Chairman, Ed van Lierde
discussing the ceremony with the HMS Diamond crew
Ed van
Lierde discussing the ceremony with Commander HMS
Diamond, Ian Clarke
The
coffee corner with arriving commemoration
guests
Coffee
plus "petite four"
Exposition HMS Diamond
with a part of the crew
Member of
the Board, Kees Amsterdam talking with the
Australian Military Attaché, Major Leichsenring
Briefing
of our Museum volunteers
Interview
Chairman, Ed van Lierde by RTV-Rijnmond
Eight
members of the Ruys family (Royal Rotterdam
Lloyd founders) walking to their seats for
joining the ceremony
Speech
Chairman, Ed van Lierde
Speech
Commander HMS Diamond, Ian Clarke
Speech
Frans Luidinga about his Slamat book
The very
impressing video of the last living
Slamat/Wryneck victim, George Dexter
Speech by
Rotterdam Mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb
Het
Slamat/Diamond/Wrynech monument unveiled by Anje
ten Have (daughter Slamat victim) and
Rotterdam Mayor, Ahmed Aboutaleb
The flower
ceremony in front of the Slamat monument
The end of
the flower ceremony
A
British Royal Navy sailor is photographing
the Slamat plague
Die Maeze
Sanghers giving their great performance
HMS Diamond crew plus
British Military Attaché, Captain Lambourn,
Frans Luidinga and Ed van Lierde
Commemoration dinner - Master of ceremonies, Nico Guns
just finished his opening speech
Commemoration dinner - 'Dames Danzi' in
their musical setting
Commemoration dinner
Commemoration dinner - Words of gratitude by
Chairman, Ed van Lierde
The "beseeching
hand" of the Slamat monument with the Royal
Rotterdam Lloyd flag (Oudehorne - Friesland)
Alexandria/Egypt - Flower wreath on the
grave of Slamat-3rd Officer, G. van der Woude,
laid by the Dutch War Graves Foundation on
behalf of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Museum
Athens/Greece - Flower wreath with
military honor on and aroud the grave of
Slamat-Apprentice officer, J. Pille, laid by
the Dutch War Graves Foundation on behalf of
the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Museum
COMMEMORATION PROGRAMME - APRIL 27, 2011
MUSICAL SUPPORT DURING THE COMMEMORATION
CONTRIBUTION OF THE BRITISH ROYAL NAVY TO
OUR SLAMAT/DIAMOND/WRYNECK
- COMMEMORATION.
The Dutch never
returned thanks to the British for the
rescue attempts of the Slamat crew and
allied troops on board the Slamat by the HMS
Diamond and HMS Wryneck crew members. On
April 27, 2011 we made an end to this
negligense and invited
Commander Ian Clarke and seven crew members of the
modern HMS Diamond to be part of the
official ceremony.
HMS
Diamond on "zig-zag"-course
Commander
Ian Clarke
During the Commemoration the 'Coat of Arms'
of HMS Diamond (shown down below) was
presented by PO Tanja Berry to the Royal
Rotterdam Lloyd Museum. A great reason and a
good moment to present the Slamat model (scale:
1 - 1250) which will sail from now on with
the modern HMS Diamond.
The old HMS DIAMOND
The HMS
WRYNECK
The
representatives of the Royal British Navy
with Frans Luidinga (Son of the Slamat
Captain, Tjalling Luidinga - 5th
from right) and Ed van Lierde (Founder and
Chairman of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Museum
- 4th
from right).
Captain
Lambourn, British Defence Attaché to The
Benelux (3rd
from right)
Commander
Ian Clarke Commanding Officer HMS Diamond (2nd
from right)
Lt.
Commander Allen (1st
from right)
PO Morris
PO
Berry
LS James
LET
Barnes
LET
Chadwick
LSC
Meggeson
PARTICIPANTS TO THE COMMEMORATION CEREMONY
RELATIVES OF OUR VICTIMS (58)
VIPS (18)
1.
