Sepia Saturday 750 - New arrivals

I feel there can't be any new arrivals without preceding departures. And sometimes new arrivals are not yet visible. Why these somewhat puzzling starting sentences? Well, I'll be honest. I have been looking in my albums and folders, and I can't find any inspiring pictures. So I have been looking for a backdoor to write a post that meets this month's theme. I hope I haven't strayed too far.                              My first picture shows a family on the verge of checking in for a departing KLM flight to New York Idlewild on April 24, 1947. I wrote about the Vander Dussen family before. Father Sybrand was a Rotterdam milkman with 11 children. He decided to emigrate to the USA and they developed an impressive dairy business in Southern California a.o. in Chino and Corona. Today, the family has over 300 members, and some moved to other states to start a dairy business there.

The Vander Dussens checking in at Amsterdam Schiphol
airport for their departure to the USA

The picture shows Mr. and Mrs. Sybrand Vander Dussen and nine children. Their baby twins in cradles were in the hands of stewardesses. In most of my photos of the family, father Sybrand is smoking a cigarette, not unusual in those days. If you have a closer look at the image below, taken over a decade earlier, you'll also notice a cigarette in the hands of all four men. In those days smoking was regarded as fashionable. Nobody knew or cared about the hazards, least of all the tobacco industry itself. Tobacco addiction was not something doctors spoke about. Why this attention to a few strands of smoking tobacco? Well, it is just to connect to another departure.

KLM aircrew before departure to Batavia on December, 18. 1933
F.l.t.r. Capt. Smirnoff, Soer, Grosveld, Van Beukering

Today it is out of the question that you see an aircrew posing on the ramp in front of an aircraft, each with a smoking cigarette. But at the time (1933) the rules and regulations apparently differed, if any. The idea behind this legendary (in The Netherlands) flight was to reach Batavia, today's Djakarta, in the (then) Dutch East Indies in record time to deliver the Christmas mail. The aircraft was a Fokker F-XVIII named 'Pelikaan' (Pelican), with registration PH-AIP. Many KLM aircraft at the time bore the names of birds. The crew managed to reach Batavia in four days! Today there is a non-stop flight covering the 7093 miles in 15 hours. The times they are a-changin'. 

The return trip in 1933 took a few minutes less, and the operation was a national event. Some 20,000 people came to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport to celebrate the arrival of the Pelikaan on New Year's Eve.

No cigarettes in the last picture nor is the new arrival visible.

Wedding of Cornelis Doelman (6) and Lea Libert (7)
in Cruyshoutem (B) on July 4, 1921

Our (Dutch) family has several ties with Belgium. My own roots are in Kuringen which today is Hasselt in Belgian Limburg. The brother [6] of my maternal grandmother married Belgian Lea Eulalia Hortensia Libert [7], one of the most poetic names in the family. She was from Cruyshoutem in East Flanders.

Marriage certificate Doelman x Libert

Under normal circumstances, the sister of the groom, my grandmother, should have been at the wedding. But she wasn't. However, my grandfather made his appearance there. His name was Gerardus Theodorus de Langen and he is number 9 in this serious-looking company. The reason Grandma wasn't present was that she was about to give birth to my mother's sister a couple of weeks later. So I can imagine that traveling from The Hague to Belgium v.v. was not her favorite pastime then. This new arrival was baptized Theodora Gerarda, how imaginative! But in those days, naming your child after a parent or grandparent was standard practice.

Anyway, it explains why the new arrival can't be seen in this picture. And even if Grandma would have been present ..., well, you understand.

This completes my post with new arrivals. My stock of arrivals is exhausted so this is it! But I'm sure there are more on Sepia Saturday

Sepia Saturday 736 - Postcard Memories

These days it is sporadic that I see a postcard when I open my letterbox. But there was a time, some of you may remember, when it was quite common to communicate with family and friends, by sending an illustrated postcard. When on holidays or on the occasion of a birthday, a postcard was carefully selected. The postage was less than required for a letter. So all space available was used to the very last millimeter to convey the news that the weather was fine, the food delicious, and the birthday happy. That was the pre-digital era my mother lived in. Her name was Ann de Langen. She was born on Oct. 31, 1917, and she closed her eyes precisely 99 years later in the early morning of Nov. 1, 2016. She liked to send and receive handwritten letters and postcards. And I consider myself lucky that she kept many of them in a shoebox which I found after the funeral. Altogether over 400 items including a collection of pre-WWII movie star postcards. Based on the postmarks she collected those when she was between 15 and 18 years old. Below are a few examples of cards showing the stars of the past. Some names still ring a bell. 

As you will see I have taken the liberty to imitate Alan's SepSat-lay out.

Marie Magdalene Dietrich (1901-1992)
Mail stamp The Hague, August 9, 1933
Postcard written by best friend Ineke Weststeijn (1918-before 2011)

Maurice Auguste Chevalier (r) (1888-1972) and junior?
Mail stamp The Hague, July 25, 1933
Postcard written by Ann's mother Antje de Langen-Doelman (1892-1984)

William Clark Gable (1901-1960)
Lucille Fay LeSueur Crawford (1908?-1977)
Mail stamp The Hague July 25, 1935
Postcard written by friend Lenny (Maarleveld?)

