The Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in Overloon, popularly known as the English Cemetery, contains 281 graves. Each with its own story. In this series of reports, the Overloon War Chronicles Foundation highlights one such special story each time. This time grave number 13, section IV, row D. from
 
Wil van der Burgt (1923 – 1944)
Dutchman among the British
 
“In the fierce struggle, not only for the liberation of our own Fatherland, but also of friendly nations, your son Wilhelm Christian, voluntarily in the service of the Fatherland, gave the high sacrifice of his life.”

(Source: letter from Queen Wilhelmina to the parents of Wil v.d. Burgt)

Of the 281 graves in this cemetery, 280 are of fallen soldiers from the UK. But in 1 grave rests … a Dutchman.
 
Wilhelm Christian van der Burgt, as Wil is fully named, is born on West-Terschelling, on Wednesday 11 April 1923. He is the son of Jacobus Wilhelm van der Burgt (call sign Ko, born in Velsen on 4 March 1893) and Jacoba Geertuida Vossers (call sign Koba, born on 19 April 1893 in Schoonoord in Drenthe).
 
The sea and sailing is in the blood of the Van der Burgt generations, as Wil’s great-grandfather Jacobus was Commissioner of the Pilotage Service, eventually based in IJmuiden. And Wil’s grandfather Ko was originally a machinist by profession and as such attached to the then Coast Guard (superintendent) stationed at Velsen. It has not escaped grandpa Ko’s superiors’ attention that Ko has an extraordinary interest in electricity for that time, and so in 1906 they ask him to take the lead in electrifying one of the larger lighthouses. He is given a choice: the Brandaris on Terschelling or the Vuurlicht of Goeree.
To make the choice, according to family tradition, grandpa Ko lined up his 4 sons and asked them what they wanted to be. All four want to do something with water and shipping: marine engineer, merchant marine officer, helmsman/captain. To which grandpa Ko decides it will be Terschelling, because there is a nautical school. The electrification of the Brandaris is completed in 1907.
 
Wil’s father Ko sees his wish come true and graduates as a SWTK (ship engineer) from the Willem Barentsz Naval College on West Terschelling, where he completes the course in the years 1907-1909, 1911-1913 and 1916-1917. He will thereafter make only a limited number of sea voyages. When he signs on ashore for good, Ko becomes a teacher at this nautical school.
On West Terschelling, he meets Koba Vossers, one of the daughters of local pastor Gerrit Vossers. The Vossers family lived in the vicarage on West.
Koba works as a crafts volunteer at the local primary school her father founded in 1912.
Ko and Koba marry on 2 January 1919 and have four children, all born on Terschelling: Ko (in 1919), Gerrit (in 1921), Wil (in 1923) and Ida (in 1925).
 
Wil’s father is an inspired teacher. On 18 July 1930, the family moves to Vlissingen, where Wil’s father is appointed teacher at the De Ruyter nautical school. There he climbs to the position of assistant headmaster. The family lives in Vlissingen on Boulevard De Ruyter until 1941, but when the house is completely destroyed by an allied bombing raid, the family is forced to move. Veere becomes the new place of residence. A year later, they move again, this time to Kamperland.
The nautical college is located in Nijmegen during the German occupation by order of the German government between 1941 and 1945. This is also where the Van der Burgt family moves to in 1944.
After the war, the family returns to Zeeland, but Ko and Koba will move within the province many more times over the years and until their deaths.
 
After Wil passes the Gymnasium, he joins the Rijkswaterstaat as a hydraulic engineer. During those final war years, Wil is registered as a cantoneer at Rijkswaterstaat, Direction Limburg, Arrondissement Maas, partly to escape German control.
After the regional liberation, Wil enlists in the Princess Irene Brigade on 5 October 1944, then aged 21. He has only been part of the Princess Irene Brigade Headquarters for a few days when, in his rank as sergeant, he is seconded as an interpreter-soldier to the 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles (2RUR) under the command of Lieutenant Colonel I.C. Harris.
Wil’s job includes interrogating POW Germans, which means he finds himself in the front lines a lot.
This battalion is part of the British 9th Infantry Brigade, which in turn falls under the 3rd Infantry Division. The battalion’s advance comes to a halt near Overloon, in October 1944.
 
On 12 October 1944, the British launch Operation Constellation in an attempt to force a breakthrough. The first step is the so-called creeping barrage, in which a total of more than 200 cannons relentlessly fire their loads at the German positions and every five minutes the British impacts move 100 metres towards Overloon. Overloon is completely destroyed in the process.
After heavy fighting in the following days, the British succeed in clearing the Overloon area of Germans. On to Venray!
 
On both 13, 14 and 15 October, the Royal Ulster Rifles face fierce German mortar attacks in their advance. They also receive orders on the 15th to advance through the battalion Lincolnshires’ positions the following day and to take Kleindorp.
 
