A world first at the commemoration of death at the Raadhuisplein in Wervershoof tonight. The march that the Wervershoof soldier Gerrit Broedersz once wrote in a Japanese camp on Java was first performed eighty years after his death.
The fact that the march was staged tonight is thanks to village resident Wil Sijm. He becomes fascinated by Broedersz’s life story when he comes across an old newspaper report about the soldier who was promoted to junior bandmaster.
He goes deeper into the story behind Gerrit and ends up with a KKK Marsch composed by him, named after the camp, the ‘Kale Koppen Kampenment’. Sijm manages to obtain a copy of the march that has always been preserved in the Museum-Omniversum in The Hague.
After a lot of practice, the fanfare St. Cecaelia from Wervershoof will play the march tonight at the commemoration of death at the Raadhuisplein. Several relatives of Broedersz are present to experience this special moment.
Watch a report about the march at the Remembrance Day here