Photo's "Korps Pontonniers and Torpedisten".

Original negative of the wedding photo of Reserve First Lieutenant J. van der Houwen.
Below is the wedding photo of Knight of the Military Order of William, 4th class, Reserve First Lieutenant J. van der Houwen, seen in his uniform. Lieutenant van der Houwen was an officer in the reserve detachment on May 10, 1940. While cycling towards the barracks, he was already being fired upon by German paratroopers. He was the first officer to arrive at the barracks and found the troops unprepared. With about twenty men and limited ammunition, he set out towards Krispijnse weg to engage in combat with the German paratroopers who had landed in the meadows. The railway engineer troops at Villa Weizigt and the station were already in battle with these paratroopers and their decisive actions had created the conditions for what would later become the destruction of almost an entire German parachute company.
When the fight with the paratroopers of 3./FJR 1 was mostly over and a significant part of the company was taken prisoner, wounded, or killed, Lieutenant van der Houwen, along with about ten pontonniers and torpedisten, proceeded to clear the Bosch van de Roo of any remaining paratroopers. This was certainly not without risk as they were constantly under fire from friendly troops who mistook them for Germans. Suddenly, paratroopers emerged, and German Leutnant Schmelz came forward, stating that he and his troops wanted to surrender.
In this way, Lieutenant van der Houwen's group initially took about 30 German prisoners of war, and later, about ten more. For his courage, leadership, and loyalty, Lieutenant van der Houwen would be awarded the Knight of the Military Order of William, 4th class, after the war. *1

©2017-2024 :Https://www.Dordrechtindeoorlog.nl: ( There is a copyright on the content of this website. This content is not to be shared, duplicated or published withouth the explicit permission of the author of this website. If you have any requests you can email to: Info@Dordrechtindeoorlog.nl or look on : www.dordrechtindeoorlog.nl/termsofuseforthecontentonthiswebsite.

*1 Source: Zuidfront-Holland1940- Dordrecht 2e fase.