Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema
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Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema (April 3, 1917, Surabaya, Netherlands East Indies - present), is the writer of the book Soldaat van Oranje (Dutch for Soldier of Orange) in which he describes his experiences in World War II.
Eric Hazelhoff Roelfzema managed to escape from the Nazi-occupied Netherlands to the United Kingdom. There he worked as a secret agent. Later he joined the Royal Air Force. In april 1945 he was appointed adjudant (assistant) to queen Wilhelmina.
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[edit] Secret agent
After his arrival in London, Hazelhoff Roelfzema, with the help of general François van 't Sant, director of the Dutch CID (Central Intelligence Service) and colonel Euan Rabagliatti (Secret Intelligence Service) set up a secret service group known as the Mews, after Chester Square Mews where they lived in London. The goal was to establish a contact with the Resistance in the Netherlands. Several agents were parachuted, others were put ashore at the beaches of Noordwijk and Scheveningen.
Roelfzema did not receive much cooperation of the Dutch government. Van 't Sant was forced to transfer control over the CID to colonel De Bruyne of the Dutch Marine Corps.
De Bruyne did not do a good job of his work. He failed to recognise the fact that his agents were arrested and continued to broadcast messages - for the Germans. The usual procedure for transmitting messages was to include small errors. If an agent was forced to work for the Germans, he would leave out the errors. The result was that contact was aborted immediately.
However, De Bruyne concluded that the agents simply forgot to use the security-checks and even sent messages to remind them. Other intelligence blunders were the maps he had attached to the wall in his London office, showing the landing sites of Noordwijk, Scheveningen and Walcheren in full detail.
De Bruyne threatened to court-martial Hazelhoff Roelfzema for ignoring an order - at the same time Hazelhoff Roelfzema was proposed for the Willemsorde (the highest decoration in the Netherlands). He got his Willemsorde - the court-martial was cancelled after a meeting with Dutch Navy minister Furstner.
Nonetheless, Hazelhoff Roelfzema got sick of the counterproductive attitude and decided to join the Royal Air Force.
[edit] RAF pilot
Hazelhoff Roelfzema went to flight school in Canada, where he became the best pilot cadet of his group. Back in England in 1944, he joined the elite Pathfinder Force, a department of the RAF tasked with illuminating targets for the bomber force. In all he made 72 sorties, of which 25 to Berlin.
[edit] Adjudant to the Queen
In April 1945, Hazelhoff Roelfzema was appointed adjudant to the Queen. He accompanied her back to the Netherlands.
[edit] After the war
Hazelhoff Roelfzema led a fairly restless life after the war, including a stint in Hollywood and possibly subversive activity in Indonesia. His book, published in 1970, relates his adventures during the war and the political turmoil of the Dutch government in exile. It attracted a lot of attention, even more so when it was made into a film by Paul Verhoeven in 1977, starring Rutger Hauer as Hazelhoff Roelfzema.
He was close to Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, the father of the present Queen, whom he entertained frequently at his home in Maui.
