大象传媒

The following story appears courtesy of and with thanks to Gord and Leslie Davison.

If we spotted any strangers or police we were to immediately split up and go in opposite directions and try to hide. Hopefully in this manner she may be able to deny any knowledge of us because the consequences of being caught hiding escaped prisoners was that all the family would be shot at once and the farmhouse burned down.
After we had walked about a half a mile the girl stopped and waved to us to do the same. She then came back and told us we had just walked over our hiding place. I was a little nonplussed, as all I could see was fallen leave and twigs. When the girl came back she scraped around with a broken branch until she stooped down and pulled on an iron ring. Up came a wooden trapdoor about two feet square and beneath it was a hole about twelve feet by twelve feet square and about the same depth with a wooden ladder running down. She said we would have to stay in this place until someone could contact us, probably this evening but not for sure. She also promised to bring us food when she could.
Down we went and were quite surprised to see that we would be quite comfortable as there was a sofa, an easy chair, a carbide lamp and a radio, some candles and a metal pail for toilet purposes. She asked us not to play the radio as it might be heard above ground and as we had nothing to read, all we could do was talk about what might happen and eventually slept.
About 2:00PM the trapdoor opened and our guardian angel handed down some bean soup and a vacuum flask of ersatz coffee, she also said that someone would come at about seven o'clock so that we would not be afraid when the trapdoor opened. We wolfed down the food and spent the next hour or so speculating on who might come and what would happen afterward.
Right on cue about 7:00PM the trapdoor opened and down came a rather ascetic looking man, tall, and dressed completely in black. He wore glassed and even had a black hat. I thought he might be an undertaker but it turned out he was a Calvinist minister. We of course stood up when he entered. He surveyed us warily for a few seconds then asked us to please sit down.
In heavily accented English he started to ask us questions about everyday events in Britain, the answers to which would not likely be known by a German who may be masquerading as an escaped prisoner. He had not introduced himself nor asked us who were, but had indicated that he was in touch with the underground forces. We were learning the procedures of the "Onderduikers", nobody said who they were, and the reason of course was, should anyone be captured or re-captured or apprehended in any way, the less they knew, the less they could reveal.
After a few minutes of questioning he said that he was satisfied as to our identity and would we please show some identification just to be on the safe side. We both produced our army paybooks and after a good look at these he said he would provide us with accommodation and contact with the resistance forces who would look after our welfare from then on. He said we should call him Nico (short for Nicholas) and that he had three bicycles outside, unfortunately, the ones the two of you will ride on have no tires. Please stay back from me about 100 meters and if I am apprehended simply ride past and ignore me and if you are stopped, "God help you" because I will not be able to.
Nico told us that there was a curfew from 8PM and that we must complete our journey by that time. He did not say how far we had to go or where and as it was now 7:30PM it apparently was not far. After about 20 minutes of hard riding (it's very hard work riding a bicycle with no tires) we turned off the road into the semi-circular driveway of a rather large house and stopped at the back door, which led into the kitchen. We dismounted and Nico ushered us inside with the warning to be very quiet.
I had figured Nico to be about 32 or 33 years old and when we entered the kitchen we were introduced to two ladies, Lena, Nico's wife, and a younger lady who was Trijnkje, their maid. There was no further discussion and we were quickly taken up the back staircase to the attic, which was unfinished except for the floor. This was strewn with apples and corncobs and was obviously the place where their winter supplies were kept. However a small part had been cleared and here were two camp cots, already made up with sheets and blankets, two kitchen chairs and a small card table.
Nico anticipated our question about toilet facilities and presented us with a rather large chamber pot. We were to use this, hopefully only for urination, as there was only one bathroom in the house and this was on the ground floor. Nico or Lena would inform us when it was safe to come downstairs because the house was, in fact, the vicarage and there was a constant stream of visitors to see the "Dominee". It was crucial that our presence there was kept a secret as not every Dutchman was on our side.
Nico soon suggested that, as we were probably quite tired, that maybe we should retire for the night and talk again in the morning and mentioned again that we should be quiet when moving about and talk quietly. Personally I was happy to fall into a bed and was asleep within minutes and I am sure that Captain Redman did likewise.
We were awakened about eight A.M. by Lena who had brought us some breakfast. This consisted of sliced cheese and black bread, there was coffee of the ersatz kind but at least the milk was real. Lena could not speak English and simply smiled, put the tray down and went back downstairs. Lena could not speak English and simply smiled, put the tray down and went back downstairs. Nico came up to see us about an hour later and we talked for some time about the prospects of getting back to the allied lines.
He said that soon an active member of the resistance would come to see us and he would give us any news about the prospects for our getting back.
Nico and Lena lived in the village of Wapendveld and he was the Minister of Nieuw Kirk. The church was right next to the House and we were told that we would hide there, in the roof, whenever there was any likelihood of a raid (razzia) by the Germans.
As it turned out we were to be the guests of these very brave people for about six weeks. During this time Theo taught me how to play chess and we read a lot of English books. The numerous members of the underground who visited Nico regularly provided the books. Twice during this time we had to go into hiding in the church groups. This ceiling of the church was made of for intolerance and group would in the only access was through a trapdoor cut into.
When we got word that a raid was imminent, Nico, Theo and I would go into the church, get a long wooden extension ladder, which was kept there for the purpose, and use the top of the latter to push the trapdoor out of its hole. We would then scamper up the ladder and pull it up after us into the roof space. This space had a wooden floor and contained two kitchen chairs; a small table and two narrow mattresses along with a battery operated radio and two milk bottles full of water.
After the emergency was over Lena would come into the church and give us the OK to come down. If Lena came into the church quietly singing a certain hymn, this meant that, although the Nazis have left the church, they were still in the immediate vicinity and we must keep very quiet.
Some evenings Nico would invite us downstairs, into the parlor, where we would play some harmless card games, or Theo and I would play chess against Nico. Once or twice a week we would have visitors from the underground. They would converse earnestly, in Dutch, with Nico for maybe half an hour, after which Nico would translate what was said. Mostly we were told how the war was going and sometimes we get some word on a possible scheme to get us back to the allied lines. Twice we were alerted to be ready to move the following evening, but in both cases nothing happened.

Continued...
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