Elsie Armstrong's trip to Holland
It happened on Friday the thirteenth.… but there came a lucky Saturday the fourteenth afterwards! How Elsie Armstrong was visiting her father's grave on Vlieland Island, for the first time. by Willem de Jong
In the 1960’s, the 70’s and the 80’s, and later too, as long as these people could travel by train, ferry, bus and car, and depending on their age and health, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) was organizing “Poppy-tours” to local cemeteries in Holland, for veterans and next of kin of those who were killed in action over there, during W.W. 2
In this manner such a tour was planned again for October 1978, when 38 persons would travel from the U.K. to Groesbeek village, in the Nijmegen region (South of Arnhem) with the help of the Dutch “sister organization” of the CWGC, the “Oorlogsgravenstichting”.
One of these British visitors would be Miss Elsie Armstrong of Gravesend, Kent. But her destination was much more to the North of Holland…… Vlieland Island, in Friesland. There some consuls of the Dutch war graves commission would take her by car to Harlingen city, to the ferry terminal, etc., so she could visit the island and the local cemetery in Oost-Vlieland for a couple of hours, where, 36 years before, her father was buried. She never had seen his last resting place over there. But…. in the evening of the same day she had to return, going back to Groesbeek, into the companionship of the total group of 38 visitors.
For Elsie this memory tour to Vlieland should be the voyage of her life, because she was not a “globetrotter” at all, she never had left England before!
Therefore she was looking forward with mixed feelings and in the first days of October she was quite nervous, and didn’t sleep very well. Finally the great day was starting and, it happened on Friday the thirteenth….. on the road to the ferry, there was a car accident. Lucky for her, she was not involved herself, but, the road was blocked for a long time, and although she had left home in the early morning, she missed her boat to Rotterdam / Holland.
No mobile phones or twitter etc. in these days, so she could not call for help easily, could not try to contact the organizers in a simple and speedy way.
What to do now? Employees in the ferry terminal later on, felt sorry for her and tried to make contact with “Holland”. And before she was broken down totally, they were giving her advice to take the next boat, the night ferry to Rotterdam; in the meanwhile they were trying and trying again…..
That night, while Elsie was trying to find some rest, and in the early morning of Saturday the fourteenth, a lot of telephone calls were made in Holland, even to the HQ of the KLu (the Dutch Royal Air Force) in The Hague. And when she arrived at the European mainland, a taxi was there, taking her at the highest speed to Groesbeek
A consul / guide of the Oorlogsgraven-comité, Mr. L.J. van Kampen (of St. Annaparochie / Friesland), and his wife too, were waiting there for her. These dedicated volunteers were bringing her to Leeuwarden / Friesland, to the NATO airfield by car, in about 2.5 hours. And she had never flown in her life ! An Alouette-chopper of the Search And Rescue squadron was “warming-up” already.
This helicopter, flown by Adj. A. Keizer and Serg.-Maj. W.F. Horsmeier (pilot and engineer), was flying her, and also her guide Mr. Van Kampen, to the heliport of Vlieland Island (East of the habour and the village). And at last, a car was driving her to the churchyard, in the middle of the village (she could not walk for a long time). Mr. Van Kampen was guiding her the last meters to the grave, no. 52… her fathers’ grave… !!!
We only can try to understand what was going on in her mind…..
After it all, back in Groesbeek, (car-helicopter-car), she was very tired, emotional too, but, she was a very grateful person, thanking all the people who were helping her on this special day, Lucky Saturday the fourteenth!
http://www.626-squadron.co.uk/willem17.htmSandra
