VVAM Newsletter 25 – 1987

Editor: Drs.R.P.G.A.Voskuil
Translation: Mrs.A.Meeuwsen

Dear Friends,
In November 1980 the first Newsletter appeared, its size was rather modest. Now you receive No. 25 !
Initially it only contained information about the Airborne Museum and the Society. But it grew in size and from No. 10 it started to draw attention to the lesser known aspects of the Battle of Arnhem by means of the Mini-stories. Thus it con¬tributes to a just historiography of events, told by people who lived through the events themselves.
Our editors, Messrs. Voskuil en Van Roekel, spend a very large amount of time on the contents and the lay-out of the Newsletter. In doing this, they are assisted by many British and Dutch members who contribute much important information and material. And we must not forget Mr. de Reus who often takes care of the photo¬graphic side of the Newsletter.
Thanks to disinterested help of many people, our treasurer still manages to finance the cost of this now much larger Newsletter, helped also by the proceeds of the selling of souvenirs and other articles and by gifts.
The appearance of this 25th Newsletter is for me a welcome opportunity to thank all those who, directly or indirectly, help to make that appearance possible.

Drs.J.Smits Chairman

7th General Annual Meeting.
You are invited to attend the 7th General Annual Meeting of the Society, on Saturday, March 28, 1987, in the Concerthall, Benedendorpsweg, opposite the Old Church, at Oosterbeek. (telephone: 085 – 332046). Time: 14.00 hrs.
The agenda of the meeting is as follows:
1. Opening address by the chairman.
2. Reading of the Minutes of the 6th General Annual Meeting of March 22, 1986.
3. General Review 1986.
4. Financial Report 1986 and Budget 1987.
5. Report Auditing Committee.
6. Election of committee-members.
7. Appointment of reserve-member Auditing Committee.
8. Questions before closing of meeting
9. Closure.
Explanation ad pt. 6: Messrs. J.A.Eijkelhof (vice-chairman) and Chr.Van Roekel (member) are due to retire from the committee. Both are eligible for re-election. According to article 8 of the Regulations, members can propose other candidates. Proposals should be sent in writing to the secretary of the Society, ten days before the day of the meeting. They must be signed by at least ten members an be accompanied by a written agreement of the proposed members, who must be of age and members of the Society.
Thirty minutes before the start of the meeting, the financial papers and the report of the Auditing Committee will be available for inspection of the members. The Financial Report 1986 and the Budget 1987 will be sent to our members with the next Newsletter.

Film: “Airdrop at Arnhem”.
The American documentary film “Airdrop at Arnhem” will be shown after the Annual Meeting. The film will take thirty minutes, the commentary will be spoken by Walter Cronkite, the well-known C.B.S.reporter.
Book on the liberation of Eindhoven.
Members who ordered the book by Karel Margry: “De Bevrijding van Eindhoven” during last year’s excursion to Eindhoven, can receive their book from Mr.Margry during the Annual Meeting. Price: f 27,50.

Annual Report 1986.
In spite of the fact that 46 members had to be expelled from the Society because of non-payment of their subscription, the number of members of the Society did increase to 809. By the end of 1985 there were 774 members. Sadly, seven members died during last year.
During the commemorations in September we were happy to welcome our sixth life¬member. Four Newsletters were sent to our members. The special-subject day was a huge success and had to be repeated. The special subject-afternoon, which was preceded by a contact-morning for our members, also drew many people.
New articles for sale were: the “Roll of Honour” (compiled by Mr.Hey), a new statuette and, at last, the badge of the Society. There was must interest in the “Roll of Honour”, it is almost sold out.
The Educational Project was started again in November and is a great success with many schools in the region. The visit of the first school to the Museum in the new season, was linked to the issuing of a so-called “City-card” by the philatelic branch of the Oosterbeek post-office. This postcard shows a picture of the Museum, together with its stamp; it is an excellent means of publicity for the Museum.
Thanks also to the kind offices of our Society, a number of members of BLESMA were able to attend the commemorations in September. Some of them could also be provided with highly necessary aids and appliances, which, we hope, will make their lives somewhat more bearable, in spite of their handicaps.
The Society donated the following articles to the Museum: a metal-detector, a glass show-case in which emblems will be shown, another glass show-case to be used for the showing of group-photographs, and exhibition-panels.
Altogether, we can say that the past year was a good year for the Society and that the interest in the Museum is still growing. (M.de L.)

Death of Mr Th.Werningh Coster.
Mr.Theo Werningh Coster died on November 12th, 1986. He was 73. In 1949 Mr Werningh Coster was one of the founder-members of the Airborne Museum and he was a member of the board of the Museum till 1986. In December 1985 Mr.Werningh Coster received the medal of honour from the municipality of Renkum as a sign of appreciation for the work he had done for the Museum and for many other institutions.

Appeal.
The American/Polish researcher Mr.George F.Cholewczynski has for some years been gathering information for a book on the First Polish Parachute Brigade Group Anyone who has information and/or photographs on the subject is kindly requested to cooperate. Please write to the Dutch representative: Mr.G.H.Maassen Jan Riebeeckweg 82, 6861 BH Oosterbeek.