United Kingdom: Captain Peter Neil Lambourn,
British Defence Attaché to the Benelux
2 t/m 9. United Kingdom: Commander Ian
Clarke, Commanding officer of HMS Diamond
plus 7 crew members 10. Greece: Mr. Yannis
Ioannidis "Cultural Attaché of the Greek
Embassy to The Netherlands 11. New Zealand:
His Excellency George Troup, New Zealand
Ambassador to The Netherlands 12. Norway:
Commander S.G. Torre Andersson, Norwegian
Defence Attaché to The Netherlands 13.
Portugal: Mr. Jorge Silva Lopes,
Minister-Counsellor and Chargé d' Affaires
of the Portuguese Embassy to The Netherlands
14. The Netherlands: Commodore Ir. C.H.
(Kees) Boelema Robertus "Director of
Operational Support of the Commander Royal
Netherlands Navy 15. The Netherlands: Ahmed
Aboutaleb, Mayor of Rotterdam.
FAMILY-RUYS:
- Mr. B.E. Ruys
(Son of Willem Ruys B.zn. shot down by the
Germans in World War II),
- Mrs. W.P. Barones van Pallandt-Ruys
(Daughter of Willem Ruys B.zn.),
- Ir J.D. Ruys
(Son of Willem Ruys B.zn.),
- Ir D.P. Ruys (Son of Ir J.D. Ruys),
- Drs L.A. Ruys en Mrs. C.L.M. Mertens (Son
and Daughter-in-law of Ir L.P. Ruys, who
lived in London during World War II),
- Drs C.T. Ruys en Mrs. E.M.F. Ruys-de Gaay Fortman
(Son and Daughter-in-law of Ir L.P.
Ruys).
SPONSORS (39)
FORMER ROYAL ROTTERDAM LLOYD PERSONNEL (84)
OTHER PERSONS INTRESTED (75)
DIE MAEZE SANGHERS (70)
TOTAL NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS TO THE CEREMONY:
344
PARTICIPANTS OF THE COMMEMORATION DINNER
185 dinners
have been served by the fantastic Catering
team of Rob Swagemakers at
Tilburg
PRINTED MATTER OF THE COMMEMORATION DINNER
THE MENU OF THE COMMEMORATION DINNER
De
menukaarten en naamkaartjes zijn gratis ter
beschikking gesteld door:
WORK IN
PROGRESS !
Coffee
and 'Petite four'
THE DUTCH MERCHANT NAVY DURING
WORLD WAR II
In the
years ’40/45 The Second World War kicked a
big hole in the Rotterdam Lloyd fleet. Many
people on board lost their lives in several
disasters. 21 ships (in total 31 ships =
68%) did not reach the liberation in 1945.
Three of the famous Rotterdam Lloyd
passenger ships were torpedoed or shelled
and sank at the end. Every sinking
underlined an enormous tragedy.
One
disaster was conspicuous because of the very
high number of victims (983)consisting of
Rotterdam Lloyd crew members, allied troops
and crew members of the two British
destroyers involved. After persistent
attacks this proud passenger ship was sunk
in the Mediterranean Sea by the Luftwaffe.
There were many casualties and it was only
possible to inform the home front of this
tragic disaster by coded messages, six
months after the event. Of course the Dutch
themselves were suffering and had their
hands full with their own war problems. For
these reasons this terrible disaster was in
danger of falling into oblivion. It will
never be possible to describe the full
extent of this disaster without expressing
boundless admiration and deep compassion for
the many people on board the British
destroyers HMS WRYNECK (D-21) and HMS
DIAMOND (H-22) in their uneven and
unsuccessful struggle to save those on board
the SLAMAT. The Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Museum
feels that it is its moral duty to once
again bring the SLAMAT/WRYNECK/DIAMOND story
to people’s attention so that:
We will know .......
We will learn from it .......
We will never forget!
It was
early in 1941, during “Operation Demon”,
that the SLAMAT, converted as a
troopship under control of the British
Ministry of War Transport, was deployed
in the evacuation of 60.000 allied
troops from Greece. British, New Zealand
and Australian troops were involved.
