Dutch former evacuees back in Cornwall
THREE former child evacuees who left the Netherlands to escape starvation during World War Two to be looked after by volunteer families in Penzance are returning to the area in May, to feature in a new television documentary.
From early 1945 and for many months after hostilities ended, more than 40,000 malnourished Dutch children aged six to 15 were evacuated to England and Scotland, and eventually other parts of Europe, to recuperate physically and psychologically from their ordeal.
Much like what is being seen in some parts of Ukraine, areas of the Netherlands encountered severe food, water, and fuel shortages during and after the war, which affected 4.5 million people and hunger led to the death of 22,000 people.
Bob Bakkenes’ family home was badly damaged in Arnhem and was one of the ‘Bleekneusjes’, or pale noses in English, a term the Dutch gave to sickly children.
Speaking to the Dutch newspaper de Gelderlander, he said: “Everything was broken, there was a hole in the front door. There were people everywhere with stolen items.”
He got into a fight with a boy who he saw walking around in his clothes. Bob added: “The city was a mess. There was a good chance that things would go wrong for you. There were still explosives everywhere in the mess.”
Mr Bakkenes was one of a group of children from Arnhem evacuated in the autumn of 1945 and fostered by families in Penzance. They stayed for several months until it was safe enough to return home and they had regained their strength.
Now Bob, Theo van Binsbergen and Johan Zweers, all aged 88, are three of the five surviving ‘Bleekneusjes’ well enough to return to West Cornwall. They will meet descendants of their Cornish foster families and attend a reception on St
Michael’s Mount hosted by Lord and Lady St Levan.
A highlight of the evacuees’ time in Cornwall in the 1940s was attending a party at the historic island castle as guests of the third Lord St Levan. This would have been a poignant occasion for Lord St Levan as his son, Piers, was fortunate to return after being part of the Parachute Regiment force which fought in the Battle of Arnhem in September 1944. Although the battle was a disaster for the Allies, it is widely considered a shining example of the fighting spirit of the British Army.
Bob still proudly displays a picture of St Michael’s Mount at home that was painted by artist Caroline Atkinson, daughter of the Cornishman who organised homes for the Dutch evacuees.
Documentary maker Marieke van Kessel, from Arnhem-based memorial exhibition Bridge to Liberation, is keen to speak to descendants of any of the Cornish families who fostered ‘Bleekneusjes’ evacuees. She said: “We would be pleased to hear from anyone whose family took in an evacuee. Perhaps you were a child at the time or a grandchild that might have heard about this and would like to take part in our project.”
To contact Marieke, please email marieke@bridgetoliberation.nl