The next day, the British resume the attack. The Loobeek, normally a calm stream, has grown into a sizeable stream as much as six metres wide due to persistent heavy rain and at the hands of the Germans. The stream, its banks and meadows were filled with mines by the Germans. Eventually, the British manage to cross the stream this day, under heavy resistance and at the cost of many casualties due to again heavy German mortar attacks. Later that day, the British reach the outskirts of Venray.
Venray will be captured the next day.
 
Wil does not live to see the liberation of Venray. On 15 October he is victim to one of the many German mortar attacks. The seriously injured Wil is immediately taken to De Bloem farm on the Merseloseweg. At this farm the headquarters of the Royal Ulster Rifles has been set up since this day and a field hospital has been set up in the basement of the farm. But for Wil, no more rescue is possible. At the farmhouse, Wil receives the last rites from Chaplain O’Brien, the Catholic chaplain of the 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles, before Wil dies of his wounds in the farmhouse the next day.
 
Father O’Brien buries Wil that 16th October during a short service in a field grave in an improvised temporary cemetery on the edge of the woods close to the farm. Also buried there that day are 6 other fallen Britons of the Royal Ulster Rifles, 2nd Bn: William Henry Lewis, Melvern Roy Guy, Richard Scott, Albert Victor Bushell, Kenneth Erskine and John Irvine.
On 29 May 1947, Wil is reburied at the CWGC cemetery in Overloon at the same time as the other 6.
 
In a letter dated 10 January 1946 from Queen Wilhelmina to Wil’s parents, she expresses her condolences:
“In the fierce battle, not only for the liberation of our own Fatherland, but also of friendly nations, your son Wilhelm Christian, voluntarily in the service of the Fatherland, gave the high sacrifice of his life. On this bitter separation from him, who was so dear to you, I come to offer you my sincere condolences. His sacrifice will always be kept in grateful memory by Me.”
 
On 4 February 1949, a memorial is unveiled in the hall of the Rijkswaterstaat building in The Hague in memory of those of the staff of the services under the Rijkswaterstaat who died during the war years in the performance of their military or civilian service, in the resistance or as a result of war crimes. The 36 names are arranged by age, with Wil listed last. He is the youngest.
 
On 5 May 1983, the Association of Veterans of the Royal Netherlands Brigade Princess Irene confirmed Wil’s posthumous entitlement to wear 3 British war decorations: The 1939 – 1945 Star, The France Germany Star and The Defence Medal.
 
Wil van der Burgt, fallen for the freedom of The Netherlands. And the only Dutchman among the British at the CWGC cemetery in Overloon.

In this section, various facts and parts of the story are further explained and contextualised when necessary. These explanations are listed below in the order they appear in the above story.
 