On her way to Greece the convoy was
shelled by the Luftwaffe. At that time
the SLAMAT, with its two impressive
funnels, was by far the largest ship
and, apparently, a popular target for
the German Luftwaffe. A heavy shell was
successfully contained and did not
affect Slamat’s seaworthiness. Once
lying at anchor in the Bay of Nauplia (Greece),
as planned, British, Australian and New
Zealand troops came on board. The troops
were hastily boarded because Captain
Tjalling Luidinga was intructed to leave
the port before dawn. Although not all
troops were on board, the SLAMAT weighed
anchor on April 27, at 04.00 hours and
left in convoy, sailing South. At that
time the SLAMAT had 600 allied troops
and 217 crew members on board. Three
hours later, at daybreak, the convoy was
attacked off Leonidion by nine Stukas of
the German Jagdgeschwader-77. The
unfortunate SLAMAT sustained a direct
hit between the navigation bridge and
her front funnel.
The
heroic crew made desperate attempts to
keep the fierce fire under control, but
the Stukas continued with their attacks.
To make it even worse the water pipes,
used for extinguishing fires, were
damaged and soon it was not possible to
avoid certain disaster. The fire took
such a hold that Captain Luidinga
ordered the immediate evacuation of his
ship. The remaining life-boats and
life-rafts, (those not damaged by the
explosion or destroyed by the subsequent
fire) were launched. The disembarkation
took place under constant fire from the
attacking Stukas. Many more allied
troops and crew members lost their
lives. The Stukas pitilessly continued
to attack the crammed life-boats and
rafts and took even more lives of both
troops and crew.
The Britsh destroyer HMS Diamond
trying to help the Slamat out of distress!
The other ships in the convoy and the
accompanying warships tried to escape
from this hell, leaving the British
destroyer HMS DIAMOND with her Commander,
Philip Alexis Cartwright, (Royal Navy)
to single-handedly protect the Slamat
and chase the Stukas, while saving the
drowning SLAMAT victims. Most who
survived the murderous attacks were
taken on board the destroyer Diamond and
the cruiser HMS Calcutta.
THE BRITISH
DESTROYERS: HMS WRYNECK AND HMS DIAMOND
Before departing, HMS DIAMOND gave the
SLAMAT, which was on fire from front to
back, a "coup de grace". One torpedo was
enough to sink this beautiful vessel.
One hour later the destroyer HMS WRYNECK
with her commander, Robert Henry Douglas
Lane (Royal Navy) arrived to assist HMS
DIAMOND at the scene of the disaster.
Just two hours later both destroyers
were sunk by enemy aircraft. Sailing
away at full speed the DIAMOND and the
WRYNECK disappeared, within minutes,
into the waves. The crew and survivors
on board had very little chance of
survival.
One of
the life-boats from HMS WRYNECK was
lowered, saving the lives of three Dutch
crew members. Twenty British soldiers
and one Dutch crew member managed to
cling to several rafts. Meanwhile, the
other survivors, on their boats and
rafts,were constantly harassed by young
German pilots, killing many more people.
The following night, the British
destroyer, HMS Griffin was still able to
save some survivors from the water,
including the Rotterdamsche Lloyd sailor,
Pieter Broos and the British soldier,
George Dexter who was also on board the
SLAMAT.
THE SLAMAT/DIAMOND/WRYNECK VICTIMS
The crew
of the SLAMAT consisted of a mixed group of
74 Dutch, 84 Goanese, 24 Chinese, 10
Australians and 1 Norwegian crewmember. Attached
to the Slamat crew: 13 Australian of the
Royal Australian Navy (Anti Aircraft team)
and 5
New Zealanders of the Royal New Zealand Navy (Medical
team).
Only 10
crew members of the Rotterdam Lloyd survived
the disaster, among them 6 Goanese and 4
Dutch.
Victims of allied soldiers (British,
Australian and New Zealand):
Soldiers: 500, victims: 492, survivors: 8
VICTIMS IN TOTAL : 983
SURVIVORS IN TOTAL: 66
TJALLING LUIDINGA, MASTER OF THE ss SLAMAT
DURING HER SINKING ON APRIL 27, 1941
Below we
show you the letter of Her Majesty, Queen
Wilhelmina of The Netherlands addressed to the
widow of Captain Tjalling Luidinga.
A letter of
Queen Wilhelmina addressed to Tjalling
Luidinga's spouse
Tjalling as 4th
officer in 1908
Tjalling
as 2nd officer in 1923
The Ships involved
HMS
Wryneck
ss Slamat
HMS
Diamond
Commander, Robert Henry Douglas Lane
Captain: Tjalling Luidinga
Ltd.
