the next day, did not have a clean collar for his Sunday shirt. (In those days all dress shirts had loose collars, made of treated paper or of starched linen. That way the collar could be washed more frequently than the shirt. I have worn those detachable collars for many years when I was a minister. They were handy, because you could change them very quickly. But they were also very hard and often hurt the skin. They were not comfortable, however stylish they may have looked).

The thought of Mr. VanWyk serving as an elder in an every-day-shirt, or without a collar on his Sunday shirt was unthinkable to be sure. So what to do?

Strangely enough it was I who volunteered to go to the town of Ermelo to see if I could buy one for him. That was strange and rather out of character, because I was usually not that brave and decisive. There were also a lot of older young people around who could have done it. Anyway, in the end some of us went to town on our bikes. To enter town we had to cross the highway and at first we could not because endless columns of German troops drove by on their way West. This took care of one rumour, because obviously the enemy had crossed the River IJssel and the fighting there was over. They did not look very scared as if they were at war and expected to be attacked any moment. They just drove by in orderly columns to which there seemed to be no end.

We stood by the side of the road looking on and awed by this display of might. I remember saying out loud something like: "Wow, look at this amazing equipment! They got everything new!" But my girlfriend poked me in the side: "Sssh, be careful, they might arrest you." That shows you how scared we were. But I do not remember that I gave any thought to the fact that this highway would lead the Germans straight to the position held by our father and his regiment. As a matter of fact I do not remember that I gave much thought to Father anyway. But mother was worried about him.

The equipment of the invading German army was indeed brand-new and ultra modern. It was awesome to see this invincible army rolling over us. I remember that at that moment I thought of the cavalry men, who were going to stop this enemy, with rifles and machine guns! It was a cruel awakening.

When finally we managed to get across the road to enter into town, we discovered that the clock had been advanced one hour. It was Daylight Saving Time. We did not know what that was. We found out that this was the first thing the German authorities, who had already established themselves in the town, had ordered. This meant that it was an hour later than we thought and the stores would be closed! What about Mr. VanWyk's collar?! Anyway we found a store where the owner was willing to help us out. So we arrived back home triumphant and Mr. VanWyk could serve at church the next morning in proper Sunday attire. At that point wearing proper attire to church was still of utmost importance. The idea that we were really at war had not yet sunk in apparently. I remember the collar but I do not remember anything about the church service.

Amazing how such shocking experiences can completely disappear from a person's memory. I believe that we stayed in that camp for approximately a week. Then the war was over. The Dutch prime minister and his cabinet and the queen had fled to England and we now lived in a German occupied country. We were no longer free, although at that point we did not have the slightest idea what that meant.

When we came home we found an incredible mess everywhere. The German soldiers had been in all the homes and shops. They had turned everything upside down. The kitchen cupboards had been emptied. They had just swept everything from the shelves onto the floor. Upstairs in the bedrooms they had emptied the closets. Dresses and underwear and bed-sheets were lying all over the place. They had used some of the underwear as toilet paper. In the general store they had upended all the bins with beans, peas, flour, etc. However I do not remember any damage like broken glass or furniture. Across from us lived an old retired farmer, Mr. Lagerwey. Very upset he came up the driveway crying: "They have robbed me of my pig meat and eaten it all!" I have often wondered what possesses an army to do things like this. Assuming that they all had their own homes, parents and friends. Why up-end bins with food, just to spill it? War creates its own demonic spirit.

After this nothing happened for a long time. Our father came home, after having been a prisoner of war for several weeks, although I do not remember his coming home. The Germans were in the country and we heard about their decrees and actions every day. But our life did not change much. We just picked up where we left off. Nico and I saw German troops when we went to school in Amersfoort, but it did not happen very often that a German soldier was seen on the Rudolphstichting. It seemed that everything had returned to normal. This is how our war began.