Messages posted by: Jack Bakker

Ria and I are shocked by the news of the death of Scotty. A man who made a big impression on us from the first moment we met him in Fort William. We will always remember the evenings we had dinner together with Scotty and Pam and other dear friends. Scotty answered many a question I had about Naill Thompson and it was always a pleasure to listen to his stories. Ria always took Old Amsterdam cheese with her when we came over to FW, the cheese Scotty liked so much. I will cherish his autograph which he wrote down in his book for me.

It has been an honour and a privilage to have known you Scotty and you will be dearly missed! Or thoughts go out to his lovely wife Pam and his family. I hope they have Old Amsterdam cheese where you are now....

Jack and Ria

Hi!

I have just sent you an email with the email address of the son of Val Kokhuis, Mike. He lives in South Africa and he might be able to answer your question(s). Mike is a former Commando as well.

All the best.

Jack

You beat me to it in replying Pete!

Hello!

My name is Jack Bakker and I am a retired captain of the Dutch Commandos and the curator of the Dutch Commando Museum. I was very interrested to read that your father was H. Gubbels of No 2 Dutch Troop. It was very good to see that you put his name on several photos. We have those in our archive but is always good to know who are on those photos. The last photo you posted is very unique and one I have never seen before!! It is certainly not in our archive. I was surprised to see that he is still wearing his green beret.

As you say your father was taken prisoner during the battle of Arnhem, together with three other Dutch Commandos: De Waard, Gobetz and Beekmeijer. De Waard was wounded in his foot and was sent to a hospital. Your father and the other two were sent to a POW camp near Dresden. We now know which one! During a bombing raid on Dresden they managed to escape but were caught again. Being Commandos they didn't give up so they escaped for a second time. This time they managed to stay out of the hands of the Germans and walked into the American lines near a place called Chemnitz on the Chech border. I am not sure how long it took them to reach those lines, but they escaped during the very cold winter of 1944/1945. In an interview Gobetz told that he was interrogated by the Gestapo and tought that he would be executed because of the fact that he was a Commando. No doubt your father was also interroagted by the Gestapo.

I am very interrested in any photos or other information you have on your father. We also have papers of him so it might be good to get in contact with each other. Feel free to contact me on: [email protected]

Kind regards,

Jack

When Ria and I were in Fort William for the first time in 2009, we were invited to share a table with Scotty and his wife Pam, Jenny Barlow and Harry and his Pam. An evening we will never forget because of the kindness and humour. Not in the least humour on the part of Harry. The years after that we always had a talk with Harry and Pam when we were in FW. Two very kind people. We will miss Harry and our thoughts are with his lovely wife Pam and his family at this sad time.

Rest in peace Harry!

Dear Ben,

Nice picture of your father! I have printed it and will put it with his papers in the archive of our Commando museum.

I have had a close look at it and I can see parachute wings on his left chest. This is very possible as he and the others who volunteerd for work behind the German lines, did a parachute course before they went into action.

The thing I wonder about is the hackle on this beret. Dutch Commandos did not wear such a thing on their berets. I can also not make out the Dutch Lion on his beret. But I am sure some variations were made to the uniforms in those days. For instance, there were some who put on a red beret with the badge of the Parachute Regiment after finishing the parachute course and there were some who kept the green beret.

At the end of April 1945 the Germans allowed food convoys to enter the West of Holland. I have never heard of Dutch Commandos, i.e. No 2 Dutch Troop, being involved in that in any way. The Troop was in the South of Holland at that time. But it could be possible that your father was involved in one way or the other. From the first of December 1944 he was promoted to the rank of temporary Sergeant Major for the time he was attached to the Staff of the Dutch Interior Forces. I have no info how long he stayed in that job, but being with the Staff it might be possible that he had something to do with the convoys. Perhaps your father's service record could shed a light on this.

The date on the photo is 5 May 1945. This was the day on which the Germans officialy surrenderd in Holland and that day later became Liberation Day.

Ben,

As you might guess, I am very interested in the Xmas card/book and the photo of your father talking on a microphone. I haven't seen that photo before and I have never heard that your father, nor any other Dutch Commando, was present with the convoy of food. Very interesting stuff.

