Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1943-02-07
Dutch Flyer E|udes
Nazis, Sails 10 u. ).
To Get Back in Fiqht
His Shipboord Mate,
A Dunkerque Veteran,
Is Stonch Ally, Too
BY DANIEL DE LUCE.

LolNooN NbSld Ictl' W. - IlC ny.
ing Dutchman and Smitty stood on
deck, where the white froth from the
Wild North Atlantic drove hard
against their faces as the 5.000-ton
freighter knitted through the heavy
| seas.
A U-boat pack had been sighted
few miles away. Some 40 ships in
convoy with destroyers and cor
vettes darting about like mother
bantam hens, veered far off course to
escape danger.
A destroyer dropped three depth
charges. To those aboard the
freighter it sounded like some one
banging bulkhead with a sledge
hammer
The wind howled. The voyage
from New York to Britain seemed
endless. Smothered in woolens, the
Flying Dutchman shivered Smittys
young face. incased in sheepskin-
lined leather hood purpled with
cold.
"GOede reis,' shouted the Dutch
man ironically, using his honelands
phrase for good Journey" Smitty
summed 1t up in Word-"blasted.
Tried to Flee to England.
You could understand their i'm
patience to reach an English port If
you'd lived. eaten and talked with
them for % days at sea, as I did.
All the ships were to arrive eventu-
ally without loss. but this isn't
story about the convoy It's about a
blond fighter pilot of the Neither
lands who staked everything for
chance to strike back at Germany
and Yorkshire lad who'd survived
Dunkerque and two sunken ships.
When the German blitzkrieg roar
ed into Western Europe in May 1910.
Jan was wounded at an airfield
where he served as a fighter pilot in
the Netherlands small but proud
Lucht Strydkrachten. He was in
hospital when Smitty, barely 20. was
helping evacuate the British Army
from Dunkerque
Jan (well call him that because
the Gestapo still has his family In
its power) tried soon to escape to
England. His cupboard motorboat
capsized miles offshore. He man.
aged to get back to land at a point
not yet garrisoned by the Germans.
Months later he started again In
different direction He slipped
through Belgium and Occupied
France, where most citizens, he
said, were delighted to shield him
from the Nazis. But he erred by
going into Vichy territory Nervous
French authorities put him in a
forced-labor camp. He borrowed"
the camp commandments car and
began return trip to Holland for
a new start. At the Vichy frontier
he left the car with note of apol-
ogy to the commandant, went the
rest Of the way chiefly by train I'M
der the noses of German SIS guards.
Obtained Vichy Visa.
For the third time he kissed
his betrothed goodbye and lifted
farewell toast with his comrades.
They sang I'VE Have Won the Sill
yer Fleet song dating back to a
Dutch triumph over Spain. and an
other. an army ditty, Near Pota-
toes, Bread and Beans You'll Find
a Netherlands Soldier
This time he went into Switzer-
land, there finally obtaining a Vichy
visa which enabled him to set out
for the Americas just before all
Vichy territory was taken over by
the German Army.
For more than two and a half
years he'd been dreaming of join
ing Spitfire squadron in Eng
land. He was in a great hurry,
now that his goal was relatively
near.
Smitty was in hurry, too. He
wanted to get married. The cere-
monv had already been delayed six
months by long cruise. He met
his flancee the year of Dunkerque.
Later, U-boat's torpedo got his
freighter. and he spent five days on
a raft with five broken ribs and no
food or water. He knitted a button
from his coat and sucked it to keep
his tongue from swelling. A storm
blew his raft into shipping lane,
and he was picked up.
Survived Ship Sinking.
Later German bomber attacked
ship whose crew he'd just joined.
He was wounded in the arm and
leg but was fairly comfortable in
lifeboat after the ship sank
Now he was % and the energetic
third mate Of the steamship Blank,
/ typical Of the valiant unsung thou
sands in the British merchant navy.
Since 10. he'd been sailor. His
first berth as a boy had been on
| fishing traWler which grounded on
the east coast Of England, all hands,
including Smitty, being removed by
/ breeches buoy.
| But for nearly year Lancelot
/ Smith of 'Ull on the 'Umber-to give
/ his full identity-had nothing vio-
lent happen to him except love.
/ The freighter pitched and tossed
And the Flying Dutchman stamped
/ his chilly feet to restore circula-
ton. After we beat the Germans"
/ he told Smitty, you come to Hol-
land for my wedding. I fly you in
my plane then. But never do I get
on a ship again"
"Okay," said Smitty, who'd picked
| M some AmericaneSe