The following name(s) were compiled from the list at The National Archives of the U.K. of Dutch helpers of Allied airmen and other military personnel during World War II who were trying to evade capture by the Germans. The names have been sorted by city and town. For a further discussion of the list and caveats relating to its use, click here.
Zundert researcher Arjan Bakx brought to my attention that Zundert actually consists of not only Zundert but also Klein-Zundert, Wernhout, and Achtmaal. I will be adding the names of helpers from these villages as we identify them. In addition, Mr. Bakx has brought to my attention errors in the way some names are listed in the British National Archives list. I will list his corrections in boldface in brackets following the name as it appears from the British National Archives.
- Balemans [Baelemans], Cornelis G., B229 (5)
- v.d. Berg Kerstens, no first name listed, Heidestr. B307, Wernhout (5)
- Bielars, H., Pasturie, Wernhout (5)
- Boden, Aloysius, C153, Achtmaal (5)
- Bodken [Boden], Andre, C153, Achtmaal (6)
- Couwenberg , Marcel [Kouwenberg, Michael], A15 (5)
- v. Erck, C.B.J. [Van Erck, Cas], A241 (5)
- Van Hasselt, Louis [Van Hasselt, Ludovicus, F.], B228 (4)
- Hoekman, Pieter C., A88 (5)
- Koch, P.W., Moenstr. (6)
- Kools Broos, Joh. J., C114, Achtmaal (5)
- Lombarts van Hamjac., Bredascheweg A387 (nil)
- De Weyer, Baartje J. [de Weijer, B.J.], B206 (5)
WWII Netherlands Escape Lines 
The first name of v.d. Berg Kerstens is Maria Catherina
This is not the list of Zutphen. The link is wrong. Is it possible to repair it?
Dear Mr. Udink,
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I believe I have corrected the link. Please see https://wwii-netherlands-escape-lines.com/helpers-of-allied-airmen/dutch-helper-list/dutch-helpers-by-selected-cities-and-towns/dutch-cities-vessen-to-zwolle/. Please let me know if I have corrected the error (or made it worse!).
Best wishes,
Bruce Bolinger
Dear Bruce, I few years ago we exchanged some information with regard to Black Jacques alias Gemert or Jacques de Weert. He played a key role in the falsification service of the Dutch resistance. He was born in Zundert. Also the escape lines quite often used Zundert to cross the Dutch/Belgian border. At that time you wrote that all military escaping from behind the front lines were debriefed and that the hand-written files from the debriefing are still in existence (filed in the archives). As stated before I really would be interested to study those files in order to get a better understanding of the escape lines in general and the role of De Weert in particular. Can you please help me? Who or which archive can I contact in order to get scans from the relevant documents?
Kind regards
Arjan Bakx
Dear Arjan,
The first information you might want to read is at https://airforceescape.org/escape-and-evasion-research/escape-evasion-reports/ on the website of the Air Forces Escape and Evasion Society (AFEES). Next, look at https://www.archives.gov/files/citizen-archivist/images/05-27-2021-escape-evasion.pdf. Next, look at https://narations.blogs.archives.gov/2010/09/14/world-war-ii-escape-and-evasion-reports-are-now-available-online/. With the tools provided by the National Archives, you should be able to find the escape and evasion reports for any airmen helped by Mr. De Weert. The National Archives also has the files of their helpers but those are not yet available online and instead have to be ordered. However, the last information I have from the National Archives (last September), is that the “Case Files of Dutch Citizens Proposed for Awards for Assisting American Airmen, 1945-1947” are in the final stages of digitization and once completed, will be posted on the Internet. Go to https://catalog.archives.gov/id/5709392 for further information. You will find their mailing address and email ( Archives2reference@nara.gov). When I tried contacting them last September, the phone number did not work but the email did. In the order form they sent me to complete for some Belgian files, they warned that it would take three to four months for delivery after I sent the order form with payment.
Best wishes,
Bruce