Het verjaagde water (The chased water) is a 1947 Dutchnon-fiction novel written by A. den Doolaard, which gives an account of the recovery works to repair dike breaches after the October 1944 Inundation of Walcheren as part of operations by The Allies of World War II during Operation Infatuate. Researchers from Delft University of Technology have found high levels of historical accuracy in den Doolaard's descriptions of the events that took place, the methods used to close the dikes and the key people involved. Den Doolaard assigned pseudonyms to most of the main characters and organisations.[1] The name A. den Doolaard is also a pseudonym, the author’s real name being Cornelis Johannes George Spoelstra Jr.[2]
In October 1944, several dikes surrounding the Dutch island of Walcheren were bombed by the Allies at strategic locations including Westkapelle, Vlissingen, and Fort Rammekens in order to deliberately flood the island. The bombings created major gaps in the dikes at four primary locations, breaching the coastal defences against The North Sea and allowing seawater to flow unchecked into inhabited areas of land. Whilst the bombings achieved the immediate military objective of forcing a retreat of the occupying forces of Nazi Germany, who had used Walcheren to control the Western Scheldt and access to The Port of Antwerp, the subsequent flooding caused by the breaches had profound effects on the island infrastructure and local population.[3][4][5]
The novel describes the subsequent efforts to repair the breaches in the dikes and reclaim Walcheren from the sea. The works were completed by a number of Dutch contractors, including some contractors from the Maatschappij tot Uitvoering van Zuiderzeewerken who had gained appropriate previous experience whilst constructing the Zuiderzee works.[6]
Difficulties in commencing the rehabilitation works included the fact that many dredgers were still located in areas of the occupied Netherlands, and around 25% of the Dutch dredging fleet had been confiscated and transported to Germany.[7] Works at the main breach locations were divided up between four contractors[8] as shown in the table below.
Contractors appointed to the Walcheren reclamation works
By October 1945, the contractors and Rijkswaterstaat had managed to assemble a fleet of 14 suction dredgers and bucket dredgers, 135 barges, 61 tugboats, 73 landing craft, 19 floating cranes, 52 bulldozers and draglines along with motor vehicles and other equipment.[9] Difficulties in sourcing adequate materials and the sheer scale of the works during an emergency wartime situation led to innovative use of improvised materials and equipment, such as the Phoenix caissons used in the closure of the dike gaps, which had previously been used as Mulberry harbours during the Allied invasion of Normandy.[10] Den Doolaard describes the initial reluctance of some of the contractors to use these units; however, their implementation was so successful that similar units would later be used on the closure of the Brielse Maasdam in 1950 and the Braakman in 1952.[8]
Den Doolaard drew on his experiences as a liaison officer with the Dienst Droogmaking Walcheren(Service for Reclamation of Walcheren) to write the novel.[11][12]
A. Den Doolaard (Cornelis Johannes George Spoelstra Jr.) pictured at the works to close the Nolle dike gap in Vlissingen in 1945.
Editions
The original Dutch edition of Het verjaagde water appeared in 1947, published by Em. Querido's Uitgeverij in Amsterdam. It was reprinted in 1958 by the same publisher. An updated edition with annotations by Professor K. d'Angremond and GJ Schiereck was published by Delft Academic Press in 2001. The book has also been translated into a number of languages, including German, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Serbian, French, Czech and Hungarian.[13]
Cover page of the 2001 Dutch edition, which was published with annotations by Professor K. d'Angremond and G.J. Schiereck of Delft University of Technology
Both the original 1947 publication and the subsequent 1948 English translation by Barrows Mussey consist of five books and twenty-five chapters. The table below gives the title of each chapter, from both the Dutch and English versions.
Books and chapters in Het verjaagde water/Roll back the sea
Barrows Mussey's 1948 English translation uses literal translations of each chapter from the original Dutch, with the exception of chapter 19 which uses The joker with the idea as a translation of the Dutch term de scharesliep, a term used to describe a peddlertradesperson who sharpens knives. Den Doolaard uses scharesliep in a pejorative sense.[15] The chapter title refers to the character Berend Bonkelaar's use of the term to express his incredulity at a particular method put forward for carrying out the dike repair works by an officer of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force.