Lilian Helen Muriel Pape (1906-1968)
John Boles (1895-1969)
Mail stamp The Hague April 21, 1934
Postcard written by little sister Thea de Langen (1921-1996)

The stamps on all these postcards have a value of 5 Dutch guilder cents. At the time that was the rate for domestic delivery. In euro, that equals something like 2.7 euro cents. To illustrate the word 'inflation', today's domestic rate is € 1.14 ...

On the Lilian Harvey postcard above, you see a second stamp. That is additional postage because the sender forgot that the address was in Belgium. The extra expense came to the impressive amount of 70 Belgian franc centimes equalling approx. 3.5 Dutch guilder cents.

The last postcard is an uncirculated one. It shows the film song title of a 1929 composition by John Frederick Coots. So I don't expect there are Sepians around with a vivid memory of this blockbuster starring the famous (but murdered) Ramon Novarro (1899-1968). His co-star Anita Page (1910-2008) was at least equally renowned. She earned her credits during the silent movie era. 

Ramón Gil Samanlego and Anita Pomares

Since I am fond of making lists, most of them useless, I'll list the names, other than the ones mentioned above, of all the movie stars in my mother's collection. In case you are a fan of a particular star, I can mail you a scan of the relevant card(s). And if you don't recognize some of these names, it just means you are young of age.

Truus van Aalten (one of two postcards in my mother's collection displaying a Dutch movie star)

Hans Albers

Georg Alexander

Gitta Alpar

Tala Birell

Maurice Chevalier and Sylvia Sidney

Maurice Chevalier and Jeannette Mac Donald

Gary Cooper

Jackie Cooper

Lil Dagover

Marion Davies

Lien Deyers (Dutch)

Martha Eggerth

Charles Farrell

Willi Forst

Willy Fritsch

Willy Fritsch and Lilian Harvey

Willy Fritsch, Lilian Harvey, and Willy Forst

Willy Fritsch and Camilla Horn

Willy Fritsch and Renate Müller

Gustav Fröhlich

Greta Garbo

Greta Garbo and John Gilbert

Janet Gaynor

Gold diggers (group)

Dolly Haas

Dolly Haas and Heinz Rühmann

Liane Haid

Liane Haid and Georg Alexander

Lilian Harvey and Willi Forst

Brigitte Helm

Trader Horn

Jan Kiepura and Marta Eggerth

Jeannette Mac Donald

Renate Müller

Renate Müller and Hermann Thimig

Käthe von Nagy

Käthe von Nagy and Hans Albers

Ramon Novarro

Anny Ondra

Henny Porten

Heinz Rühmann

Anna Sten

Tarzan (Johnny Weissmüller?)

Hermann Thimig

Rudolph Valentino and Alice Terry

Otto Wallburg and Mady Christians

There are 85 movie star postcards in the collection. Not an impressive number but the cards must have had a certain value to my mother. Otherwise, she would not have kept them in a box for more than 80 years. During that period she moved 15 times! So it is a small miracle that these cards survived all the packing and unpacking. And now they have become part of my family archive. Hopefully, that will survive the next 80 years as well...

For more postcard memories please send yourself to Sepia Saturday.

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 719 - Two Together

First of all, I must pay tribute to Auntie Miriam: she hasn't changed a bit! I looked up an old photograph of her, and judge for yourself. To be fair, the same goes for Frank.

This week's theme suggests that dancing is the favorite subject. So I went through all my shoeboxes but in vain. Apparently, dancing is not one of the favorite activities in our family. I have to admit I never saw any of my relatives on the dance floor. But fortunately, the situation is different in my wife's family. In particular during weddings, the bride and the groom usually start the wedding party on the dancefloor. And always there is also the family photographer with a talent for pressing the shutter at exactly the wrong moment. But maybe that is because he already had a glass or two. The latter is likely also the reason why this shot is just out of focus.

K.S. and S.O in Loosduinen on Sept. 27, 1965

But as I said, it beats my family's dancefloor pictures. 

During the wedding party, many newlyweds leave the festivities and go on their honeymoon. I've got no idea when this habit started but I have a picture of my father's parents in Valkenburg. They went there by train I assume. In those days the 250-kilometer trip from The Hague must have taken almost a day. They married in The Hague on August 15, 1913. The picture below was taken shortly after. 

Andreas Miebies and Lena Bakker
on their honeymoon in Valkenburg
approx. August 1913

The next twosome shows a cousin of my grandfather and his mother. I guess the picture was taken in early 1900. He lived to be 59 years old only! His wife, my dear Auntie Jo, beat him by 42 years!

Johannes Frederikus Miebies (*July 28, 1899)
and his mother Agatha 't Hart (1871-1956)

Johannes passed away just under 3 years after his mother. 

Speaking of mothers, the next picture of my Mum has likely been taken in a photographer's studio as was the custom in those days. As far as I know, street photographers did not exist simply because carrying large cameras was not very handy.