Commander, Philip Alexis Cartwright
1.
THE LOCATION OF THE COMMEMORATION
The Laurens
Church at Rotterdam
The Laurens
Church is situated in the city center of
Rotterdam. The atmosphere, situation and
flexibility makes this beautiful church a
very suitable location. We have made a reservation for
Wednesday April 27, 2011 but, dependent on
the succes of the fund raising, the Slamat
Commemoration will indeed take place on this
important spot.
In May
2010 it was exactly 70 years since the
inner city of Rotterdam was flattened by
German air raids. After bombing, the Laurens
Church was one of the few buildings left
standing.
One year later German Stuckas bombed the
Slamat in the Mediterranean. She and most of
her crew and allied soldiers did not survive!
This makes the Laurens Church, in many respects a great and impressive place
for this
commemoration .........!
2. THE SLAMAT MONUMENT
Why a SLAMAT monument?
The only existing Slamat monument is
situated in Birmingham-England. The last
living Slamat survivor, George Dexter
initiated this monument. In spite of the
fact that the SLAMAT drama still is the greatest
disaster in Dutch Merchant Naval history,
the Netherlands itself never had a SLAMAT
monument. With a SLAMAT monument the Dutch
could give the family members of the Slamat
victims an important place for remembrance.
Besides some exceptions the Dutch are
not aware of what happened at sea in World
War II, a SLAMAT monument itself and
extensive publicity around the Slamat
monument could change that (awareness of
history and culture). With a SLAMAT monument
located in the Netherlands the Dutch
Government and the Dutch people could also
honour the victims of HMS WRYNECK and HMS
DIAMOND. (Crewmembers of both British
destroyers paid with their lives in
protecting the SLAMAT). The well known Dutch
sculptor, Nicolas van Ronkenstein was so
impressed by the SLAMAT story that he made
this monument for free!! Picture left:
Nicolas van Ronkenstein and Ed van Lierde
talking about the monument in flooded
Reuver.
3. THE SLAMAT SONG
Die
Maeze Sanghers
The
association: ”DIE MAEZE SANGHERS” (80 men
and 3 women) from Maassluis, The Netherlands
are performing a repertoire of English, French,
German, Spanish, Swedish and Dutch sea songs
en shanties and will be accompanied by a
small ship’s orchestra.
During the SLAMAT Commemoration (formal
part) this seamen’s choir performed a
song dedicated to the SLAMAT drama and their
victims. Especially for this occasion this
song is composed by them. Also in
the formal part they sang the song:
”Roll out the Barrel”. The brave Royal
British Navy crew members (from HMS WRYNECK
and HMS DIAMOND) will be honoured in those
two songs too. During the informal part the
choir performed several 'suitable' songs from their
repertoire.
SEE AND HEAR U-TUBE-RECORDING SLAMAT SONG
FAR ABOVE
4. SLAMAT STREAMER AND FLAGS OF HMS WRYNECK
AND HMS DIAMOND
Since the
sailing ships of our founder, Mr. Willem
Ruys, ships of the Rotterdam Lloyd were
flying their so called; “streamer” on the
first or second mast. The red streamer
features the name of the ship and in fact
its form
was a long equilateral triangle.
Measurements about: hight: 100 cm., lenght:
500 cm. Above shown streamer (a replica)
will be shown during the SLAMAT
Commemoration.
The
Company "Shipmate" at Vlaardingen-The
Netherlands will also produce the flags of
HMS Diamond and HMS Wryneck. Steamer and
flags will of course play an important roll
during the Commemoration.
5. RENEWAL SLAMAT BOOK
At the
SLAMAT Commemoration a revised edition of
this book written by Frans Luidinga will be
published. The intention right now is to
edit a Dutch and an English version. As far
as Frans Luidinga concerns the Slamat
Commemoration of 2007 was a good reason to
rewrite his Slamat book. Another subjects to
be added are: Several pictures, an
eye-witness report of the Slamat disaster,
German archive records and a New Zealand
contribution from Slamat surgeon, Lennox
Douglas.