• West Terschelling is the largest village on Wadden Island Terschelling. The inhabitants call the village West for short. People also do not live in West Terschelling, but on West Terschelling, in short: on West.
• The village has the oldest working lighthouse in The Netherlands: the Brandaris. Wil’s grandfather Ko electrified this lighthouse in 1906-1907, during which time the family moved to Terschelling.
  In the Middle Ages, West Terschelling was home to St Brandarius’ church whose steeple was a beacon for shipping. The church was named after St Brandaan, the seafaring saint. The current Brandaris was built in 1594 and was rebuilt in 1837 to be the first Dutch lighthouse to run with a fresnel lens (named after its inventor, French Augustin Jean Fresnel who invented the lens in the early 19th century).
• Maritime School Willem Barentsz on West Terschelling was founded in 1875, later changing its name to Maritime Institute Willem Barentsz (official abbreviation: MIWB). Since its establishment, it has grown to become the best-equipped nautical institute in the Netherlands and is therefore certified both nationally and internationally.
  Courses that can be taken here include Maritime Officer, Ocean Technology, Master Marine Shipping Innovations. Maritime Engineering is also part of MIWB, but is taught in Leeuwarden.
  In addition, MIWB participates in several research projects.
• Willem Barentsz (1550 – 1597) was a Dutch seafarer, explorer and cartographer. His birthplace is Formerum on Terschelling and he was a merchant and scientist before making 3 attempts to find the north-east passage to the Far East. On his last voyage, he discovered Bear Island and Spitsbergen and explored the shores of Nova Zembla. There, he and his crew got stuck in the pack ice and were forced to spend the winter on Nova Zembla in a house made of washed-up driftwood. The house was named The Preserved House. When by spring 1597 the attempt was made to return to civilisation via a made sloop, Barentsz died a week after leaving.
• Maritime Academy Michiel de Ruyter in Vlissingen was founded in 1903 under the name Hogere Zeevaartschool (Vlissingen) – Michiel de Ruyter. In 1978, the school’s name was changed to Maritiem Instituut De Ruyter and it grew into one of the leading maritime academies in Europe.
  It offers various maritime courses as well as fisheries training and logistics training.
  The Institute’s white building on the Boulevard Bankert in Vlissingen, a design by Zeeland architect Arend Rothuizen (1906 – 1990. whose buildings contributed significantly to the post-war reconstruction of the province of Zeeland) is known worldwide and has the status of a national monument.
• Michiel de Ruyter (1607 – 1676) was a Dutch admiral and one of the most famous Dutch naval heroes in history. He was born in Vlissingen and would go on to become the greatest admiral of his time.
  As commander and admiral, he took part in wars in the Baltic Sea, against piracy in the Mediterranean, and managed to win important victories especially against the British in various wars and naval battles. Legendary is his trip to Chatham (June 1672), the most important English naval base at the time, where he inflicted the greatest loss ever on the English navy.
  Four years later, in 1676, De Ruyter died near Sicily after being sent out with a weak squadron to support the Spanish against the French.
• Gerrit Vossers, Koba’s father, was a Dutch Reformed pastor on West-Terschelling from 1898 to 1922. In the summer of 1900, he wanted to set up a Christian school on West Terschelling. Vossers came to that decision because he was concerned about the island’s youth, which in his view was becoming feral.
  His first attempt failed, for lack of interest on the island. But 3 years later, he was more successful: after first forming an association, with the statutes being royally approved, this paved the way for the establishment of the school. The school, which consisted of two classrooms, was opened on 1 November 1912. Vossers was chairman of the school board between 1912 and 1922 and the school was later given its name, which the school still bears today: Christian Primary School (CBS) Rev Vossers School.
• The Van der Burgt family’s forced move to Veere in 1941 came as their house in Vlissingen was completely destroyed in an Allied bombing raid. Walcheren suffered greatly from Allied bombing in those early years of the war, one of the aims of which was to prevent the De Schelde shipyard from being used by the German occupiers for arms production.
  At the time the Van der Burgt family’s house was hit full on by a “swerve” and completely destroyed, father Ko was not at home. Mother Koba narrowly survived the impact because she and one of her sisters had locked themselves in the toilet.
  Wil’s older brother Gerrit had joined the Vlissingen fire brigade to avoid employment in Germany. In that position, he had to turn out to his own parental home on the day of this bombing without knowing it beforehand.
• The Princess Irene Brigade is officially called Royal Dutch Brigade Princess Irene, abbreviated PIB. This army unit was founded on 11 January 1941 in Congleton, in England, under the then name Royal Dutch Brigade. After Queen Wilhelmina awarded the banner on 27 August 1941, the addition Princess Irene was added. The brigade was formed by:
  • Dutch soldiers who were able to flee to England in the May days of 1940
  • Engelandvaarders
  • Dutch nationals from abroad who volunteered, as well as those who did their military service in the brigade.
• The brigade landed in Normandy in August 1945 with 1,200 men and actively fought in the liberation of France (e.g. Pont-Audemer was taken), Belgium (e.g. Brussels was liberated) and the Netherlands (e.g. the liberation of Tilburg together with the Scots, guarding the Maasbrug in Grave during Market Garden and the airfield of Oirschot).
  On 16 July 1945, the brigade was unofficially disbanded, with Prince Bernhard awarding the Military Order of William 4th class to the brigade. On 24 December 1945, the brigade was officially disbanded.
• The Royal Ulster Rifles came into existence as a regiment on 1 January 1921 as a successor to the Royal Irish Rifles. That regiment had been formed in 1881 by amalgamation of 83rd (County of Dublin) Regiment of Foot and the 86th (Royal County Down) Regiment of Foot. The regiment took part in fighting in the Second Boer War (the Boer War in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini), in the First and Second World Wars and in the war in Korea.