In chapters 9 and 17, Anton Hijnssen's surname is translated as Hynssen, with the Dutch IJ (digraph) being anglicised to Y.[16]
Historical accuracy
J.J. 'Kobus' Kalis, director and part owner of the Bos & Kalis company, photographed by den Doolaard. In the novel, the character of Berend Bonkelaar is based on Kalis. Professor P. Ph. Jansen (van Hummel). Den Doolaard at the closure of the Nolledijk.
For the 2001 reissue of the book, professor Kees D'Angremond and his colleague Gerrit-Jan Schiereck from Delft University of Technology undertook eight years of research around the characters in the book and the events described in it, with two of their graduate students investigating the accuracy of den Doolaard's representation of the technical aspects of the Walcheren reclamation.[17] Their findings were included as annotations in the book and confirmed the high levels of accuracy in den Doolaard's descriptions of the people, events and technical aspects of the hydraulic engineering methods implemented, including the use of caissons, Phoenix breakwaters and torpedo nets.[18]
The true identities of many of the characters in the novel were revealed by the research, with biographical details added as appendices to the 2001 edition. The characters included den Doolard's depiction of protagonists such as the distinguished civil engineer and professor, Pieter Philippus Jansen[19] (represented by the character Van Hummel), many senior Rijkswaterstaat officials, the charismatic dredging boss Berend Bonkelaar (den Doolaard's pseudonym for J.J. 'Kobus' Kalis,[20] a founding director of the Boskalis company),[21] and Klaas Otterkop, the pseudonym of fascine mattressconstruction foreman Gerrit Visser of Gebroeders Van Oord, who supervised the installation of 36 fascine mattresses over a total area of 52,700 square metres during the work.[8]
The table below provides information on many of the characters and organisations in the novel arising from d'Angremond and Schiereck's research.
Identities of the real-life characters and organisations in the novel
Name in the novel
Real name
Note
Berend Bonkelaar
Jacobus Johannis (J.J.) Kalis (Kobus Kalis)
Director and part owner of the Bos & Kalis dredging company.
In the novel, they sign a contract to provide a bucket dredger early in the works, which van Hummel laments is subsequently delayed for lack of a tugboat.
Became a member of the Public Relations staff at Rijkswaterstaat.
Goedemans
B. van Schijndel
Supervisor at Rijkswaterstaat.
Guldental
ir. Johann Pieter Adolf (J.P.A.) van Scherpenberg
Engineer at the contractor Van Hattum & Blankevoort, who worked also with the consortium of contractors who built the Zuiderzee Works known as Maatschappij tot Uitvoering van Zuiderzeewerken (MUZ), (English: Society for the implementation of the Zuiderzee works).
Jongbloed
G.P. Sturm
Representative of the water board of Walcheren.
Hermsen
Steehouwer
Assistant contractor.
Anton Hynssen (Hijnnsen)
H. Onderddijk
Chairman of the Commissie Walcheren moet droog(Dry Walcheren Committee).
Heikes
Don
Vicar in Westkapelle.
Klagemans
Gerardus Adrianus (G.A.) van Hattem
Worked for the contractor Hollandsche Aannemings Maatschappij (HAM), gaining experience with harbour caissons and later became a director of the company. In charge of the dike closure works in Westkapelle.
A mathematician who devised methods for calculating tides and tidal currents in sea inlets and estuaries. His 1964 paper Tidal computations in rivers and coastal waters is regarded as a standard work in the theory of tidal calculations.[23] His work became the mathematical basis for the design of the Delta Works.
In the original Dutch edition of the novel, Dronkers’ character is represented by the pseudonym ‘de Rekenmeester’. In the English translations of the novel, he is referred to as the "mathematician from The Hague, a doctor of science" whose calculations help support the decision on the order of dike closures.
Maartje & Klaartje
Martina and Wilhelmina de Vos
Evacuees from Westkapelle.
Naerebout
Ir. M.A. van Noorden
Civil engineer, who worked in the Netherlands with HAM before becoming a director of the company in South Africa.
Notekauwer
N.N. Dijkstra
After Walcheren, he became involved in the Delta Works.
Onrust
ir. G. van der Rest
Civil Engineer at Boskalis, with whom he was working in Abidjan when World War II broke out. In 1945 he was summoned by the Dutch Government in exile to the Dutch Ministry of Public Works in London.
