1/7 Freek van der Vaart, Robin Ordell and Joop Hendrix
They stand quietly along a very busy road at Mierlo. Hundreds of white tombstones. War graves have usually been adopted in the Netherlands. Someone then comes by, for example, to lay a flower on birthdays or days of death. But in Mierlo that is not always the case. More than four hundred so -called adopters are being sought there. “So that we can say later, boy, you did well. We now know who you are.”
Freek van der Vaart from Geldrop flew at the Air Force for years and has since been retired. Together with the new AdoptieGraven Mierlo Foundation, he is committed to finding people who want to adopt the war graves of Mierlo. He himself sets a good example. He has adopted the grave of the youngest pilot at the cemetery, Robin Ordell, 24 years old, from Australia.
We don’t hear much about Australian pilots in Brabant during the Second World War. But the graves in Mierlo show that they were there. Robin is buried with five other Australian and British members of his crew of a Lancaster. Shot by a German night hunter on 2 February 1945 at Broekhuizen-Vorst. They were just in the twenties, one was only 19 years old. “If you were 30 at that time, you were already a grandfather,” says Freek.
Australia is part of the so -called Commonwealth. The head of state is the queen or king of the United Kingdom. Australians had to fight in Europe. Similarly Robin Ordell and his crew. He was only at the Air Force for two years and was sent in Germany to bomb.
“At the time I had no realization of what Robin went through.”
Freek himself flew many missions in Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan. “It is intense, someone who wanted to start his career so young at the Air Force, and then immediately ends up in a war. When I was 24, I had no realization of what Robin went through. I feel a lot of respect for what he has meant for us.”
For years no one arrived at the graves, except on commemorations, and of course the cemetery is properly maintained. The foundation is looking for people who want to take on a personal relationship. For example, someone who is willing to look for the story of the person buried there. “We want more awareness again, because that has dropped.”
Freek soon came to a former colleague when he wanted to sort out the story of Robin Ordell. Joop Hendrix from Helmond flew for years on fighter jets at the Air Force and was even an instructor. Now the retired kite is busy searching for the many planes that have crashed in this region.
As a so -called plane hunter, searching with his metal detector on the field, he found the parts of the Lancaster of Robin Ordell. “Many parts of the aircraft are numbered and so you can identify the plane.”
But there is not much more to say about the young Australian. A photo of a little Robin was found while he participates in a movie.
“That they realize, now I’m dying.”
Joop does not want to think about what went through his head when he was hit by the German hunter that night. A crew member managed to jump out of the Lancaster and was imprisoned. “You are so young, your whole life has yet to start and that they realize, now I die.”
The crew of the Lancaster has since been adopted. But hundreds of graves in Mierlo are still looking for someone who wants to adopt. “You can fill in yourself how you want to commemorate the perished military,” says Freek. “You can go to a memorial or put a flower on the birthday. You don’t have to do maintenance, it is pure visiting the grave so that someone is not forgotten.”
Are you interested in adopting a grave? Then look at The website of AdoptieGraven Mierlo.