Seventeen year old Bart Beije escapes from Nazi occupied Holland via Sweden
May 10, 1940, was the day the Germans invaded Holland and after just five days of fighting the Dutch defenses were defeated. Holland faced the inevitable prospect of the German occupation for the duration of WWII.
Bart Beije had just arrived from England a couple of days before the invasion on the S.S. Schokland, on which he served as a steward. But now he was just as trapped as everyone else, with the German occupation.
On Sept 1941 he signed on as steward on the S.S. Dordrecht, a freighter that sailed under German direction between Holland and Sweden, hauling Iron Ore. He made several trips to familiarize himself with the area and find a possible way to escape.
In June 1942 while the ship was in Lulea, Sweden, he saw his chance and deserted.
He waited until the ship had left, and then contacted the Dutch consulate in Stockholm and asked for help to stay in Sweden and making his way to England.
Unfortunately, the person he spoke with was a German sympathizer and after disclosing his whereabouts, was told that someone would be in touch with him soon and to just stay there. Several hours later two Germans showed up and took him to a German ship, with orders to lock him up and take him to Bremen Germany.
Once the ship left port, he was free to move about. He quickly planned his escape by getting a life preserver and jumping overboard when the ship passed a narrows, thinking that he would be able to swim to shore.
When he made the jump, someone saw him go over the side. The ship did not make any attempt to retrieve him, but did send a radio message that he had jumped. It was received by the Swedish coastguard who, found and rescued him, took him to their base and kept him there until he received a visitor's visa via the Dutch consulate.
He remained in Sweden, working as a farm laborer until January 1943, when suddenly he received a call to be ready to leave in one hour. A car picked him up and took him to an airport, where he was put aboard an English airplane from the RAF and flown to England.
Once in England he volunteered to join the RAF. He was assigned to the Dutch 322 Spitfire squadron where he served as an Armourer, servicing and reloading the guns of the Spitfires while they were in England, Belgium, Holland and Germany.
He enlisted on March 16, 1943 at 18 years of age and was promoted to Soldier 1ST Class on September 28, 1944 and discharged on November 26, 1945, as his service was no longer required.
Sources: Bart Beijes family through his brother Nick Beye.