Klaas Otterkop
Gerrit Visser
Foreman for Gebroeders Van Oord, supervising installation of fascine mattresses at Walcheren.
Rafelding
Ir. Herman Arend (H.A.) Ferguson
Employee of Rijkswaterstaat. After Walcheren, he became head of the Rijkswaterstaat research department in Vlissingen. He was subsequently appointed Director of Deltadienst, the Rijkswaterstaat department which designed and supervised the Delta Works.
Rens
Lous
Cook in the canteen at Westkapelle.
Roberts
Captain Ily
Military Captain with SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force), under the command of Major Allan Beckett.
Worked in the tidal rivers section of Rijkswaterstaat from 1938. After Walcheren, he was involved in repair works to dikes in The Netherlands after The North Sea flood of 1953. He made major contributions to the Delta Works. In 1966, he succeeded P. Ph. Jansen as Professor of Civil Engineering at Delft University of Technology.
Smit
Dirk Pijl
Harbourmaster from Vlissingen, later employed by Boskalis.
Steengracht
ir. de Lindt
Engineer with Hollandse Aanneming Maatschappij (HAM).
Family who owned different companies based in Werkendam, the predecessors of the modern Van Oord company. They were mainly involved in bed protection works such as fascine mattresses.
Worked after graduation for Rijkswaterstaat, mainly in river works. Became head of the Dienst Droogmaking Walcheren (the Service for the Reclamation of Walcheren, the temporary department of Rijkswaterstaat for the Walcheren closures). He was Professor of Civil Engineering at Delft University of Technology from 1946 until 1966 when he was succeeded by P.A. van de Velde. Amongst other publications, he was a contributing editor to a major book on river engineering.[24]
Irma van Hummel
Mrs. I.L. Jansen-Mustert
Wife of professor P.Ph. Jansen.
Jolanda van Hummel
Mrs. J.I. Zeper-Jansen
Daughter of professor P.Ph. Jansen.
Irma van Hummel
Ms. I.P. Jansen
Daughter of professor P.Ph. Jansen.
Van Noorden
De Moor
Machine operator, Vlissingen harbour.
Van Regteren
C. van Westen
Banker in Middelburg, treasurer of the Commissie Walcheren moet droog(Dry Walcheren Committee).
Van Roffel
R. van der Pol
Supervisor at Rijkswaterstaat.
Van Zeurzeutel
Egbertus Dingeman (E.D.) Kalis (Bertus Kalis)
Director and part owner of the Bos & Kalis dredging company. He was working in the United Kingdom during World War II, and therefore formally dismissed from the company in 1940 to avoid problems with the occupying German forces in the Netherlands.
Worked for a contractor in the Dutch East Indies until 1939, then from 1940 with Rijkswaterstaat. Was at Walcheren between 1944 and 1946, thereafter he worked on the closure of The Brielse Maasdam, The Botlek, The Braakman and the Delta Works.
Civil Engineer with the Royal Engineers, in Walcheren with SHAEF. His memoirs provided further corroboration of the accuracy of den Doolaard's book.[25]
Ziftelaar
J.M. de Haas
Financial administrator for Rijkswaterstaat, which he joined in 1933.
Bibliography
Het verjaagde water (1947) Netherlands: Em. Querido's Uitgeverij, Amsterdam.
--- (1958) Em. Querido's Uitgeverij, Amsterdam.
--- (2001) VSSD/Delft Academic Press, with new research and annotations by Prof. ir. K. d'Angremond and ir. G.J. Schiereck.
Selected editions in translation
Roll back the sea (1948) United States: Simon and Schuster, New York. Translated by Barrows Mussey.
Det beeegrade havet (English: The besieged sea) (1948) Sweden: av Buster Nyström. Translated by Sauna Fultor.[26]
Besiegtes Wasser Roman (English: Defeated water) (1949) Switzerland: Amerbach-Verl, Basel. Translated by Irma Silzer.[27]
Spoutaná voda (English: Tamed water) (1964) Czechoslovakia: Lidová demokracie, Prague.[28]
Akik a tengerrel csatáznak (English: Those who battle with the sea) (1981) Hungary: Európa, Budapest. Translated by Vámosi Pál.[29]
The Afsluitdijk is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of Zurich in Friesland province, over a length of 32 kilometres (20 mi) and a width of 90 metres (300 ft), at an initial height above Amsterdam Ordnance Datum of between 6.7 metres (22 ft) along the section at Friesland, and 7.4 metres (24 ft) where it crosses the deep channel of the Vlieter. The height at the greater sea depths west of Friesland was required to be a minimum of 7 metres everywhere when originally constructed.