As far as I know the book "Onder de vlag der Commando's" has not been translated.

Concerning the site Soldatenvanoranje: my friend in the Dutch Commando Association told me that they are in process of renewing the site of the Association and they will look into it if the info of the former site Soldatenvanoranje will be made part of the new site. It will take some time!

Ben,

Here is a translation of the page from the book "Onder de vlag der Commando's" by Willem van der Veer, who was one of the first members of No 2 Dutch Troop.

"One of Troop members was Bendien, who knew six or seven languages. The same Bendien who later drove into a tree in a jeep near the towm of Zeist and subsequently died. When Bendien was searching the radio waves with a transmitter, he catched the French who were in positions about three kilometers away from us. After listening for half an hour to find out their codenames, Bendien ordered the French to leave their positions and march in a certain direction, where we were waiting for them in an ambush in which we "killed'' them according to the book. As far as I know they never forgave us. Colonel Lister was wringing his hands saying all the time: "These bloody Dutchmen, these bloody Dutchmen.""

I think Capt Westerling must have visited your house after the war as he became a Captain when he was serving in the former Dutch East Indies and not during WW2.

Ben,

Regarding your question about the bodyguards. When Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands went into the South of Holland in September 1944, he had a bodyguard of five Commandos. They were Lt Ruys van Dugteren, Cpl Steengracht van Moyland, Cpl Van Woerden (who later as a lieutenant-colonel became one of the Commanding Officers of the Dutch Commandos), Pvt Van Creveld and Pvt Hagelaars. The latter was killed whilst on his way to pay his parents a visit after not seeing them for years.

Your father has been in India together with No 2 Dutch Troop who were there on the special request of Mountbatten.

Regards,

Jack

Dear Ben,

I will send you the information about your father again. Concerning the site I mentioned: the name was www.soldatenvanoranje.com. Within that site was a part about the Dutch Commandos and there you could see the words The Green Beret. I will get in contact with my friend in the Dutch Commando Association and ask him about what can be done.

Regards,

Jack

I have been in contact with Ben Bendien some time ago and I have sent him scans of all the documents we have in our museum about his father. I have also sent him a form with which he can apply for his father's service record. I assume he has done that.

Regarding the photo. Ben is mistaken by saying that the man on the left is Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. The man on the left is Jack van Roosendaal. He was of No 2 Dutch troop and was active as an instructor to the Interior Forces of the Dutch Resistance in the liberated South of Holland. He was killed by the explosian of a V1 rocket near a place called Princenhage. The man on the right is not known to me.

Regarding the quote from the book Commandos in Excile. Lt Knottenbelt, Sgt Van der Veer, Cpl Michels, Pvts Blatt and De Koning were all parachuted into the then still occupied North of Holland with the task to organise and train the resistance forces. It was intended that this would also be done by Westerling, Bendien and Van Lienden. However this was cancelled and they went to the South of Holland instead to train units the newly raised Dutch Army. See the links below to the site of the Dutch Institute for Military History. In the links are photos of both Bendien and Westerling training the above mentioned troops.

http://nimh-beeldbank.defensie.nl/nl/alle-afbeeldingen/weergave/search/layout/result/thema/6b80357c-3e79-ac8c-cc86-9202aafd790b-het-korps-commandotroepen/indeling/detail/start/122

http://nimh-beeldbank.defensie.nl/nl/alle-afbeeldingen/weergave/search/layout/result/thema/6b80357c-3e79-ac8c-cc86-9202aafd790b-het-korps-commandotroepen/indeling/detail/start/123

The website Ben is referring to was most probably the website called The Green Beret if I am not mistaken. This website was taken off the net as the owner didn't pay his subscribtion to the server. One or my collegues in the Dutch Commando Assocaition has been very busy to try and get everything on that site, but that has all gone wrong. So I am afraid that all the info on that site is now lost.

I am afraid that I can't help Ben any further with his search for information on his father as I have already sent him all we have on him, which wasn't much. Apperently the service record of his father doesn't say much about his days in the Commandos as well.

Ben can of course always contact me if he wishes to do so.

Today, Friday 2 November, veterans of 47 Commando Royal Marines with family members visited the barracks of the Dutch Commandos and the Commando museum. They are in The Netherlands for the Remembrance Services which will be held at Flushing and Westkapelle tomorrow.

