Sepia Saturday 723 - The Cyclists

I am certain I am the first Sepian cheating. Cheating? Maybe I should explain. My intention to post a contribution once a month or so combined with Alan's invention of a monthly theme, enables me to write a single post merging the four weekly subjects. And that is what I will be doing this week, for the first time. So this month the prompts are about coaches, cyclists, and cars (and cocktails but they need to be better represented in my shoebox archive).

So let me start with the coaches. After my mum passed away we found some pre-war albums with pictures of her high school trips mainly to Germany. My mother was born in Rijswijk, a small town near The Hague, in 1917. The trips took place during the years after the infamous stock market crash in 1929. But that apparently did not stop her parents from letting her go on a trip abroad. In those days school trips to other countries were exceptional for most children.

The first photo was taken in Koblenz, situated alongside the river Rhine and some 150 kilometers from the Dutch border.

The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring in Koblenz 1932

My mother Annie de Langen sits above the rear wheels, a little to the left. Next to her is her lifelong friend Ineke Weststeijn. The coach is operated by still existing Kraftwagen-Verkehr Koblenz G.m.b.H. (KVG)*. It is seen here passing the Barbara Denkmal on the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring. This military monument commemorates a German artillery regiment stationed in Koblenz in the previous century. But also other nations made use of this monument. After the First World War, the French occupied this region and thought it a good idea to demonstrate their presence.

The French Rhine Army parading in front of the Barbara Denkmal in Koblenz in 1924
(Postcard made by Karl Albert Zimmermann (1885-1943**)

Judging by this postcard, the locals were not overly interested in this noisy display of power. 

Seeing the monument I wondered whether it survived the Second World War. And it did. The following image is a Google screenshot. The location is probably the same but the street name changed.

The Barbara Denkmal on the Friedrich-Ebert-Ring today

The city of Koblenz suffered from frequent bombings during the last World War. If you compare the background in the screenshot with the other two pictures, it is easy to see changes. None of the old buildings made it through the war. It is a small wonder that the Denkmal suffered minor damages only.

Apparently, the school was fond of sightseeing tours. The next year, in 1933, the school trip went to Göttingen, also in Germany. But this time the students traveled in a rented coach owned by a company called VIOS*** from Wateringen near The Hague.

The VIOS bus in Göttingen, Germany in 1933

My mother is seen here looking at us from the bus' rooftop. She is the girl on the very right and next to her Ineke. 

This is the end of the coach section of this post. Also for the cyclist pictures, I start before the Second World War.

Ber Schregel and Jan Miebies in approx. 1938

The photographer apparently was late by a few seconds. Now we see the backs of Ber Schregel, a friend and colleague of my father, and my father Jan Miebies. Their luggage suggests they are going on a camping holiday or maybe to a youth hostel. I recognize the location, it is the Mispelstraat in The Hague, the street where my mother lived. Knowing this street, I can see they cycle south. The only thing that puzzled me was why they were cycling on the left side of the street. But then it dawned on me that I have been looking at a mirrored print ever since I know this picture. So I reversed it again.

At least now I know they left in a northerly direction. It is never too late to set history straight ;-)

The picture that follows shows a married couple to be. They are family members of my wife. Their names are Sibbeltje Klopstra (l) and Aaldrik Kroeze. Although we are far from certain, we believe this photo was taken in the city of Groningen in the early years of the Second World War when it was still safe for men to go outside without being arrested and deported to Germany to forcibly work there.

The somewhat surprised look on Aaldriks face makes me believe this was not a planned situation. This picture is rather the work of a street photographer. In any case, their trip together continued. They got married in December 1943 and had two children. She turned 96 and he was 93!

The first car in this post is also from the pre-war era. Based on the text on the front wheel cap I found the car is an Opel Kadett. It has German plates. This model was in production between 1937-1940. 

Opel Kadett cabriolet****

This information, together with the fact that the friend, Wim Tuk, had a job in Germany, dates the photo below to approx. 1938. My father is seated next to the driver; my mother is in the left-hand rear seat. 

The last car on display is an Austin A30. It belonged to acquaintances of my mother. The boy next to it is my brother and I date this picture around 1955. Possibly my mother borrowed this car to spend a day in the countryside.

My brother and an Austin A30

Please turn to the Sepia Saturday site for contributions of honest, non-cheating Sepians.

Notes and credits

* Next year the company exists 100 years! It was established on March 19, 1925.