Flood control is an important issue for the Netherlands, as due to its low elevation, approximately two thirds of its area is vulnerable to flooding, while the country is densely populated. Natural sand dunes and constructed dikes, dams, and floodgates provide defense against storm surges from the sea. River dikes prevent flooding from water flowing into the country by the major rivers Rhine and Meuse, while a complicated system of drainage ditches, canals, and pumping stations keep the low-lying parts dry for habitation and agriculture. Water control boards are the independent local government bodies responsible for maintaining this system.
Rijkswaterstaat, founded in 1798 as the Bureau voor den Waterstaat and formerly translated to Directorate General for Public Works and Water Management, is a Directorate-General of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management of the Netherlands. Its role is the practical execution of the public works and water management, including the construction and maintenance of waterways and roads, and flood protection and prevention. The agency was also involved in the construction of big railway projects such as the Betuweroute and the HSL-Zuid.
The Deltar was an analogue computer used in the design and execution of the Delta Works from 1960 to 1984. Originated by Johan van Veen, who also built the initial prototypes between 1944 and 1946, its development was continued by J.C. Schönfeld and C.M. Verhagen after van Veen's death in 1959.
Johannes Aleidis (Johan) Ringers was a Dutch hydraulic engineer and politician. He served as the director-general of Rijkswaterstaat and later as the director of Dutch East Indies Railways. During World War II, Ringers was appointed as the government commissioner for reconstruction, but was later interned by German forces.
June Barrows Mussey, who wrote under the pen name Henry Hay, was an American journalist and translator who is notable for his writing about magic and sleight of hand and also of a large number of European authors including Lion Feuchtwanger.
A. den Doolaard is the pseudonym of the Dutch writer and journalist Cornelis Johannes George (Bob) Spoelstra Jr.
The Inundation of Walcheren was the intentional, but uncontrolled military inundation, effected by bombing the sea dikes of the former island of Walcheren in Zeeland by the Allies on and after 3 October 1944 in the context of Operation Infatuate during the Battle of the Scheldt after the Allied Invasion of Normandy during World War II. Though the inundation was justified by military necessity, it is controversial whether it was proportional in view of the predictable devastating effects for the civilian population, and the ecology of the island. The fact that the breaches in the sea dikes of the island remained open for a very long time, subjecting the island to the full impact of the twice-daily tides, caused severe damage to agricultural land and infrastructure, and severe hardship for the civilian population. Leaving the breaches open for such a long time, which was unavoidable due to the war-time lack of resources making closing impossible, subjected them to scouring by the tides, that widened and deepened them to such an extent that closing them eventually became extremely difficult, necessitating the development of new dike-building techniques, such as the use of caissons. The last breach was closed on 23 October 1945 and the draining of the island took until early 1946. Only after that could rebuilding the infrastructure and reconstructing the housing stock and the island's economy start. Walcheren was spared during the North Sea Flood of 1953 that devastated many other parts of Zeeland.
Johan van Veen was a Dutch hydraulic engineer. He is considered the father of the Delta Works.
The Markiezaatskade is a compartmentalisation dam in The Netherlands, situated between South Beveland and Molenplaat, near Bergen op Zoom. The dam was constructed as part of the Delta Works, and has a length of 4 kilometres.
The Stormvloedkering Hollandse IJssel, Hollandse IJsselkering or Algerakering is a storm surge barrier located on the Hollandse IJssel, at the municipal boundary of Capelle aan den IJssel and Krimpen aan den IJssel, east of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The construction of the works comprised the first project of the Delta Works, undertaken in response to the disastrous effects of the North Sea flood of 1953. Prior to 1954, the spelling Hollandsche was used in the official name.