Johanna Huberta de Langen (1917- 2016)
and her doll in approx. 1921

Johanna Huberta was named after both of her grandmothers. Johanna after her father's mother and Huberta ... The rules about naming first kids were rather strict in those days, daddy's side first, and then mammy's side. Also in this respect, the times have changed. But being a genealogist I loved the old naming rules, they provided me with many clues. But apart from these rules, my mother disliked her names, especially the second one. Therefore, she always called herself Ann or Annie. 

The next picture is dear to me as it is one of the few photo's I have portraying my father. Here he is on horseback together with his kid brother Piet. Judging his age at about 10 or 11 years, this image must have been taken in approx. 1935. The location is unknown to me. I never heard my dad owned a horse but I know he was an experienced equestrian. In a letter written during his mobilization on August 31, 1939, he writes to his wife-to-be about a requisitioned horse. My dad was a troop sergeant in an infantry regiment. The horses served to move the artillery from one position to another. He describes the horse as a 'big black devil' not used to being ridden 'under the man'. Apparently, the horse's owner was a funeral company that used the horse to pull hearses. In his letter, my dad expresses the hope that he will be able to tame this horse. In later letters, the black devil is not mentioned again. So I take it this horse, like a good soldier, followed the troop sergeant's orders.

Johannes Cornelis (1914-1945) and  his younger
brother Piet Miebies (1924-2001)

My last contribution to the '2-2gether'-theme concerns a very, very distant family member. And I'm sure you will understand why I consider him to be so distant. The picture below is a kind of ehh, let me call it a stereo photo. The person is the brother of a man whose daughter was married to a brother of my fraternal grandfather. Are you still with me? 

Before I elaborate further on this person, I want to mention his last name which is Chef d'Hotel. In English, this French-sounding name could mean something like 'manager of a hotel'. Whether that is the true meaning or origin of this name, I have no idea. In French, a town hall is called a 'hotel de ville'. So it might also be the rank of a civil servant. In any case, this is his picture. I believe it is called a mugshot and a double one at that. 

Adrianus Chef d'Hotel (1831-1915)

Adrianus was arrested for begging and vagrancy in The Hague on October 20, 1896, and sent off to a penal institution in Veenhuizen in the province of Drenthe. It is safe to assume that he had been there before because this was arrest #9 for the same offense. His records show that he was a tinsmith but obviously, that offered him insufficient funds to make a living.

Also shown are four fingerprints of his right hand. Apparently, the authorities assumed that the little finger was not used in crime. But the prints were not the only thing recorded. On another page of his file (see below) remarkable measurements are mentioned such as the greatest horizontal width of the cheekbones (14.6 cm), the length of the right ear (6.7 cm), the color of the left eye (light blue), the arch of the back (2), and the length of the outstretched arms (1.78 mtr). Criminal investigation in its infancy.

Description card of Adrianus

In addition to these data, there is a description of the right ear consisting of seventeen (!) measurements. Bureaucracy must have started around that time.

Despite all these descriptions Adrianus fled penal institutions several times after which he was arrested again and sentenced for being drunk in public or for begging. 

But possibly, there were reasons for this behavior. His second wife died back in 1887, and for some unknown reason, his first marriage in 1855 fell through at the very last minute. He did not have any children and at the end of his life, he was an invalid. The only company he had was the other guy on his description card. So all in all Adrianus did not have much reason to dance his way through life. 

For more swinging duos, please go to the Sepia Saturday Site.

Sepia Saturday 717 - Going To Work

It has been a while since I last joined the Sepians who are still uploading their weekly contribution. In fact, that last time was on the festive occasion of reaching the SS 500 milestone on December 29, 2019. Occasionally I revisited Alan's site but needed more inspiration to write an appropriate post. But the other day, I saw the March theme and thought, why not! My motivation surfaced because I remembered a couple of suitable family pictures. Here is my effort to provide you with some insight into the working life of both my grandfathers. 

Unlike Ed Mossel, the well-mustached man in the theme picture, my grandfathers were neither politicians, authors nor journalists. My mother's father was Gerardus Theodorus de Langen. He was born in The Hague on November 24, 1888. He left this earthly vale of tears 78 years later, on October 20, 1967. His father was a carpenter so it was no surprise that he had to start working when he was 13. He joined a company named Eigen Hulp (Help Yourself). Their main business was organizing the central procurement for their shops selling "everything you can think of". Although I don't know the nature of his job when he started, I do know that in 1928, the company existed for 50 years. At that time Grandpa managed their central accounting department.

Picture taken on July 7, 1928, when the company celebrated its 50-year jubilee.
Grandpa is seated in the front row (red arrow)

The fact that Grandpa is seated in the front row, tells his position in the company. Come to think of it, he did very well if you realize his education consisted of primary school only when he started in 1901! 

As I said, Grandpa was neither a politician, an author nor a journalist. But he had a mustache! Maybe it was not as impressive as the one of Mr. Mossel but still.

Grandpa De Langen approx. 1916

Switching to my other grandfather, his name was Andreas Miebies born in The Hague on April 7, 1883. He died, also in The Hague on December 22, 1957. His father was a clerk in a pharmacy but Grandpa became a civil servant for the city of The Hague. His main activities were in the social domain. At one time he was the director of a housing project for the "lower classes". He could tell exciting stories of dissatisfied tenants stabbing impressive knives into his writing desk. Later he was involved in guiding juvenile unemployed back to work. The photo below is from that period.

