Then there came time(s) that an Allied soldier, in hiding, has to
be relocated to another location in the attempt to return him back to the
Allied army. Another one of mum’s other jobs was to escort in that relocation… now the
Allied soldier pretended to be mum’s husband…This is one of her stories…
Mum’s father and my dad’s father frequently contacted each other
when came time to transport Jews or pilots from Apeldoorn to the bush in
Hoenderloo, 10 kilometers away.
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| a current map of Hoenderloo |
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| a road through the woods near Hoenderloo |
They needed a way to relocate that person without looking suspicious... this is where Mum came into the picture..
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| a house near the path mum used to ride during those times. |
Mum was assigned to bring an Allied pilot in hiding, to his
next safe location. During these re-locations, the Allied soldier must wear their complete uniform, only covered by a trench coat, otherwise if caught… they
would be shot as spies.
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| an internet picture of a soldier and a lady, if he was in hiding, he would of donned a trench / overcoat of some sort. |
Riding their bicycles, pretending to be a couple with
an expecting baby (the food stamps); they rode pasted a group of German soldiers,
walking along the road side. Just as they were pass the group of soldiers, the Allied pilot's pant leg got caught in the bicycle chain. While
tempting to free the pants, a German soldier noticed that was happening, and
came over to investigate. At that point mum was scared stiff and decided to
keep on going, as this could result in a terrible ending. The German soldier came
over and helped the Allied pilot free his pants from the bicycle chain. Fortunately,
the German soldier did not recognize the Allied pilot’s pants or his boots, so
this incident ended well. With the pant leg free, he caught up to Mum who was
waiting just down the road. Mum had done many of these re-locations during the German
Occupation, but this particular memory stood out the most, as it had a happy
ending.
Mum was one of many ladies who undertook such a dangerous task in re-locating the Jews and Allied soldiers, some were not so lucky as our mum was.