The Zandkreekdam is a compartmentalisation dam located approximately 3 kilometres north of the city of Goes in The Netherlands, which connects Zuid-Beveland with Noord-Beveland, and separates the Oosterschelde from the Veerse Meer.
Pieter Jacobus (P.J.) Wemelsfelder was a Dutch hydraulic engineer who made significant contributions to the field of hydrometry in the Netherlands, and in hydraulic engineering internationally. In addition to his involvement in the design and planning of the Delta Works, he published widely and is notable for the first use of probability theory in the design of flood levels.
Jo Johannis Dronkers was a Dutch mathematician who is notable for the development of mathematical methods for the calculation of tides and tidal currents in estuaries. His work formed much of the mathematical basis for the design of the Delta Works. He attended the 1954 International Congress of Mathematicians in Amsterdam, where his work was discussed by David van Dantzig.
Johannes Theodoor Thijsse was a Dutch hydraulic engineer who made significant contributions to hydraulic engineering both in The Netherlands and internationally. In addition to having a major involvement in the design and planning of both the Zuiderzee Works and the Delta Works, he published widely and played a key role in the establishment of the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education.
The Waterloopkundig Laboratorium was an independent Dutch scientific institute specialising in hydraulics and hydraulic engineering. The laboratory was established in Delft from 1927, moving to a new location in the city in 1973. The institute later became known as WL | Delft Hydraulics. In 2008, the laboratory was incorporated into the international nonprofit Deltares institute.
Pieter Philippus Jansen was a Dutch civil engineer and hydraulic engineer who made significant contributions to hydraulic engineering in The Netherlands. He spent the majority of his career with Rijkswaterstaat, working on several major projects including the first phase of the Delta Works and leading the reclamation and repair efforts following the inundation of Walcheren.
Jan Fokke Agema was a Dutch hydraulic engineer and professor at Delft University of Technology. He is notable for his design of the harbour entrance at Hoek van Holland and involvement in the construction of the Oosterscheldekering. The prof. dr.ir. J.F. Agemaprijs is named for him, and has been awarded every five years since 2000.
A fascine mattress(Dutch: Zinkstuk, literally sink piece), is a large woven mat made of brushwood, typically willow twigs and shoots, used to protect riverbeds and other underwater surfaces from scour and erosion. They are similar in construction to a fascine, but are primarily used for hydraulic engineering works, typically to strengthen the banks of rivers and streams, as well as coastal structures like revetments and groynes.
The Maatschappij tot Uitvoering van Zuiderzeewerken (MUZ) (English: Society for the Execution of the Zuiderzee Works) was a consortium of dredging contractors in the Netherlands, formed in August 1926 for the specific purpose of executing the Zuiderzee Works. The Zuiderzee Works comprised a number of significant hydraulic engineering projects designed to dam the Zuiderzee, a large shallow inlet of the North Sea, to prevent flooding and reclaim land for agricultural and residential use.
References
↑ den Doolaard, A.; d' Angremond, K.; Schiereck, G.J (2001). Het verjaagde water[Roll back the sea] (in Dutch). Delft: VSSD/Delft Academic Press. ISBN9789065624116. Retrieved 19 July 2024.
↑ Dronken van het leven: A. den Doolaard, zwerver, schrijver, journalist / Hans Olink. – Amsterdam: Atlas, 2011. – 431 p. ISBN978-90-450-1369-5
↑ Vandersmissen, H. (1995). 60 jaar Vereniging Centrale Baggerbedrijf[60 years of the Central Dredging Companies Association] (in Dutch). Leidschendam.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Bos, W. (1974). Van baggerbeugel tot sleepzuiger. Een overzicht van de ontwikkeling in de Nederlandse baggerindustrie[From dredging bracket to trailing suction dredger. An overview of the development in the Dutch dredging industry] (in Dutch). Sliedrecht.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Ferguson, H.A. (1991). Dialoog met de Nordzee. 2000 jaar Deltawerken[Dialogue with the North Sea. 2000 years of Delta works.] (in Dutch). Hippolytushoef. p.112-113.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Jansen., P. Ph. (1946). "De droogmaking van Walcheren. De strijd bij Rammekens" [The reclamation at Walcheren. The battle at Rammekens.]. De Ingenieur (in Dutch). 58 (15).
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