Andreas Miebies and his secretary (?) in June 1936

Please note the telephone on his desk. I assume that a phone in those days was for managers only. Something like a mobile in the early nineties of the 20th century.

Andreas was also very much involved in the CJMV, the Dutch equivalent of the YMCA. 

On December 8, 1933, a new CJMV chairman*
was installed. Andreas, leader of the The Hague
section, was seated beside him.

It is funny that when climbing the social ladder, both my grandfathers somehow managed to be seated in the front row. But apart from that, they went to work every day, including Saturdays! So they qualify for the theme of this month.

* Rev. G.P. van Itterzon

For more diligent people, please click here. or scan this QR code:

Today...

Today 100 years ago my maternal grandparents got married in The Hague in the Netherlands. The names of the happy couple are:

• Gerardus Theodorus de Langen, born The Hague, November 24, 1888 - died Utrecht, October 20, 1967 
• Antje Doelman, born Rotterdam, May 2, 1892 - died Tilburg, December 6, 1984

Their marriage lasted for almost 51 years and this is their official wedding photo.

December 27, 1916

Grandpa and grandma have both been buried in Leersum (Utrecht).

New General Cemetry Leersum
Nieuwe Algemene Begraafplaats Leersum

For more on the early days of their marriage please click here.

Dying in bed is dead boring

Voor de versie in het Nederlands s.v.p. hier klikken.
It is often said that most people die in bed. Well, maybe most but certainly not the three persons acting in this story, a story starting in war torn Holland in 1942. But first, let’s introduce the actors. In alphabetical order we see Johannes Marinus Dronkers (46), Jan Bruno de Langen (21) and John Alphonsus Mulder (26).

I will not delve too deep into their past as this post is about their future or rather about their last day on this planet. But here are some personal details.

Dronkers was born in Nigtevegt (Utrecht) on April 6, 1896. His wife was 33 years old Elise Antoinette Eleonora Seignette. They married in Velsen (North Holland) on June 10, 1926. I am not aware of any children. Some time later they moved to Oegstgeest (near Leiden) and in 1932 to The Hague. Their last address there was 55 Valeriusstraat.

De Langen and I shared a few things. We have both been born in The Hague and his grandparents are my great grandparents. That makes me his 1^st cousin once removed. Jan Bruno was born on April 21, 1921. He and I shared some 50 years on this planet, yet we never met. However, I know he met our Queen Wilhelmina while in London during the war, some compensation at least. Also that he was awarded the Bronze Cross for escaping occupied Holland. He landed in Normandy in August 1944 with the Princess Irene Brigade and fought his way up north. Despite this seemingly heroic behavior he remained a lifelong bachelor.

Identity card of Jan Bruno de Langen issued July 11, 1941
(Courtesy of David Tremain)

Mulder grew up in the Dutch East Indies. He was born in Surakarta on Java island on September 24, 1915. Apparently he was involved with a newspaper there (Het Nieuws van den Dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië) as in 1939 he came to Holland and acted as their correspondent in The Hague. Later he became a civil servant in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Sciences. When he was 47 he married 21 years old Erika Hedwig Sauer. It is July 11, 1962. She was born in German Bad Kreuznach on August 14, 1940. They became the parents of two daughters: 1. Hedwig Elisabeth Lucia Maria, born January 11, 1963 and 2. Lucia Maria Christina Petra born May 18, 1964, both in The Hague.

Mulder's employer in 1939. Although the name of the editor in chief in 1934 is also
Mulder there is no known relationship.

These three men had a couple of things in common. Firstly, they all lived in The Hague. In the early forties of the 20^th century all three worked for the PTT, the equivalent of the GPO in the UK. And together they got the idea to escape to England probably to join the armed forces there.

They were not alone in trying to reach England. All in all some 1.700 people, among which 50 women, reached the UK during the war. Around 500 managed to do so crossing the North Sea. Others went via France/Spain and many other routes. In The Netherlands these people are commonly known as Engelandvaarders, those who sailed to England.

Anyway, they prepared a small motor vessel in a place called Hellevoetsluis which is situated south of Rotterdam and, as the crow flies, approximately 20 miles south of The Hague. Initially I had no idea why they would leave from there. The only reason I could think of is because of the possible less prominent presence of German soldiers there. But whether that offsets the risk of three young men travelling repeatedly from The Hague to Hellevoetsluis to make preparations… However, there are also stories that the Germans had reasons to allow them to flee occupied territories and even facilitated their escape…

The three left Hellevoetsluis on May 16, 1942. The shortest distance to the other side, to Harwich, is some 125 miles. Two days later they were spotted and picked up by a Royal Navy trawler, the HMT Corena and handed over to Field Security in Harwich.

