Engelandvaarder, (literally translated as "England sailer") was the term given during the Second World War to men and women who attempted to escape from the Netherlands across over 100 miles of the North Sea 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. The period covered is between the capitulation of the Dutch armed forces on 15 May 1940 and the Allied invasion of Normandy 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, 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 camps. Some escaped from detention, such as Bram van der Stok, 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, 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 to be sure Nazi Germany had not slipped a secret agent among their number. This was done in London at the "London Reception Centre"[1] in the building over a period of four years.[2] Once they cleared the interview process they all had a meeting with Queen Wilhelmina, 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 (KNIL) and 164 the merchant navy. 129 served with the Dutch government-in-exile in London. 111 became secret agents and returned to occupied Netherlands.
On 4 September 2015 the Museum Engelandvaarders was inaugurated by King Willem-Alexander in the Dutch town of Noordwijk to commemorate the Engelandvaarders. The museum is in a former munition bunker which was part of the Atlantic Wall.
Soldier of Orange
The Soldier of Orange (Soldaat van Oranje) is a book written by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, first published in 1971. In 1977 the book was made into a movie by Dutch director Paul Verhoeven. It starred Rutger Hauer in the part of Erik.
In 2010 it was produced on the stage as a musical. The musical is performed in a Theaterhangar on the former airfield Valkenburg near Katwijk and has since attracted more than 3 million visitors.[6] The running date has been extended multiple times.[6]
The House of Orange-Nassau is the current reigning house of the Netherlands. A branch of the European House of Nassau, the house has played a central role in the politics and government of the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, particularly since William the Silent organised the Dutch Revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) led to an independent Dutch state. William III of Orange led the resistance of the Netherlands and Europe to Louis XIV of France, and orchestrated the Glorious Revolution in England that established parliamentary rule. Similarly, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands was instrumental in the Dutch resistance during World War II.
Wilhelmina was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, making her the longest-reigning monarch in Dutch history, as well as the longest-reigning female monarch outside the United Kingdom. Her reign saw World War I, the Dutch economic crisis of 1933 and World War II.
Siebren Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema 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 made Knight 4th class of the Military William Order. He is perhaps best known for his book Soldaat van Oranje which described his experiences in the war. His book was later made into a film. The book and the film about it eventually were made into the most successful Dutch musical ever, premiering 30 October 2010.
Bram van der Stok,, 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.
Soldier of Orange is a 1977 Dutch romantic war thriller film directed and co-written by Paul Verhoeven and produced by Rob Houwer, based on Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema's autobiographical book of the same name. Starring Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbé, the film is set around the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, and shows how individual students have different roles in the war.
Englandspiel, or Operation North Pole, was a successful counterintelligence operation of the Abwehr from 1942 to 1944 during World War II. German counter-intelligence operatives, headed by Hermann Giskes of the Abwehr and Joseph Schreider of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), captured Allied resistance agents operating in the Netherlands and used the agents' radios and codes to dupe the United Kingdom's clandestine organization, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), into continuing to infiltrate agents, weapons, and supplies into the Netherlands. The Germans captured nearly all the agents and weapons sent by the United Kingdom (Britain).
The Dutch resistance to the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent, partly because, according to “Was God on Vacation?”, written by Jack van der Geest who was in the Dutch resistance during WWII, a 1938 Dutch law required all guns to be registered. When the Nazis entered, they found the registration list and went house-to-house knowing exactly what guns to demand. As a result, the Dutch resistance had no guns.
Princess Ariane of the Netherlands, Princess of Orange-Nassau is the third and youngest daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima. Princess Ariane is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently third in the line of succession to the Dutch throne.
Rijk de Gooyer was a Dutch Golden Calf-winning actor, writer, comedian and singer. From the 1950s until the early 1970s, he became well known in The Netherlands as part of a comic duo with John Kraaijkamp, Sr. In the United States best known for having small roles in films such as Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht, Soldaat van Oranje, A Time to Die and The Wilby Conspiracy.
William II was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg.
Soldier of Orange is a Dutch musical production, based on the true story of resistance hero Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema. In the 1970s, he wrote his experiences during World War II down in a book and director Paul Verhoeven made it into a 1977 film, starring actor Rutger Hauer.
Lt. Colonel Jhr. Bodo Sandberg was a fighter pilot in the Royal Netherlands Air Force and 'Engelandvaarder' during World War II. He was awarded the Cross of Merit and the Airman's Cross for his bravery during the German invasion of May 1940.
Peter Tazelaar was a member of the Dutch resistance during World War II and worked as an agent for the SOE. Following the war he served in Dutch East Indies, before returning to Europe to work behind the Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe for the United States, which served as an inspiration for Ian Fleming's James Bond series.
Dutch-Paris escape line was a resistance network during World War II with ties to the Dutch, Belgian and French Resistance. Their main mission was to rescue people from the Nazis by hiding them or taking them to neutral countries. They also served as a clandestine courier service. In 1978 Yad Vashem recognized Dutch-Paris's illegal work of rescuing Jews by honoring the line's leader, Jean Weidner as Righteous Among the Nations on behalf of the entire network.
Republicanism in the Netherlands is a movement that strives to abolish the Dutch monarchy and replace it with a republic. The popularity of the organised republican movement that seeks to abolish the monarchy in its entirety has been suggested to be a minority among the people of the Netherlands, according to opinion polls.
François van 't Sant was a Dutch head-commissioner of police, leading intelligence figure and confidant of Queen Wilhelmina and other members of the Dutch Royal House of Orange-Nassau. In both World War I and World War II he played a key role in combined Dutch-British intelligence operations.
The Netherlands remained neutral during World War I, a stance that arose partly from a strict policy of neutrality in international affairs that started in 1830, with the secession of Belgium from the Netherlands. Dutch neutrality was not guaranteed by the major powers in Europe and was not part of the Dutch constitution. The country's neutrality was based on the belief that its strategic position between the German Empire, German-occupied Belgium, and the British guaranteed its safety.
Ernst Willem de Jonge was a lawyer and Olympic rower who volunteered to serve in the Dutch resistance during the Second World War. He was captured in May 1942, interrogated and moved through several concentration camps. He died in a prison in occupied by Germans Poland in September 1944.
Mathilde Adrienne Eugénie Verspyck "was a brave woman who was a devoted believer in the cause of freedom, for which she later sacrificed her life," according to her U.S. Medal of Freedom award.
Edmond Solomon "Moen" Chait (1912-1975) was a resistance leader of the Dutch-Paris Escape Line during the Second World War. Himself a Jew, Chait began his resistance career by helping other Jews to hide in the city of Antwerp, Belgium, as a member of the illegal Comité de Défense des Juifs. In mid-1942 he relocated to the city of Lyon, France, where he volunteered to lead Jewish refugees to neutral Switzerland. A year later in 1943, that escape line over the Swiss border expanded to reach from the Netherlands to Spain and Switzerland, going through Brussels, Paris, Lyon and Toulouse. Chait acted as one of the three leaders of the line, along with Jean Weidner and Jacques Rens. Chait took on the most dangerous missions such as carrying large amounts of cash across borders or escorting Jewish children to safety. He also arranged the escapes of prominent Dutch resisters, civilians wanting to join the Allies in England and downed Allied aviators.
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![Jaap van Hamel [nl] and Rudi van Daalen Wetters [nl] left Katwijk on 19 June 1941. HMS Eglinton picked them up on 24 June and brought them to Lowestoft. Van Hamel en Van Daalen Wetters.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Van_Hamel_en_Van_Daalen_Wetters.jpg/220px-Van_Hamel_en_Van_Daalen_Wetters.jpg)
