May 8, 1945. The Netherlands has been off for days, but there is no question of an Allied entry in many places. Yet today the liberators are fully moving and the wait is rewarded. In the meantime, armed groups of young men seize their chance. They can take revenge on (alleged) traitors undisturbed. That also happens in Werkendam and Nieuwendijk.
Also in the Land van Heusden and Altena they are still waiting for the ‘Tommies’, as they are called during this time. The Germans remain visible on the street. There are still German soldiers in cities such as Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam. They may have been defeated and have surrendered, but they have not yet ‘replaced’.
Today is finally time. The Allies get ordered to advise west. A British reconnaissance unit she leads the day before. Explorers are then briefly in the center of Amsterdam. Canadian troops leave from the Veluwe to the West, among others.
The Canadians enter Utrecht in the course of the morning. Rows it is and the ‘tommies’ are buried under the flowers. In the afternoon the liberators enter Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague.
When the Canadian units arrive on Dam Square with their jeeps and armored cars, armed Germans are also looking at the side. Or they arrange traffic. The relationships have now really been changed: the Allies take over the power.
Today is also the last day of the aid actions from the air. The last aircraft drop food for the ailing population. The help through the air can stop because more (sailing) roads are open.
Shooting
The festive entry is still marred by incidents. For example, members of the domestic armed forces in Diemen accidentally registered a car with Canadian officers. The Allies are more than fed up with the performance of these armed citizens and former resistance people.
In Bolnes, a village under the smoke of Rotterdam, things go completely wrong. There, members of the domestic armed forces (BS) want to pick up a girl who had a relationship with a German officer. That degenerates into a shooting between the BS and the Germans with the sad balance at least seven dead, all civilians.
Arrests are in full swing. Traitors, such as Meinoud Rost van Tonningen (1894-1945), are arrested. He is after Anton Mussert, the second man of the NSB.
Anyone who was friendly with German soldiers can count on armed visit to the door. That also happens in Werkendam. There, members of the domestic forces at least five women pick up who ‘hurt’ with the occupier. Their stories were taken out of oblivion in the book ‘Moffenmeiden’ by Rianne Oosterom from a few years ago.
Fort Bakkerskil
The women are taken to Fort Bakkerskil at Nieuwendijk, which is temporarily a prison. Also a girl who would be a member of a fascist youth club is included. She denies, but that has no effect. They shave her head bald and smear her with red paint. Another woman is taken to the town hall in Werkendam and shaved there while the spectators sing: “Orange upstairs, more can be done, more can be done”.
Members of the BS can take action in complete freedom and therefore undisturbed. Also on 8 May 1945 there is no report about allied liberators in the Land van Heusden and Altena. No message about armored cars and jeeps, flowers and enthusiastic residents who welcome the ‘Tommies’. It seems that the domestic armed forces are the only liberators this day.
The majority of Noord-Brabant was liberated in the fall of 1944. Except for the Land van Heusden and Altena. That only got the freedom back in May 1945. Every day you can read in this series about the events at the end of the Second World War in Europe.