HMT Corena
Source: www.harwichanddovercourt.co.uk

Like all people who fled to England they were interrogated by the Dutch Security Service of the Dutch government in exile. Whereas De Langen and Mulder were set free soon, Dronkers was interviewed time and again by one of their top spycatchers Colonel Oreste Pinto. Pinto did not trust Dronkers at all. Eventually he discovered secret codes in the Dutch-English dictionary Dronkers brought with him. In the end he confessed being a member of the NSB, the Dutch nazi organization, as well as a spy for the German Abwehr. He was brought to trial in the Old Bailey before Justice Wrottesley on November 13, 1942. Dronkers was found guilty and condemned to death. He was hanged in Wandsworth Prison on December 31 next, 46 years old...

Update Dec. 9, 2016: After reading the below mentioned book Rough Justice, I have to review the role of the Dutch Secret Service mentioned in the paragraph above. The author of the book clearly demonstrates that the Dronkers case has been dealt with by MI5 from almost the beginning to the end. The Dutch have hardly been involved. The same goes for Colonel Oreste Pinto who on hindsight overestimated his achievements in the Dronkers case. And that is a mild way of putting it. His role in the "exposure"of Dronkers at best was minimal. 

Picture of a scale model of the Wandsworth gallows.
There is a 7 ft drop underneath the hatch.
Source: www.capitalpunishmentuk.org 

The Sun, Sydney Jan. 2, 1943

Little is known about De Langen's life after the war. According to newspaper reports he was a peculiar man. I can hear you think, newspaper reports? What newspaper reports? Well, he seemed to have kept hundreds of mice in his house as well as a collection of old newspapers and rags. As a consequence of complaints by his neighbours the Municipality was about to clean out the house when a fire broke out. De Langen fell victim of this incident which according to newspaper De Telegraaf was possibly deliberately caused by himself. The date was May 19, 1993, Jan Bruno de Langen lived to be 72 years...

"Mice man killed in fire"
De Telegraaf, May 21, 1993

As mentioned earlier Mulder was married and had two little daughters. He had a history of moving around in The Hague prior to his marriage. When he came from the Dutch East Indies on September 20, 1939 he settled in 6, Teunisbloemlaan. Less than 20 years later he moved to the address 1998 Melis Stokelaan. In the meantime he lived at another nineteen (!) addresses. In addition to all this moving around he also disappeared from The Hague for two periods viz. 6 weeks in 1946 and almost a year during 1950/51. Whereto I don't know. As a civil servant he seemed to live an unremarkable life. But on August 9, 1964 he made an end to his anonymous existence. The next day readers of the Algemeen Handelsblad saw the following headline.

"Man murders wife and two kids" preceded by "Perpetrator makes fatal jump"
Headlines in Algemeen Handelsblad, August 10, 1964

The complete article including its gory details reads as follows.

[quote] Yesterday afternoon 48 years old J.A. Mulder from The Hague murdered his wife (24) and two children with an ax. After doing this he wounded himself and subsequently jumped from a floor of the Roman Catholic institution for unwed mothers Maria Stella situated on the Scheveningseweg where the event took place. He fell down eight meters on a paved garden path in the backyard right in front of a police officer. Two hours later he died in the Zuidwal infirmary without having regained consciousness. Both a nurse and a female visitor have been seriously wounded. The couple was separated from bed and board.

On August 3 the perpetrator resigned from his job as a deputy clerk in the nursery education department of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Sciences.

Around 2 pm, it was visit time, the man, living in the Melis Stokelaan, came to visit his kids. His wife stayed in the Maria Stella institution ever since January, together with her two kids, a girl of 1½ years old and a girl of just over 2 months. Twice a week the man paid a visit. Yesterday afternoon that was also the case.

First he went to the basement, to the baby department. A the time there were about twenty babies in two rooms. In one of those rooms with 39 year old nurse Gerarda supervising, was mister Mulder’s youngest, 2½ months old Lucia.

Although she had a bleeding wound Mrs Van Werkhoven ran out of the room to warn the head of department. But she was unable to reach her on the phone. She went back to the baby room to help the child. She soon got assistance from two nurses. These nurses witnessed part of the drama and initially fled from the scene. One of the nurses took the baby from her cradle and went to the Nebo infirmary on the other side of the street. There the baby’s death was established.

Calm

In the meantime the reasonably calm perpetrator left the room to go to the second floor. His wife and their 1½ year old elder daughter Hedwig lived there in a room. He assaulted his wife with the ax immediately after he entered her room and hit her several times causing her almost instant death. Next he killed his elder daughter.

By now there was panic in the institution. Two visitors, 25 year old car mechanic H.A. Warnaars and the 27 year old carpenter H.A.M. Bouwmeester ran upstairs. Through a glass partition of Mrs. Mulder-Sauer’s room they saw the drama develop further. Mr. Warnaars went back to the adjacent room to grab a chair. To avoid the escape of Mr. Mulder, Mr. Bouwmeester kept the door of Mrs. Mulder’s room closed.

After Mr. Warnaar’s return Mr. Bouwmeester went down the stairs to call the police. Within minutes a patrol car with two officers was present. One of the officers went upstairs immediately, the second one called for assistance and subsequently went to the back of the institution.

When the officer upstairs entered Mrs. Mulder’s room, the culprit was squatting in the window. Mr. Warnaars planned to attack the man with the chair but he was wildly waving his ax. Instead Mr. Warnaars grabbed the severely wounded child to return her to safety. The doer, not hit by the chair, injured himself with the ax and jumped from the window. He landed eight metres down on the paved path in the backyard right in front of one of the officers. The man was transported immediately to the Zuidwal infirmary where he died two hours later without having regained consciousness.