For the painting of the mural in the basement of the Museum, the large diorama had to be temporarily removed. In the background the painter Mr.Huub Milder is working on the mural, while in the foreground Mr. Vellinga is busy painting the ceiling. (Photo: B.de Reus)

Mural in the basement of the Airborne museum.
In the basement of the Museum a mural will be painted on the wall of the large diorama of the entering Airborne troops. It will cover an area of 52 square metres. The painter Huub Milder will create a detailed picture of a street in Oosterbeek as it looked during the Battle of Arnhem. The painter has made an extensive study of the characteristic pre-war buildings, many of which can still be seen in Oosterbeek.
As the painting will cover three walls which are placed at right angles to each other, special attention is given to the subject of perspective, in order to obtain an impression of space.
It will take three to four months to finish the painting. During that period the public will be able to view the progress of the work through a window in a tempo¬rary connecting door. A small model gives an impression of the finished mural.

Presentation of “City-card” with picture of the Airborne Museum.
On November 24th, 1986, the presentation took place of the 16th “Post Office City-card”. A City-card is a picture postcard depicting a characteristic building of a place in which the Post Office has established a philatelic branch. The card is stamped with a special stamp. Contrary to the preceding fifteen City-cards which show mostly churches and city-halls, the board of the Oosterbeek post office decided to choose a picture of the Airborne Museum with its stamp.
The presentation took place in the Airborne Museum: the chairman of the board of the Airborne Museum, Mr.J.W.A.M.Verlinden, who is also the Mayor of Renkum muni¬cipality, stamped the first City-card. Especially for this occasion, a nostalgic post office window had been built in the Museum. The ceremony was watched by thirty pupils of the “De Stoeteboom” primary school, who were the first school- childeren to visit the Museum at the start of the Educational Project 1986/1987.

Badge of the Society.
The badge can now be bought at the Museum, the price is f 5,– It can also be ordered via the giro-account of the Society, mention “badge”.
New show-case for photographs.
One of the new show-cases which were donated to the Museum by the Society of Friends, will be placed in the basement and used to show photographs of units and groups of soldiers who took part in the actions in September 1944 and who belonged to the 1st British Airborne Division. During the last few years the Museum has received several pictures showing companies and platoons. These pictures will now be shown in the show-case. The names of many of the men shown on the photos are still unknown and the staff of the Museum hopes, with the help of other veterans, to discover them.
The Museum would like to possess as complete a collection of these photographs as possible. Anyone who has any more photos and who would be prepared to lend them to the Museum, so that a copy can be made, is kindly requested to contact the Museum.

Re-arrangement of German show-case.
The large German show-case on the top floor of the Museum has newly been completely re-arranged. Due to lack of room, the French anti-tank gun was donated to the col¬lection of the Artillery firing-range at Oldebroek. In its place the Museum can now show some recently aquired weapons and pieces of equipment: an 8 cm mortar and an MG 42 with gun-carriage. This gun-carriage was restored with great care by Mr. Smeenk from Belgium. The re-arrangement was expertly carried out by Messrs, de Reus and Vellinga.

Special edition of “After the Battle” magazine.
Since 1973 there is a four-monthly magazine specializing in many aspects of the Second World War, called “After the Battle”. The articles in this magazine are always very well illustrated by photographs, both taken during the war and after¬wards, to show places where certain events took place.
The curator of the Airborne Museum, Mr.de Reus, has taken the initiative to contact Mr.Winston Ramsey, the editor of “After the Battle”. As a result, there has now appeared an extra edition of the magazine, containing three articles which appeared in former editions. These articles are: “Prelude to Market Garden”,”The Battle of Arnhem”, and “War Film: The Making of A Bridge Too Far”. This edition also pays attention to the Airborne Museum. It is for sale at the Museum and costs f 8,50.

Mr,Tiemens publishes his second book.
The other day, our member Mr.W.H.Tiemens presented his second book “Teerosen op de Veluwe”, which deals with the secret German radio direction finder stations North of Arnhem during the Second World War.
Before this, Mr.Tiemens published the book “Aspecten van de Slag om Arnhem” (Aspects of the Battle of Arnhem).
The Teerose stations in the new book formed part of the German air defence system. The large German bunker “Diogenes” near Schaarsbergen housed the command-centre. The author gives a picture of the lives and work of the personnel.
Part of the book describes the role of the Teerosen during the Battle of Arnhem. According to the author, the quick German reaction to the British air landings was due to Teerosen’s very early perception of what was happening.
During the Battle of Arnhem part of the personnel of the Teerosen was evacuated, while others took part in the fighting.
There is also a remarkable story of the only female German prisoner of war.
She was taken prisoner just after the air landings and was a welcome object to the AFPU cameramen and photographers who took many pictures of her. Apparently she worked at Teerosen I and had just returned from leave when she fell into the hands of the British.
The book contains 164 photographs which for a greater part belong to former German personnel. It is published by Uitgeverij Lunet and costs f 34,90.

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