At the
Commemoration the first book (in Dutch
language) was presented by Frans Luidinga to
the organiser of the 'Great Slamat
Commemoration', Ed van Lierde.
Frans
Luidinga
6.
SPECIAL COMMEMORATION PUBLICATION OF THE
MUSEUM MAGAZINE: "LLOYD-KOMPAS"
The
magazine of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Museum
normally is meant for people who signed on
to our Museum and for members of our Committee of recommendation. Especially for
the Slamat Commemoration a
special, extra thick, publication was made. This Special
is
written in the English language and is
designed and destined for foreign and Dutch Commemoration
guests. One can find the following
subjects: Preparation of the Commemoration,
the disaster itself, the victims, the ships
involved, the participants,
several projects within the Commemoration
and of course the Commemoration Programme,
etc. etc.
We are
very glad to inform you that the
Rabobank-Rotterdam will support us by
financing
the printing costs of this Commemoration-Special.
THIS COMMEMORATION SPECIAL IS STILL
AVAILABLE FOR 3 EURO (excl.
forwarding-charges).
7.
MINIATURE MODEL OF THE ss SLAMAT
Especially
for the Commemoration small models will be
made (scale:1-1250 - lenght: 13 cm) of the
ss Slamat. Interested people can order those
scale models by enrolment. which means that
there is no financial risk for the Royal
Rotterdam Lloyd Museum. The pricing will be
kept low and until the day after the Slamat
Commemoration the Slamat model will be sold
exclusively by The Royal Rotterdam Lloyd
Museum.
8.
EXPOSITIONS DURING THE COMMEMORATION
Specific expositions
in the Laurens church were
organised by:
1.
Our own organisation: the "Royal
Rotterdam Lloyd Museum Foundation"
2.
The British Royal Navy
3.
Merchant Navy Personel 1940-1945
Foundation
4.
Damen Schelde Naval
Schipbuilding BV
5.
Frans Romeijnsen with
Oil-paintings of Lloyd ships, especially
the Slamat
9. THE
'SECRET' PROJECT
At December 2010
the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Museum Foundation
commissioned a foreign artist to paint an
oil-painting of the German air attack on the
ss Slamat and HMS Diamond. Because real
pictures of the disaster are not available
our Museum thought it desirable to visualize
the attack artisticly. One week before the
commemoration the Oil-painting arrived from
far abroad. See above to witness the
surprising result of this secret mission.
10.
THE OIL-PAINTING SUPPORT-PROJECT
Painter, Frans Romeijnsen
sold an oil-painting from his 'Paiting-support-project'
during the Slamat Commemoration. The buyer
is a member of the Rotterdam Lloyd founders
family-RUYS, he bought an oil-painting of
the flagship 'Willem Ruys'
11.
THE SLAMAT DOCUMENTARY
Status: Not definitive
As you
most probably know our team is already quite
a while busy with fundraising for the Slamat
Documentary. In December 2009 the Royal
Rotterdam Lloyd Museum and Frans Luidinga
made, together with a professional film
crew, a Video-interview of the last living
survivor of the Slamat/Wryneck, the former
British soldier George Dexter. This
interview took place in Birmingham-UK. At
this moment we raised some funds for the
Slamat Documentary but not enough to get the
Slamat Documentary ready before the
Commemoration day. This means that we have
to raise more funds before and after the
Commemoration.
THE END
LAST
SLAMAT
COMMEMORATION
Saturday
September 22
2007
HISTORY IN A NUTSHELL
On April 27th, 1941, the Dutch passenger ship Slamat
sank after severe German air raids. At that time she
was sailing in Greek waters as part of “Operation
Demon”. Almost 600 crew members and allied troops (British,
Australian and New Zealand) lost their lives. Only
10 Rotterdam Lloyd crew members (6 Goanese and 4
Dutch) survived the continuous German attacks. The
sinking of this beautiful, two funnelled passenger
ship Slamat was the most dramatic disaster in
Merchant Naval war history.
For a more detailed account of Slamat’s last days,
view the complete text of Frans Luidinga’s lecture!
please click for enlargement
please click for enlargement
COMMEMORATION PREPARATION AND INVITED PERSONS
On September 22, 2007 a commemoration meeting was
organized by the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Museum at
Oudehorne. Frans Luidinga, maritime writer and son
of Slamat Captain, Tjalling Luidinga, played an
important roll in the organization. On the
commemoration day itself he gave an extensive
lecture, detailing the exact course of events during
this catastrophe.