They were welcomed by the 2 i/c of the Regiment after which they visited the museum. The ones who used the lift to get to the first floor where the museum is, had an exciting experiance when the lift got stuck! They were all rescued and survived their "ordeal" in good humour. The visit to the museum as well as the lunch after that was enjoyed by all. Before leaving for the Bergen op Zoom War Cemetery a group photo was made in front of the Commando Memorial on the Parade Ground.

At the Bergen op Zoom War Cemetery wreaths were laid and a moment of silence was held. Before that I was given the opportunity to tell something about the story of Fuselier Joseph Ball of No 4 Commando, which can be read elswere on this forum. I would like to think that it gave the laying of the wreaths something special so to speak.

It was very interesting to listen to the stories that were told by some of the veterans of their experiances during the landings on Walcheren and more precise at Westkapelle in Operation Infatuate.

It turned out that two of the participants will be over in Fort William next weekend and will be staying at the Alexandra Hotel, so there will be a bit of a reunion!

Speaking of Fort William: Ria and I are looking forward to see you all next Friday!!

Thanks guys. We'll talk about it in FW which will be in a bit more than seven weeks from now.

I received an email from Julia Thorn, nee Ball, which started with: "that's absolutely incredible!"

This evening I phoned the man who lives in Wissenkerke and who is known as the walking archive. His name is Tonnie Kramer and he is nearly 72 years of age and he knows exactly who lived in Wissenkerke starting from the year 1850! He has known the people on the photo so he at once recognised them. He said that the woman on the right is not called De Smit, but that her name is Tona Smit.

The parent who phoned the headmaster is a woman called Barbara. Believe it or not, but her mother is British and lives with her husband next to Tonnie. Barbara's granddad was a British soldier who fought to liberate Bergen op Zoom in October 1944, the town where Joseph Ball lost his life seven months later. Mind boggling this!

As said, Capt Alastair Thorburn (and not ThorNburn as I wrongly wrote earlier) and Joseph Ball were billeted with the Van der Maas family. I asked how Jo Kramer could have know Joseph if he wasn't billeted with her family. It turned out that the families lived across the street of each other so they saw each other nearly every day.

More to follow I think!

Eureka! Something I thought would never happen, has happened today: the people on the photo standing at the grave of Joseph Ball (see an earlier post) have been identified!

Today I received an email from the headmaster of the school in Wissenkerke. Some time ago I contacted him in my search for information about Joseph Ball. Wissenkerke was the place where Joseph's unit, 1 Troop, No 4 Commando, was based in November/December 1944. At first there was little or no result, but the headmaster was so intrigued by the story about Joseph that he put it on his website. Today he received a phonecall of a parent of one of the children from his school. That parent had asked a man who is known in Wissenkerke as a "walking archive" about the people on the photo. And when he saw the photo he recognized them.

First on the left is Mr Ko Kramer. Next to him is his wife Betje de Ridder. They lived in the Voorstraat in Wissenkerken and their daughter, Jo Kramer who is 83 years of age now, still lives there. Next to Betje de Ridder is Mr Van der Maas and next to him is his wife whose maiden name was De Smit. They also lived in the Voorstraat. There was no name given of the sergeant on the extreme right. So what I thought all along has been confirmed: that the people on the photo (at least one couple as it turns out) were the people where Joseph Ball was billeted. I think they were informed of his death and were taken to his grave by the sergeant.

Jo Kramer phoned the headmaster and told him that she remembers a "Jo Ball". She also told him that Jo(e), just like a man called Thornburn, was billited with the Van der Maas family. Thornburn must be Capt Alastair Thornburn, OC 1 Troop, who in the book The Fighting Fourth by Jimmy Dunning, on page 191 says that he was "billeted with a very nice family called Van der Maas."

The headmaster in his mail said that his phone didn't stop ringing today and that everybody is very sympathatic about it all. He has given me the phonenumber of the "walking archive" so that I can contact him personally. Who knows what this might bring! I have of course informed the family of Joe Ball about these new developments.

Hi Pete,

I have sent a pm to the De Peperbus Museum. Perhaps I can help them.