Resistance hero Rudi Hemmes (99) is dead

Resistance hero Rudi Hemmes has died at the age of 99, reports the HBS football club in The Hague, of which he was honorary president. Hemmes was one of the last living Engelandvaarder and helped liberate Tilburg, among other things.

He was 16 when the war started and soon decided to join the resistance. He started with car sabotage, he writes Transmission in the Westthrowing sugar into the gas tanks of German-owned cars, which he hated.

Together with a boy next door from The Hague, he decided to leave for England in May 1943, where they arrived in February 1944 after much wandering.

There she joined the Princess Irene Brigade. A few months later she landed with that brigade on the Normandy beaches, from where they marched to the Netherlands.

The Brigade reports that the disappearance of Hemmes is for them a great loss that will be felt in all generations. “We remember ‘our’ Rudi as someone with a heart for the regiment.”

For them he was also the leading figure in the regiment. “He engaged with veterans, young and old, he was a regular rope handler and was woven into all regimental associations.”

Rudi Hemmes has received various awards for his services. In 2013, for example, he was made an honorary citizen of The Hague.

In 2019, King Willem-Alexander appointed him to the Speech from the throne. He said he sees him as a hero, “who risked his life to choose the future of our country and now, 75 years later, it is still the future that guides it. This is not only inspiring, it is a task for everyone to we.”

Check out the full snippet below:

Hemmes watched that speech from the throne with Princess Beatrice. Together they waved goodbye to the glass carriage.

Hemmes himself was sober about his contribution to liberation. “I didn’t mean to brag. Actually, I thought everyone should have done something. But I also understand that a lot of people couldn’t. That you don’t do it if you’re responsible for your wife and kids.”

“Sometimes people were jealous that I took so many risks. That I just said: I’m leaving and going to England. But I had no obligations. You don’t think about the risks. You realize only after that terribly lucky”.

Hemmes continued to work for the MoD after the war.