Many invitations were sent to family members at all
known addresses. Invitations were also extended to
former Royal Rotterdam Lloyd crew members and to
special guests: The New Zealand Ambassador to the
Netherlands Her Excellency, Ms Rachel Fry and her
husband; the 1st Secretary of the British Embassy Mr
Bob Fairweather; former Royal Rotterdam Lloyd
Managing Director Mr B.E. Ruys; the representative
of the KRL/WRZ association; former Royal Rotterdam
Lloyd Captain Mr L.C.J.
Welter and the Harbourmaster of Rotterdam Mr J. Lems, both with respective spouses.
please click for enlargement
NAMES OF THOSE ON BOARD THE SLAMAT WHO LOST
THEIR LIVES ON APRIL 27,
please click
LIST OF DUTCH VICTIMS
please click
LIST-A OF FOREIGN VICTIMS
please click
LIST-B OF FOREIGN VICTIMS
please click
ALLIED TROOPS ON BOARD THE SLAMAT
SOME PICTURES
OF SLAMAT VICTIMS
please click
NAMES OF DUTCH CREW MEMBERS SURVIVING THE DISASTER
please click
ARTICLE IN THE PAPER: “ROTTERDAMS
DAGBLAD”
SEPTEMBER 20, 2007
please click for enlargement
please click for enlargement
If you wish to read the speeches or the lecture,
please make your choice below by clicking on the
pen.
please
click
Opening speech by Ed van Lierde
please click
Lecture
by Frans Luidinga
please click
Ceremony speech
by Ed van Lierde
please click
Speech by the New Zealand Ambassador
(and letter of Mary Saxton)
please click
Speech by Captain Leendert Welter
IMPORTANT MESSAGES FROM ABROAD
Hundreds of allied troops, on board the Slamat,
lost their lives as a direct result of the lasting
German air attacks, leaving many wives, partners,
sons and daughters in a state of complete shock and
deep sadness. Some of the foreign family members,
known to Frans Luidinga sent messages to the
participants of the Slamat commemoration:
please click
Message from Catherine Robbins, eldest
daughter of the New Zealand surgeon, Lennox Douglas
(Medical team attached to the Slamat).
please click
Message from Mary
Saxton,youngest daughter of the New Zealand surgeon,
Lennox Douglas (Medical team attached to the Slamat).
THE COMMEMORATION ON SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 22, 2007
It is so difficult to put into words how beautiful
this commemoration and, especially the ceremony,
was. From the pictures below we can only show you
what it looked like, but the atmosphere at “Rumah
Rimbu”, during these beautiful hours, and the total
involvement of all the 83 persons present was
really indescribable. You had to be there to feel it!
Very striking was the fact that the week before the
commemoration the weather conditions were bad and
tuned even worse after the commemoration. The commemoration day itself was blessed with beautiful
weather……… it would seem that the Angels were
watching over us!
Family members of the Slamat victims, special guests,
former crew members of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd and
interested parties gathered around the swimming pool
and the ceremony table. Behind the table the New
Zealand, Dutch, British and Australian flags flew at
half-mast. Four family members attended. Drawn
together by their sadness and their involvement,
everyone felt energised. The red roses floating in
the water of the swimming pool did the rest. Let us
hope that this commemoration will give all family
members the peace and the closure they so need and
desire.
We hope you find the pictures below absorbing
.......
please click
PICTURES ARRIVAL GUESTS
please click
PICTURES OF THE SLAMAT EXPOSITION
please click
PICTURES OF THE LECTURE BY FRANS
LUIDINGA
please click
PICTURES OF THE CEREMONY
please click
PICTURES OF GUESTS VISITING THE
MUSEUM
please click
PICTURES OF THE INFORMAL PART OF THE
COMMEMORATION
GIFTS TO THE RRL-MUSEUM
As recognition for organizing the Slamat
commemoration the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd Museum was
proud and happy to receive irreplaceable items.
