“This was a hero,” says Sierk Plantinga of the Museum Englandvaarders in Noordwijk aan Zee. “These were the James Bonds of that time. It is not for nothing that a lot of the films that we know are based on the Dutch England sailors.” Plantinga does not rule out the possibility that Kwint will also have a license to kill had. “It is very Dutch to discuss that, but in this war time everything was allowed.”
As a thank you for his efforts, the Kwint family will receive an amount of 15,000 guilders. An enormous amount for that time, comparable to more than 200,000 euros today. “That is a kind of risk money,” says Plantinga. After the war, Queen Wilhelmina also sent a letter and Kwint received the ‘Cross of Merit’. Plantinga finds this striking. “Most spies have received much higher military awards for their bravery. Doesn’t win, presumably because unfortunately he was unable to complete a mission.”
Pieter Jacob Kwint was buried for a third time after the war, this time in his birthplace Meppel. He is now in the general cemetery. Kwint received the Cross of Merit for his England voyage.