VVAM Newsletter 13 – 1984

February 1984
Editor: Drs R.P.G.A. Voskuil
English translation: Susana G. Beek-Hobart

Dear Friends,
Fourth General Membership Meeting to be held on the 24th March, 198U
We have pleasure in inviting you to the 4th General Membership Meeting, which is likewise the Annual Meeting, of the Society of Friends of the Airborne Museum, to be held on Saturday, 24th March at 14.00 hrs, in the Concert Hall, Benedendorpsweg, opposite the Old Church in Oosterbeek (telephone number 085-332046).
The agenda will be as follows:-
1. Opening of the meeting;
2. Minutes of the 3rd General Membership Meeting, which took place on the 12th March, 1983;
3. General Report for 1983;
4. Financial Report and Budget for 1984;
5. Election of Committee members;
6. Appointment of member of the Cash Committee;
7. Any further business;
8. Closing of the meeting.
Additional information regarding No.5: Messrs J. Smits and
R.P.G.A. Voskuil are both up for renomination. With regard to the previous resignation of Mr. H. Hendriks, the Committee would like to suggest the appointment of Mr. W. de Ruyter, who has already been acting as advisor in the absence of Mr. Hendriks.
According to Article 8 of the Statutes, members can propose candidates themselves. Any recommendations must be presented in written form to the Secretary, at least ten days before the meeting, signed by a minimum of 10 members and accompanied by a notice from the candidate declaring his willingness to participate. Any such candidate must also be a member of the Society and be of age.
The Report of the Cash Committee, as well as other financial matters of interest, will be availableforthe members^ perusal half an hour before the meeting opens.

A new book about the Civilians and the Resistance Movement of the Municipality of Renkum during the Second World War
A book is in preparation about the citizens of the Municipality of Renkum and the Resistance Movement during the Second World War, with particular reference to the Battle of Arnhem. Anyone who might be able to supply infor¬mation which could be of interest is kindly requested to get in touch with Mr. G.A. Versteegh, Steynweg 7/h in Oosterbeek, telephone no. 085-341054. Photographs with regard hereto are also extremely welcome. This book will be studied more closely in a following Newsletter.

The bronze parachutist statuette attracts much attention.
An enormous amount of interest has been shown in the bronze parachutist statuette which was designed for our Society. Over a un re . have already “been ordered in the Netherlands, and the very irs e already been dispatched.Closingdate for ordering April 30th.

A special “Book Service” for our Society.
Many members of our Society are interested in collecting books about the Battle of Arnhem. However, many of the books published on the subject over the last forty years have become very rare and are often out o^ P^ln Our Committee therefore would like to start a special Book Service i… there is enough interest from the members’ side. The projected plan is as follows: members of our Society can let us know in writing which book they are looking for about the Battle of Arnhem. We can then try to get hold of a specific book second-hand either in the Netherlands or abroad. If.and when such a book is found, the applicant will be informed of the price and postage costs. A special giro-account will be opened for remittances, and on receipt of such, the book requested will be sent to the applicant.
In order to get an idea of whether there is enough interest in this plan, we would like to ask each member who wishes to make use of this Service, to send a list of book titles as soon as possible to “The Curator”, Airborne Museum, Utrechtseweg 232, 6862 AZ Oosterbeek. If there are enough members interested, then the “Book Service” will become a reality.

Autographed copies of “The Wings of Pegasus” have arrived.
Autographed copies of Brigadier Chatterton’s book, “The Wings of Pegasus, the Story of the Glider Pilot Regiment” have arrived at the Airborne Museum in Oosterbeek.
Those who have ordered a copy of the book can collect it at the Museum (the price is f 57SOO). Should you wish to have the book sent to you, we would be obliged if you could remit the amount of f 62,25 to the Society of Friends of the Airborne Museum under giro-number U1»O36U1, with the additional mention of “Book Chatterton”, whereupon the book will be sent to you.
There are a few copies of this book which have not yet been reserved and aE’iiis limited number is on sale at the Museum; a copy can also be bought by ordering it via a giro payment.

An educative pupil-project about the Battle of Arnhem
Mr. C. van Roekel, who is a member of our Committee, has taken the initiative of starting an educative project for pupils attending secondary schools. The project is based on: “The Facts and Background of the Battle of Arnhem”.
With the help of this project, Mr. Van Roekel would like to try and give school pupils more insight into the events and the background of this period which had such a radical effect on the history of Europe. Such insight could be achieved by: 1) a visit to the Museum with special explanation 2) the showing of a film 3) the preparation of a special written paper. For the purpose of the latter, a sheet with photographs for cutting out “and an attached stencil, would be made available to the school pupils ’
The sponsors of this project are SHELL-BILLITON and the nubl,ichi™ of LINDERS-ADREMO from Oosterbeek. P B • . F°^ a-Lf^th®r inf0™a^°n concerning this pupil-project, one can get in touch with Mr. C. van Roekel, Airborne Museum, Oosterbeek
Over three thousand school pupils have already been registered for this project