**Barbara-Denkmal (Koblenz). (2022, August 10). In Wikipedia. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara-Denkmal_(Koblenz)

*** Founded in 1922, also VIOS still exists!

****Bestand:Opel-kadett-1936.Jpg - Wikipedia. In Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Opel-kadett-1936.jpg

Sepia Saturday - Looking back

The big question this week is, why is the gentleman in the foreground turning around, what does he see and is there a beginning of a surprised look visible in his face? I am happy to let you know that I am in a position to answer all these questions and more. How come you ask. Well, it so happens that I met the driver of the truck. The man looked vaguely familiar to me. He insisted on telling me what he had seen in his rearview mirror. He admitted that of course he also had to watch the road ahead and that his rear view was partially blocked by the passenger behind him. But that didn't stop him from noticing a few remarkable things. Frankly, I admire him for his ability to even see minor details while he must have seen those only very briefly. But that is what makes an excellent driver. So when I spoke to the trucker, he said that the first thing he saw was a farmstead. 

Farmstead "Brielzicht" located on the Zandweg, Rozenburg

From his description of the farm I was almost certain that it was the farm that belonged to the grandparents of my maternal grandmother. Their names were Arij Barendregt (1836-1911) and Meinsje Qualm (ca 1839-1894). Rozenburg was an island near Rotterdam. It does no longer exist. The (is)land was needed for the many extensions of the port.

Ber Schregel (l) and my father Johannes Cornelis Miebies

The next situation he described was that of two men on their bikes. It looked like they were going on a camping holiday by bike. The men resembled my father and his friend and colleague Ber Schregel. They both worked for the Ministry of the Interior in The Hague. I believe they are seen here bicycling in the street where my grandparents lived, the Mispelstraat in The Hague. My guess is that it is 1938 or 1939, just prior to WW2.
But there was no end to my surprise.

F.l.t.r. my brother, my mother and my 1st cousin Marijke

My mysterious friend now told me he saw a charming lady walking with two kids in the The Hague Appelstraat. His guess was that it was 1953. His description of the lady was so detailed, that I immediately recognized my mother Johanna Huberta Miebies-de Langen.
Hardly recovered from my surprise, my eye witness winked at me and said he also remembered a sepia spectacle.

An unknown company at an unknown location with my
maternal grandparents in the blue circle

Despite the fact that he gave a very detailed explanation of what he saw, it did not ring a bell. But just when I was about to give up, he told me of this couple in the blue circle. His description was so precise that my maternal grandparents immediately appeared in my mind. Obviously they were part of a travel group some time before WW2. But where? I don't know.
"Speaking of travel", my spokesman said, "the last thing I saw in my rearview mirror, was an aeroplane trying to make an emergency landing. But funny enough it stayed in the air", he said with a smile. 

One of the first air crashes

My mind wandered away to a collection of old airplane pictures that I have. Two of my KLM colleagues saved some 3,000 photo's from the Copenhagen dustmen. And this was one of them. I looked up to my truck driver to explain my connection with this picture. But there was no one to talk to, he had disappeared in thin air. Had I been dreaming? Who was this person? Why did he look so familiar? Why did all these pictures have a connection with my family? Coincidence? Suddenly a shiver ran down my spine. 
And I don't even believe in ghosts...

For more spiritual experiences please have a look at other Sepia Saturday stories.

Wachtmeester

V.l.n.r. A.J. Schregel-van der Salm, B.P.A. Schregel,
J.H. de Langen en J.C. Miebies,
waarschijnlijk tijdens de mobilisatie

Het klinkt misschien vreemd maar over mijn vader weet ik niet zo bijster veel. Ik heb hem niet bewust gekend en hij mij nauwelijks dus alles wat ik weet is op z’n best uit de tweede hand. Een onder-werp waar ik tot voor kort helemaal niets van wist, heeft betrekking op zijn militaire dienstplicht. Omdat er een paar foto’s van hem zijn in uniform (zie de foto van mijn vader te paard  en de foto hiernaast) wist ik wel dàt hij in dienst was geweest maar waar en wanneer...

Via twitter werd ik geatten-deerd op het bestaan van een afdeling Semi-Statische Archiefdiensten (wat moet ik me daar nou toch bij voorstellen??) van het Ministerie van Defensie te Kerkrade. Daar zouden ze van elke militair nog gegevens hebben. Dus die heren maar aangeschreven, en met succes. Op 19-10-2011 stuurden ze on-derstaande brief met de zogenoemde ‘staat van dienst’ van mijn vader. Z’n hele militaire carrière op één A4-tje. Niet dat alles nu meteen duidelijk is geworden is maar je hebt tenminste iets!