Duty clothing

In the meantime the nurse and Mrs. Van Noppen, both assaulted by the killer with his ax, had been transported to the Nebo infirmary. Mrs. Van Noppen has been admitted there with a broken shoulder and in shock. The nurse, after having been treated, returned to Maria Stella. Although she was hit with the ax her duty clothing protected her against serious injury.

The drama took place within several minutes.

According to a later report by the police the sequence of events was slightly different: the perpetrator is supposed to have killed his wife and elder daughter first and afterwards his youngest daughter in the baby room.

The man married at a later age. However, the relationship between the partners was not good.

After his wife and two kids left the marital home on the Melis Stokelaan, the perpetrator repeatedly tried to make her return.

Although he was known in Maria Stella as a difficult man, Miss Van Werkhoven noticed no particulars when he paid the visit yesterday. When he entered she had said good day to him.

Mrs. Mulder’s parents, who live in Bad Kreuznach in Germany, have been alerted by the police. They arrived this morning in The Hague. [unquote]

The date was August 9, 1964. Mulder killed his family with an ax and himself by jumping from an 8 meters high window. Mulder has become 48 years old... 

I thought it was quite coincidental that three young men who seemingly fled occupied Holland to start a new future elsewhere, all died in such an unpleasant manner. It may be dead boring but I think I rather die in bed...

Epilogue

On September 5 last year I received an email from one David Tremain. He stumbled upon a post on this blog about my second cousin Jan Bruno de Langen. His interest in Jan was raised because he was writing a book about the presumed spy Dronkers. He was curious to know whether I possessed information about Jan's life after the war etc. In the months that followed I was able to provide answers to certain "Dutch questions" David had. Now his book has been published. Among others he writes extensively about the three men who sailed to England. On the inside cover David wonders whether Dronkers was really guilty? Or was he made an example of by the British authorities. And why wasn't he turned, as MI5 had done to many other enemy spies. He deals with all these questions based on National Archive files recently made public. I feel David wrote a very interesting book about a less well known, hitherto secret subject.

Picture of Jan Bruno de Langen from Rough Justice

The book can be ordered from publisher Amberley Publishing. The ISBN number is 9781445661582. It is also available as an ebook through Amazon.com, ISBN 9781445661599. Prices are quoted in UK Pounds and as you may know the rate of exchange against the dollar and most other currencies including the euro, was never so advantageous. So ...

PS
For Dutch readers, in particular those from The Hague, who have this nagging idea somewhere in the back of their minds that more spectacular things happened in August 1964, the following newspaper page will serve. On Saturday August 8, one day prior to Mulder killing his wife and kids, there was the (in)famous Rolling Stone concert in the Kurhaus-theater in Scheveningen. Apparently the concert was so exciting that the audience wrecked the theater. Not a chair remained in place and the police had the place evacuated.

"Rolling Stone Concert ends in chaos"
"Police was afraid not to get out alive"
Both Mulder and the Stones appear on this page.
From: Algemeen Handelsblad, August 10, 1964

Sterven in bed is doodgewoon

For the English version of this story please click here.
Sterven in bed mag dan doodgewoon zijn, dat geldt niet voor iedereen. Het gaat in ieder geval niet op voor de drie mannen in dit verhaal, een verhaal dat begint in het westen van Nederland in de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Maar laat ik eerst de personen om wie het hier gaat voorstellen. In alfabetische volgorde komen we tegen Johannes Marinus Dronkers (46), Jan Bruno de Langen (21) en John Alphonsus Mulder (26). Ik laat het verleden van deze mannen maar even voor wat het is omdat dit verhaal over hun toekomst gaat, of liever over hun laatste dag in dit aardse tranendal. Maar een paar personalia kan ik wel noemen.

Dronkers werd geboren in Nigtevegt (Utr.) op 6 April, 1896. Zijn vrouw was de in 1926 33 jaar oude Elise Antoinette Eleonora Seignette. Ze trouwden in Velsen (NH) op 10 juni in dat jaar. Voor zover ik weet hadden ze geen kinderen. Na een tijdje verhuisden ze naar Oegstgeest en in 1932 naar Den Haag. Hun laatste adres daar was in de Valeriusstraat 55.

De Langen en ik hebben een paar dingen gemeen. We zijn beiden in Den Haag geboren terwijl zijn grootouders mijn overgrootouders zijn. Ik ben dus zijn achterneef. Jan Bruno is geboren op 21 april 1921. Wij hebben samen zo'n 50 jaar op deze aardkloot doorgebracht zonder elkaar ooit te ontmoeten. Maar hij heeft tijdens de oorlog onze Koningin Wilhelmina ontmoet! Dat dan weer wel. Hij werd onderscheiden met het Bronzen Kruis omdat hij uit bezet Nederland wist te ontsnappen. In augustus 1944 kwam hij aan wal in Normandië als lid van de Prinses Irenebrigade en was hij betrokken bij de bevrijding van Nederland. Ondanks zijn waarschijnlijk heldhaftig gedrag bleef hij de rest van zijn leven vrijgezel.