Audio-visual presentation officially put into use
Plus a button by Mr. Mark Chapman, acting on behalf of the . m assy.ln the Netherlands, the new audio-visual presentation was officially put into use on the 9th December.
. With the help of this computer-guided slide-presentation, in combination A a sP°^en text and indicating lights on a renovated maquette, the Battle of Arnhem is explained in twenty minutes.
On behalf of the Committee of the Airborne Museum Foundation, Major W. Duyts would like to thank the “Stichting Comite Zomerpostzegels”, the Anjerfonds Gelderland” and the “National Tourist Office” for their subsidies on this project. The purchase and installation of this apparatus cost about f 50.000,- and the actual work started in 1982. The computer was supplied by a firm in Ede, SISAS, as well as the input and output devices and the programme. The technical installation and the renovation of the maquette were carried out by Messrs. B. de Reus and E. Vellinga, who are respectively Curator and Assistant-Curator of the Museum. Both of these gentlemen spent many of their spare evenings, for no extra remuneration,in getting the maquette ready on time. One time-consuming activity was having to bore about five hundred holes in the maquette in order to place the small lights necessary. The Airborne Museum in Oosterbeek is the only museum in the Netherlands which has such an audio-visual presentation.
It might be interesting to note that twenty years ago the Airborne Museum was also extremely progressive in its “phonoguide” installation. This initiative was taken in 19&3 by a former Committee member, Ir. J. Voskuil. By the use of a loudspeaker near to the maquette, the story of the Battle of Arnhem could be heard in four languages (Dutch, English, French and German). In addition, there were a few four-channel receivers which could be held in the hand. The text was spoken by fellow-workers of the Netherlands World Broadcasting Corporation in Hilversum. At that time, it was impossible to supply the maquette with indicating lights, wich meant that plastic cards showing the names and places had to be used.

By the push of a button, Mr. Mark Chapman puts the audio-visual presentation into use.(Photo: B. de Reus)

An exhibition of paintings and drawings about the Battle of
The Airborne Museum hopes to organise this coming spring exhibition of paintings and drawings related to the Battle ^Arnhem. One of the plans is to try and get from England the or^8 Dav”
done by David Shepherd, entitled “The Bridge, Arnhem, e could
and “Oosterbeek Cross Roads, 22nd September 19IA, so a Roest-Van Limburg be exhibited during the exhibition. The drawings done y ; . . , been
showing Oosterbeek in ruins will also be displayed. This e 1 tentatively arranged from the 23rd March to the oth May.

Unique scrap-book given to Museum
Mr. F.J.N. Engel from Haarlem handed over to the Airborne Museum on the 26th November last, a unique scrap-book about the Battle of.Arnhem. This 00k was compiled by an English girl who was friends with an officer of the 7th KOSB Battalion which took part in the fighting at Arnhem. The scrap-book contains cuttings from English newspapers during the period from September 19^4 to September 19**5- This extremely interesting scrap-book will probably be exhibited in the new showcase of the Airlanding Brigade.

Mrs. Bertha Breman-Peters from Oosterbeek receives decoration
On the 1st December 1983, the Israeli Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mr. Jaacov Nechushtar, presented Mrs. Bertha Breman-Peters, and Mr Breman post¬humously, with the “Yad Vashem” decoration.
During a certain period of the war, Mr. and Mrs. Breman had managed to keep Mr. Izak de Vries, of Jewish nationality, concealed in their home. This same house on the Benedendorpsweg in Oosterbeek was full of British parachutists during the Battle of Arnhem. When, on the 25th and 26th September, these soldiers crossed the Rhine, Mr. de Vries joined them and was thus able to escape to freedom.
Mrs. Breman, who is an enthusiastic member of our Society, was sincerely congratulated by the Committee on this distinction.

Our Society donates new showcase to Airborne Museum
In the various rooms of the Airborne Museum, a great deal of space is dedicated to the parachutists, the glider-pilots, the artillery, liaison, the medical service etc. However, the 1st Airlanding Brigade, made up of the 1st Battalion The Border Regiment, the 7th Battalion Kings Own Scottish Borderers and the 2nd Battalion The South Staffordshire Regiment, is not tackled separately.
On the initiative of two of our members, Messrs. Ronald Klein Tank and Robert.Sigmond, our Society will donate to the Museum a showcase which will be entirely dedicated to documents, photographs and any other material relating to these three Battalions of the 1st Airlanding Brigade. Our Society has made an amount of 1800 Dutch guilders available for this purpose. The showcase will contain special articles and material’from the personal collections of Messrs. Klein Tank and Sigmond.
Robert Klein Tank, from Ede, has always been extremely interested in the history of the 1st Battalion The Border Regiment during the Battle of Arnhem and he regularly corresponds with veterans of this Battalion
Robert Sigmond is the owner of “Het Wolvenbosch” Restaurant in Wolfheze This Restaurant, the interior of wich is in the colours of the Bri+nch Airborne Troops (dark-red and light-blue) houses a small nart of M = collection about the Battle of Arnhem. He is especially
the fortunes of the 7th KOSB Battalion and has an extensive^ollecti on He also corresponds with a number of veterans of the + +
. We hope that the showcase can be officially handed oier°to the6”’ Airborne Museum this coming spring. uue

Newsletter No, 11
The following Newsletter will appear in May.

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