WW2 Attic finds..

[Ferry_vO]

I'll start with a little background information first. When my mother was in her twenties, she used to work with an older woman, Mrs. Nelly Vermeulen-Sopers, for an insurance company. Even though she left after a few years, they've been friends until both mrs. and mr. Vermeulen passed away. After Mr. Charles Vermeulen's death we were left with the task of cleaning up his house, as he only had one brother left who was in his eighties and they never had any children. However, my sister and myself acted as 'surrogate grandchildren' for them, and to us they were our grandparents.

Charles was quite a collector and he had a huge library, but he also kept every paycheck he and his wife every received and lots of other stuff!
One of the things I kept for myself are a series of Time-Life books about the history of aviation, books I used to read almost every time we've visited the couple.

Charles had two brothers as far as I can remember, the one that outlived him and another one that was killed on the first day of the German invasion of Holland, May tenth 1940. Charles had kept a lot of photos etc. to remember his brother, but his other brother collected most of it after his death. But inside small corners of the house, and sometimes inside books we did find a few more items. My father kept that in a little box in his house, but when he moved I managed to keep that little box for myself and I'm now busy scanning everything so I can keep a digital copy for the future.

There are some old postcards (Will scan those later for you Ralf!) and a few letters, but also some interesting WW2 related writings and photos.
This includes a hand-written copy of a manifest issued by the Dutch resistance, dated 1941. Having this in your possession in those days meant you could be arrested or worse! There are some hand-written copies of poems, one about British pilots and an alphabet (A is for Adolf.. etc etc)
I won't post most of that here since you can't read it anyway, but I also have some photos, mostly from our royal family, who escaped Holland and fled to Canada via England.

Here's a little item; the text reads "The Netherlands will rise again. From a free Dutch East-Indies a greet. Keep your spirit up!"

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/ap07_005.jpg

The 'Free Dutch East-Indies' indicates this was made prior to the Japanese invasion in March 1942.

Prince Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld, husband of princess Juliana, commander of the Dutch forces in exile in his uniform:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/ap07_006.jpg

Prince Bernard again with his mother in law, queen Wilhelmina:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/ap07_007.jpg

Our current queen Beatrix, with the words 'I will return!':

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/ap07_009.jpg

Our queen Beatrix again on the left, with her mother princess Juliana and her sister Irene and their home in Ottawa, Canada:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/ap07_011.jpg

The same three once more:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/ap07_015.jpg

It was highly illegal to own or spread photos like these in occupied Holland!

[Ferry_vO]

I have to assume that Charles' older brother also served in the Dutch army or airforce, as I found this letter:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/ap07_022.jpg

The header reads: Supreme commander Dutch forces, field headquarters 1945, and it is signed by 'Bernhard'. Doesn't look to be written by Bernhard himself but rather printed. The reciever of this letter is thanked for his service in the Dutch forces. I know that this most likely wasn't meant for Charles as he was didn't have to serve in the army because he already had a brother that was serving. I know this because I still have both his drafting papers and the release form, both with his name on it. He was incredibly lucky; at that time (And infact up until 1994) all boys that turned eighteen had to report for duty and Charles was born in 1922..

His brother Pom wasn't so lucky; he served with the III-2 LvR (Reconnaisance) at Gilze-Rijen before the war, but was killed on May 10th while inside (Don't know if he was the pilot or observer) a Douglas A8-3N Number 385; these were station at Ockenburg AB. The aircraft crashed near Kijkduin (The Hague); the entire crew perished.
Recently I bought the book 'Illusions and accidents' about the Dutch airforce in the period leading up to WW2 and inside I found a photo of Pom at Gilze-Rijen, standing next to a Koolhoven F.K.51.

Another find was this marriage license, signed by the 'Reichscommissar for the occupied territories of Holland' and the Generalkommissar for safety and justice' dated February 9th 1944. Note the stamp with the swatika and eagle:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/jy12010.jpg

Also in the box is an incomplete booklet about A6 size with photos and German text that tells the story of the fight between the British and the Afrika korps. Since this did not end well for the Germans I guess it was not written by them...
I'll refrain from posting some of the more graphic images, one showing a decomposing German soldier with the word "Fuhrer command, we will follow!'on it.

This page shows the rapid evolution of British tanks during the battle:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/jy12022.jpg

Two photos from the liberation of Tunis:

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/jy12030.jpg

Shots of the German POW's, 248,000 according to the left photo. On the right photo the phrase 'Wir fahren gegen Engelland' is used, a phrase often heard prior to the attemped invasion of Britain. Of course these prisoners will sail to England but not in a way their leaders had hoped..
BTW the correct German spelling would be 'Engeland', not Engelland'.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a262/Ferror/Vermeulen/jy12033.jpg

I'm still trying to find out where this piece of anti-nazi propaganda came from, and how it ended up in Holland. Most likely it was dropped from a (British) aircraft..? Too bad the first and last few pages are missing as it would be slightly easier to tell when it was released.

More later!

[Moses03]

Very interesting finds there Ferry. Thanks for posting.

[Milton Shupe]

Ferry,

I enjoyed reading about this and really appreciate your explanations.

Thank you for sharing.

[lefty]

Fascinating stuff, Ferry.

I hope you won't take this as an affront to the Dutch nation if I remark that Queen Juliana bore a startling physical resemblance to a certain British politician, whose name escapes me...........Both strong women, anyway !