Persoonsbewijs van Jan Bruno de Langen uitgegeven op 11 juli 1941
(Met vriendelijke toestemming van David Tremain)

Mulder bracht zijn jeugd door in Nederlands Oost-Indië. Hij is op 24 september 1915 geboren in Soerakarta op Java. Klaarblijkelijk was hij daar betrokken bij de krant Het Nieuws van den Dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië want in 1939 kwam hij naar Nederland als correspondent voor die krant in Den Haag. Later werd hij ambtenaar op het Ministerie Onderwijs, Kunsten en Wetenschappen. Op z'n 47e hij trouwde hij op 11 juli 1962 met de 21-jarige Erika Hedwig Sauer. Ondanks haar Schevenings aandoende naam was zij afkomstig uit het Duitse Bad Kreuznach en daar geboren op 14 augustus 1940. Ze kregen twee dochters: Hedwig Elisabeth Lucia Maria (11 januari 1963) en Lucia Maria Christina Petra (18 mei 1964), beiden geboren in Den Haag..

Mulder's werkgever in 1939. De naam van de hoofdredacteur in 1934 is ook Mulder 
maar van een familierelatie is niets bekend.

Ook deze drie mannen hadden een paar zaken gemeen. Om te beginnen woonden ze op een bepaald moment allemaal in Den Haag. In het begin van de veertiger jaren werkten de drie bij de PTT en op enig moment kregen ze het idee om naar Engeland te ontsnappen, mogelijk om daar als militair dienst te nemen.
Ze waren niet de enigen die dat probeerden. Alles bijelkaar bereikten zo'n 1700 personen, waarvan 50 vrouwen, tijdens de oorlog de overkant van de Noordzee. Anderen reisden via Frankrijk en Spanje en ook nog via andere routes. Zij staan bekend onder de verzamelnaam Engelandvaarders.

De mannen hadden de beschikking over een motorbootje dat in de haven van Hellevoetsluis lag. Eigenlijk had ik geen idee waarom ze van daaruit wilden vertrekken. De enige reden die ik kon bedenken was dat de Duitsers daar wat minder aanwezig waren dan elders. Maar of dat opwoog tegen het nadeel van drie mannen, die herhaaldelijk het risico moesten nemen om daar naar toe te reizen om voorbereidingen te treffen... Maar er zijn ook verhalen dat de Duitsers redenen hadden om ze weinig in de weg te leggen. Mogelijk ging die passiviteit nog wel verder.
De drie verlieten Hellevoetsluis op 16 mei 1942 op weg naar Harwich, 125 mijl naar het westen. Twee dagen later werden ze opgemerkt door een trawler van de Britse Marine, HMT Corena.

HMT Corena
Bron: www.harwichanddovercourt.co.uk

Zoals het geval was bij alle Engelandvaarders, werden ze, na aankomst in Harwich, overgedragen aan de Nederlandse Geheime Dienst die daar opereerde onder verantwoordelijkheid van de Nederlandse regering in ballingschap. De Langen en Mulder werden spoedig vrijgelaten maar Dronkers werd steeds weer verhoord door kolonel Oreste Pinto, één van de topfiguren van de Geheime Dienst. Pinto had weinig vertrouwen in Dronkers. Na enige tijd ontdekte hij geheime codes in het Nederlands-Engelse woordenboek dat Dronkers bij zich had. Op 't laatst bekende hij lid te zijn van de NSB en zich te hebben laten overhalen om als spion voor de Duitse Abwehr, de geheime dienst, naar Engeland te gaan. Na maanden verhoord te zijn en een rechtzaak in de beroemde/beruchte Old Bailey, werd hij op 13 november 1942 schuldig bevonden en ter dood veroordeeld. Op 31 december 1942 werd hij opgehangen in de Londense Wandsworth gevangenis. Johannes was 46 jaar toen de grond onder zijn voeten wegviel...

Update 9 december 2016: Na lezing van het hierna genoemde boek Rough Justice, moet ik tot de conclusie komen dat de rol van de Nederlandse Geheime Dienst niet zo groot is geweest als hierboven geschetst. Ook is er in deze zaak nauwelijks enige betrokkenheid geweest van kolonel Oreste Pinto. De ontmaskering van Dronkers, zo daar al sprake van is, komt zo goed als zeker op het conto van de Britse Geheime Dienst MI5.

Schaalmodel van de galg in de Wandsworth gevangenis.
Onder het luik zit een gat van ruim 2 mtr.
Bron: www.capitalpunishmentuk.org 

The Sun, Sydney, Jan. 2,1943

Van het leven van mijn achterneef Jan De Langen van na de oorlog, weet ik heel weinig. In een krantenbericht staat dat hij een wat bijzondere man was. Dat bericht was naar aanleiding van een tragisch voorval. Het bleek dat hij verzamelaar was van lompen en oude kranten; daarnaast hield hij honderden muizen in zijn huis aan de Hollanderstraat in Den Haag. Het was dus niet zo verbazingwekkend dat de buren gingen klagen. Daarop besloot de Gemeente Den Haag om het huis te laten schoonmaken. Maar vlak voordat dat zou gebeuren, brak er brand uit in het huis en kwam Jan  om het leven. Het vermoeden bestaat dat de brand op 19 mei 1993 moedwillig was aangestoken. Jan was 72 jaar toen hij er een eind aan maakte...