  In 1968, the Royal Ulster Rifles merged into the Royal Irish Rangers, in it with the North Irish Brigade, Royal Irish Fusiliers (Princess Victoria’s) and the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.
• The creeping barrage or fire roll that the British applied in Overloon was developed by the British in the Second Boer War (1899 – 1902), at the time one of the tactical inventions under the command of General Redvers Buller. The creeping barrage was also widely used by the British in World War I, initially by the British Expeditionary Force. The barrage was deployed during, among others, the Battle of Loos, the first day in the Battle of the Somme and in the Battle of Passendaele. The British realised that this was the way to silence enemy artillery in order to support their own infantry in their advance.
  This method of the fireroller, followed immediately by the advancing infantry, proved much more efficient and effective in neutralising the enemy than first bombing enemy positions for weeks.
  The Germans also adopted the barrage and applied a variant: 2 lines in a row where the first line consisted of massive poison gas shelling.
  In World War II, the barrage was used less as a combat tool by the British, as the massive infantry attacks as during World War I were not applied then. However, the barrage was used in the Italian advance (including in the battle for Monte Cassino) and in Normandy during the fierce battle to capture Caen.
• The Soviets applied the creeping barrage frequently during World War II with immense numbers of cannons, including during the Battle of Stalingrad (as many as 7,000 cannons) and later during the Battle of Berlin.
• The history of farm De Bloem on Merseloseweg, which housed the field hospital where Wil received the last sacraments, goes back to around 1700. During the war years, the Vloet family lived there, who were forced to evacuate by order of the Germans in September 1944, just before the Battle of Overloon began, like the whole of Overloon.
  Days after Wil was buried at De Bloem, the farm was destroyed. After the war, a new farm De Bloem was built a hundred meters away in the direction of Overloon, which was used as a farm until 2000. Then the farm was converted into a group accommodation by the new owners. The name De Bloem was retained in the process.
• One of the Vloet children born in De Bloem was Bert Vloet, the later meteorologist known mainly in Brabant and Limburg.
• The exact day Wil was hit by the mortar blast is not clear.
  Father O’Brien, who administered Wil the sacraments and buried him, initially confirmed that Wil was brought into the farm on 15 October 1944 severely wounded and was buried the next day (16 October). That confirmation is contained in a letter from Overloon War Museum founder Harrie van Daal to the Van der Burgt family on 10 January 1946. Van Daal had his connections investigate and they received this confirmation from O’Brien. 16 October has been officially established as Wil’s death day, calculating back, he then fell victim to the mortar attack on 15 October.
  But in a letter dated 22 October 1946 from the War Department to the family, there is a translated passage from the same Father O’Brien who now says that Wil died on the spot in the mortar attack and he (O’Brien) was immediately on the spot to administer the holy unction and he buried Wil along with 6 Britons who died the same day.
  Perhaps the Ministry’s translation is not the 100% translation of O’Brien’s statement, because the other 6 Britons did not die on 16 October either, but a few days earlier. In any case, the Ministry’s translation is not correct, as they mention in that letter that Wil had the rank of Lt (lieutenant) while Wil was a sergeant. Thereby, they mention as Wil’s initials the letters C.H.R., while Wil’s initials are W.C.
  The confusion about the date and circumstances of Wil’s death is compounded by various official reports such as the GCRF (Grave Concentration Report Form) where Wil’s name reads K/A (killed in action) and not D/W (died of wounds). So the GCRF also indicates that Wil died in the mortar attack at the scene, which contradicts the evidence that Wil did go to the field hospital and died there.
  Lieutenant Colonel I.C. Harris, the commander of the 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles, reports in his War Diary (an official war diary that had to be kept daily) heavy German mortar attacks and strikes on both 15 October and 16 October. He does not specifically name casualties, nor does he specifically refer to Wil as a casualty on either day.
• Wil’s father Ko graduated as a marine engineer. Wil’s uncle Hans studied hydraulic engineering in Delft and later became HID (Chief Engineer-Director) at Rijkswaterstaat and in that capacity, among other things, was ultimately responsible for the immense dyke repairs after the 1953 flood disaster. Uncle Maarten and uncle Wil both became merchant captains and both spent the war years at sea without a break, including transporting troops and weapons. In the process, Maarten was also a Reserve Captain at Sea in the Royal Navy. Exceptionally, Maarten was awarded the British OBE (Order of the British Empire) as a non-Brit.
• Wil’s father Ko was royally decorated in 1958 and appointed Knight of the Order of Orange Nassau for his great merit for maritime education.

Operation Aintree – The Battle of Overloon & Venray (authors, Antal Giesbers and Herman Dinnissen, Giesbers Media, 2004)
War diary Lieutenant Colonel I.C. Harris, 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles (i.e. dates 15 and 16 October 1944)
Letter Harrie van Daal to Van der Burgt family (10 April 1946)
Ministry of War letter to Van der Burgt family (22 October 1946)
Letter from Rijkwaterstaat to Van der Burgt family (1 July 1949)
Letter/invitation to unveil memorial Rijkswaterstaat to Van der Burgt family (26 January 1949)
War deadnijmegen.nl
Docplayer.co.uk
Oep de Breed
Bert Scheepstra
Richard van de Velde (Princess Irene Brigade)
Research Leo Janssen, Gerard Berkers
The author thanks: Carla Geldof, Wil van der Burgt, Ieske Weijers – Van der Burgt
 
© 2021 Arno van Dijk on behalf of the Overloon War Chronicles Foundation.
 
The Overloon War Chronicles Foundation aims, among other things, to retrieve the photos and stories of as many graves as possible in the CWGC cemetery, to pay tribute to the fallen there and thus keep this history alive.