Laten we bij het begin beginnen, hij is als gewoon dienstplichtige in Den Haag opgekomen bij de Landmacht als deel van de lichting 1934 (er was toen maar één lichting per jaar). Z’n legernummer was 14.08.03.030 en hij werd geplaatst bij het 2e Regiment Onbereden Veldartillerie, waarschijnlijk in Den Haag. Dat was op 17-9-1934, hij was toen net 20 jaar oud. Dat ‘onbe-reden’ slaat waarschijnlijk op het gegeven dat de kanonnen van dit regiment gemotoriseerd werden voortbewogen en niet (meer) met paardentractie. Er zijn rapporten dat men hiervoor Fordson landbouwtractoren gebruikte maar dat die te licht waren. Wanneer er echt getrokken moest worden, sloegen ze achterover…

Brief Min. van Defensie 19-10-2011

Te eniger tijd is hij aangewezen voor de opleiding tot onderofficier. Op 17-1-1935 wordt hij bevorderd tot korporaal titulair en een maand later tot korpo-raal. Dat ‘titulair’ betekent dat hij nog in opleiding is en ook de bijbehorende financiën nog niet ontvangt. Dat zal sowieso niet veel geweest zijn want de soldij van een dienstplichtige bedroeg in de 30-er jaren rond de f 2,00 (ong. € 0,90) per week.

‘Wat goed is, komt snel’ zegt men en op 18 april wordt hij wachtmeester titulair. Verrassend kort daarop (16-6-1935) gaat hij al met groot verlof. Hij is dan slechts negen maanden in dienst geweest. Toch is dat, door de oplei-ding tot onderofficier, nog 3½ maand langer dan voor een diensplichtig sol-daat. Maar dat neemt niet weg dat hij een maand na afzwaaien tot wacht-meester, ‘wmr’ in het militaire jargon, wordt bevorderd.

Van 10 mei t/m 3 juni 1938 komt hij terug in dienst, ik neem aan voor her-halingsoefeningen.

Door de crisis rond Polen besluit de Nederlandse regering om op 28-8-1939 het leger te mobiliseren. Mijn vader meldt zich de dag daarna en wordt overgeplaatst naar de 1e Batterij, 1e Afdeeling, 16e Regiment Artillerie (1-I-16 RA). In de meidagen van 1940 belandde I-16 RA in Elst om van daaruit de Grebbeberg te bestoken maar al eerder, op 30-10-1939 was de wmr Miebies ‘in onderhoud gesteld bij de subsistenten compagnie Depotbataljon Grenadiers’. Pardon?? Het was kennelijk (in die dagen?) zo dat militairen werden overgeplaatst naar korpsen waartoe zij niet behoorden. En die mili-tairen vormden dan een z.g. subsistenten eenheid.

Voor zover ik heb kunnen nagaan was er een depotcompagnie Grenadiers op vliegveld Ockenburg gestationeerd. Of dat dezelfde compagnie was die in de ochtend van de eerste oorlogsdag 10 mei 1940, naar Wassenaar werd gedirigeerd, heb ik niet kunnen vaststellen.

Het Depotbataljon Grenadiers bestond uit vier compagnieën en welke van die vier nou de subsistenten compagnie was?? De genoemde compagnieën hebben beide (?) aan gevechtshandelingen deelgenomen maar ik heb nooit gehoord dat mijn vader daarbij betrokken is geweest.

In ieder geval vindt op 14 mei de capitulatie plaats en op 7-6-1940 wordt mijn vader groot verlof verleend.

Uittreksel Register van Overlijden J.C. Miebies

De ‘staat van dienst’ eindigt met de mededeling dat J.C. Miebies is overleden op 13-4-1943! Voorlopig neem ik aan dat het een tikfout is want hij is welis-waar op die datum maar wel twee jaar later overleden. Maar ik zal het toch nog eens navragen, want hoe/waarom men in Kerkrade niet zijn huwelijks-datum maar wel zijn overlijdensdatum weet, dat begrijp ik niet helemaal.

Afijn, toch weer wat duidelijkheid maar tegelijkertijd ook nog een paar vragen voor mijn moeder.