De Telegraaf, 21 mei 1993

Zoals hiervoor al gememoreerd was Mulder getrouwd en had hij twee dochtertjes. Verhuizen leek wel een hobby van hem te zijn. Toen hij op 20 september 1939 uit Indië in Den Haag arriveerde ging hij op het adres Teunisbloemlaan 6 wonen. Minder dan 20 jaar later verhuisde hij naar de Melis Stokelaan 1998 maar in de tussentijd woonde hij op nog 19 (!) adressen. In die hele periode verdween hij ook nog twee keer geheel uit zicht. Eerst voor 6 weken in 1946 en daarna gedurende bijna een jaar rond 1950/1951. Ik heb geen idee waar hij naar toe is geweest. Als ambtenaar leidde hij een onopvallend leven. Maar op 9 augustus 1964 maakte hij een eind aan zijn anonieme bestaan. De lezers van het Algemeen Handelsblad konden de volgende dag kennis nemen van deze krantenkop:

Algemeen Handelsblad, 10 augustus 1964

De pagina met complete artikel staat aan het eind van deze post weergegeven. Het komt er op neer dat zijn huwelijk niet zo goed ging, hij was al gescheiden van tafel en bed en zijn vrouw verbleef met haar kinderen in het Scheveningse Maria Stella, een instelling voor ongehuwde moeders. Een paar keer per week kreeg Erika daar bezoek van haar man John Mulder. Hij probeerde haar dan te overtuigen weer terug naar huis te komen. Maar op 9 augustus had hij kennelijk andere ideeën. Hij had een bijl meegenomen naar Scheveningen en daar aangekomen sloeg hij zijn jongste dochter dood en, op een hogere etage, ook zijn vrouw en andere dochter. Toen hij daar in het nauw werd gedreven door een politieman, sprong hij uit het 8 meter hoge raam aan de gevolgen waarvan hij een paar dagen later overleed. Mulder was 48 jaar oud toen hij de sprong waagde...

Het is toch op z'n zachtst gezegd merkwaardig dat drie mannen, die in de oorlog gezamenlijk uit het bezette Nederland ontsnapten om elders een nieuw leven op te bouwen, alle drie op een zo geweldadige manier om het leven zijn gekomen. Het mag dan spectaculair zijn, laat mij dan maar doodgewoon sterven in bed...

Epiloog

Op 5 september van het vorig jaar kreeg ik een mailtje van ene David Tremain. Hij had op dit blog een post gevonden over mijn achterneef Jan Bruno de Langen. Zijn belangstelling voor hem werd gewekt omdat hij doende was een boek te schrijven over de veronderstelde spion Dronkers. Hij wilde graag weten of ik nog informatie over mijn achterneef had. Enfin, in de loop van het afgelopen jaar heb ik David geholpen om hier en daar wat vragen over "Nederlandse zaken" op te helderen, ook op het gebied van de genealogie. Het boek is inmiddels gepubliceerd en David schrijft uitgebreid over de drie Nederlanders die in mei 1942 de haven van Hellevoetsluis verlaten hebben. Hij heeft uitgebreid gebruik gemaakt van sinds kort openbare dossiers uit de Britse National Archives en daar een intrigerend boek over geschreven. Op de binnenflap stelt hij de vraag of Dronkers nu echt schuldig was of dat hij door de Britse autoriteiten tot voorbeeld is gemaakt in het door de oorlog verscheurde Groot Brittanië. MI5, de Britse geheime dienst, maakte er in die dagen een gewoonte van om gearresteerde Duitse spionnen te overtuigen om terug te gaan naar bezet gebied om daar voor de Britten te spioneren. Waarom is dat niet gebeurd in dit geval, zo vraagt David zich af. Kortom, een zeker ook voor Nederlandse lezers een bijzonder interessant boek.

Foto van Jan Bruno de Langen uit Rough Justice

Het boek kan besteld worden bij de uitgever Amberley Publishing, het ISBN nummer is 9781445661582. Het is ook beschikbaar als e-boek via Amazon.com, ISBN 9781445661599. De (gereduceerde) prijzen zijn in Engelse Ponden en nog nooit stond het Pond zo laag, dus...

PS
In het bijzonder Haagse lezers hebben misschien nog ergens het vage idee dat er in augustus 1964 nog iets memorabels in Den Haag is gebeurd. En dat klopt! Op zaterdag 8 augustus was het roemruchte concert van de Rolling Stones in het Kurhaus in Scheveningen. Het publiek werd daar zo opgewonden van dat ze de zaal haast letterlijk hebben afgebroken en de politie het concert heeft moeten stoppen waarna ontruiming volgde. Op de krantenpagina hieronder is te zien dat John Mulder zij aan zij wordt genoemd met de Rolling Stones.

Uit: Algemeen Handelsblad, 10 augustus 1964