December 25, 2013 - This will be my first posting... where do we start?

This will be work in progress, I try to unlock the history that my parents and grandparents had to go through during the events of WW II.


A quick preamble for what I am about to unfold...

My father, Willem Reyer Schut, now deceased, has passed on his life journal to the family. Within the journal, it tells of the difficult times during WW II. In-addition, our mum, Hennie, has told us some of the more memorable times during that period. After reading and hearing their stories, I thought the rest of the family and other readers would find this of great interest.

In short... the players...

My dad, Willem Reyer Schut Jr. 21 years of age,

 I understood that dad was secretly working as an underground agent for the Dutch Government, helping the British. However I did not find any evidence of this. His involvement consisted of finding secret hiding places or homes for the Jews and British pilots, blowing up railway tracks and transport systems, stealing provisions for the  Underground workers, and posing as Hennie's (our future mum) "husband" while she was delivering food stamps to the underground hiding places.

Below is a copy of my dad's identification papers during WW II

 My Dad's Dad,  Opa Willem Reyer Schut Sr, 

He was one of the local tax collectors for the City of Apeldoorn; I understood that he collected the taxes from the local merchants around the city. During the war, part of his job was also to  produce the food stamps, which in turn were distributed to the local towns’ people. At times, the press malfunctioned and those food stamps had to be destroyed (or so the Germans thought). These food stamps were "skimmed off" and given to the Dutch Underground to provide extra food for the homes that hid the Jews and Allied Soldiers. 

 In addition, he found and made arrangements for finding safe shelter and relocating the Jews and the shot down Allied pilots.

 Below are photographs of my grandfather, as the tax collector.

Pictures below show opa Schut hard at work.

pictures of Opa Schut as the tax collector (4th from the right)

  

My future mum, Hennie W. Elbertsen, 22 years old, 

She had many roles during this period, to name a few...

1.) Posing as a "pregnant" woman; her baby was the "skimmed off" food stamps strapped around her waist. Riding on her bicycle, she would distributed this food stamps to the houses that hid the Jews and shot down Allied pilots. This is where Mum met Dad; she was told the he had to go with her on her delivery rounds, pretending to her husband.
2.) Acting as a spy...finding out what the Nazi's were planning and doing, and relaying this information to the Dutch Underground organization
3.) Stealing provisions from the Germans to supply the Dutch Underground.
4.)  A key person in helping relocate an Allied Soldiers. On occasion, the Allied Soldier would act as her husband on her bicycle trips.

I have made separate posts for more detail on the above later on in this blog. 

Below are some photographs of mum at the time.

My Mum's dad, Opa Hendrik Elbertsen,

I am not sure what my grand-father did prior to WWII, but from the hand-coloured photograph taken in 1915 shown below, our cousin Paul Schut informed me that Opa Elbertsen was enlisted into the Horse Artillery, known popularly as the "Yellow Riders". 


For further details on the "Yellow Riders" click on the following link:
Yellow Riders website

During WW II he was the forest ranger in Hoenderloo. I assumed that since he knew the forest extremely well, he found / made temporary hiding places in the woods to hide the shot down Allied pilots. In addition, I assume he made arrangements for better hiding places and finally to arrange for safe return of the Allied pilots.

Unfortunately, I can not find any material on his actions, except for the awards he received after the war.


I am extremely surprised with all the awards he received, there is no mention in the history books of his contribution.

awards received:

From the President of the United States of America – Dwight D. Eisenhower,

“Certificate of Gratitude and Appreciation of the American People" for the gallant service in assisting the escape of Allied Soldiers from the enemy.
 

 From the British Air Chief Marshall, Deputy Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force

  “Certificate of Gratitude" for and appreciation of the help given to the Sailors, Soldiers and Airmen of the British Commonwealth of Nations, which enabled them to escape from, or evade capture, by the enemy.

From Prince of the Netherlands – Prince Bernhard

“Certificate of Gratitude and Appreciation on behalf of the Netherland people for your gallant service.”

 
My dad, translated this letter...  

"By your retirement of the Country Underground Armed Force, it is my duty and privilege to thank you, for all your work and effort in the force, during the occupation of the enemy, and to assist in the deviet??? of the enemy. Also I like to express the gratitude and appreciation, behave of the Netherlands people for your gallant service. My best wishes for your future"

And from Queen Juliana.

“The Honor Certificate from the Order of Knights of Orange-Nassau in Silver”

 

The Order of Orange-Nassau (Dutch: Orde van Oranje-Nassau, Dutch pronunciation: [oˈrɑnje ˈnɑsʌu]) is a military and civil Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina.

The Order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has earned special merits for society". These are people who deserve appreciation and recognition from society for the special way in which they have carried out their activities.

During World War II, the Order of Orange-Nassau was bestowed upon both members of the Netherlands military and members of foreign services who had helped liberate the Netherlands from Nazi Germany occupation, and those who helped liberate the former Dutch colonies in the Pacific. In the modern age, the Orange-Nassau is still the most active military and civil decoration of the Netherlands, and ranks after the Order of the Netherlands Lion. The Order is typically awarded each year on the Queen's official birthday (April 30) with a hundred or so appointments to the Order made public. The Order is also used to honour foreign princes, ministers, dignitaries and diplomats.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


While researching the web, I found mention of Opa Hendrik Elbertsen, mentioned in "WW II Netherlands Escape Lines" website... see link:
netherlands-escape-lines


Below is a copy of the page mentioning Op Elbertsen...