From Ms A. ten Have, daughter of C. ten Have, 2nd
Engineer
of the Slamat we received his WAR
REMEMBRANCE CROSS with the inscription: “WAR
SERVICE-MERCHANT NAVY: 1940-1945” and the
inscription: “MEDITERRANEAN: 1940-1945”, his
diplomas, some picture and letters to his wife.
please click for enlargement
From Ms J.G. de Reus, daughter of J. de Reus, 4th Engineer of the Slamat; we received his
WAR
REMEMBRANCE CROSS with the inscription:
“WAR SERVICE-MERCHANT NAVY: 1940-1945”and the inscription: “MEDITERRANEAN: 1940-1945”.
please click
From Mr M.A.J. Trijsburg, son of J.M. Trijsburg,
assistant Restaurateur of the Slamat and one of the
four Dutch survivors of the disaster, a beautiful
old picture of the Slamat, in its original frame,
sailing in the waters of Venice.
please click
Again we would like to express our heartfelt thanks
for the
incredible gifts presented by the above
named family
members of the Slamat victims. Your
gifts already have a
special place in the Royal
Rotterdam Lloyd Museum!
We also like to thank our British friends
John and
Judy Manners for correcting our English
translations!
MINI COMMEMORATION FOR THE DAUGHTER OF F.J. DE REUS,
4th ENGINEER OF THE SLAMAT, ON OCTOBER 14th,2007.
The two page article in the “Rotterdam Daily” had a
tremendous impact! Some family members of the Slamat victims were, unfortunately, not on our address list
so we were not able to invite them. Thanks to the
article in the “Rotterdam Daily” they were able to
make enquiries, at the very last moment, about the
commemoration on September 22nd. Unfortunately it
was already too late for other family members to
attend and these same family members were greatly
saddened to have missed this commemoration.
We spontaneously decided to organize a Mini
Commemoration for Joke de Reus, her husband
and two special friends. Immediately
Frans Luidinga joined the initiative of the Royal
Rotterdam Lloyd Museum and gave a lecture about the
Slamat that day.
Below you will find some pictures of this Mini
Commemoration. Please click the pictures for
enlargement.
please click
JOKE DE REUS SUDDENLY DIED
Joke and her husband, Jan together at the
Mini-commemoration
To our dismay and unbelief we received the sad
tiding of the sudden death of Joke de Reus. 1½
months
after the Mini-commemoration, we specially organized
for her, she died on Wednesday November 28th
2007 due to a cardiac arrest.
We hope and trust
that Jan, the children and close friends will get
the power to cope with the terrible loss of this
remarkable woman.
Ed van Lierde and Josje van
Lierde-Olivier
please
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ARTICLE IN DE NEDLLOYD PENSION MAGAZINE
September/Oktober 2007
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A
great encounter with two Slamat-"daughters"
December 2008/January 2009
By founder
and chairman, Ed van Lierde
New Zealand - South Island / Hampden-Oamaru
On December 18th I, together with my
wife, Josje travelled from Christchurch to the "vibrating"
city of Hampden. This quiet hamlet is
situated on the East coast of New Zealand's South
Island (one hour's drive from Dunedin). Besides our
great involvement we delivered pictures and video
material and an envelope from Frans Luidinga (Son of
the Slamat captain). At that great place in the most
beautiful country in the world we were welcomed by Mary Saxton
and her husband Bill. The main reason for this emotional overseas encounter was Mary's father, the New
Zealand surgeon, Captain Dr. Lennox Douglas. We all know Mary from the Slamat commemoration on
September 22, 2007 at the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd
Museum. On that occasion the New Zealand ambassador
to the Netherlands, Ms. Rachel Fry read out a letter
written by Mary and addressed to the family members
of the Slamat victims.
Lennox Douglas
Captain Dr. Lennox
Douglas was Chief of the New Zealand medical team (9
persons)attached to our ss Slamat. In fact those
team members were attached to the crew and thus our
old Rotterdam Lloyd colleagues! On April 27, 1941
Dr. Lennox was one of the 558 persons aboard the
Slamat who did not survive the continuous air
attacks of the Germans. Only one member of the
Medical team survived this greatest disaster in
Dutch merchant navy history!
Youngest
daughter, Mary Saxton-Douglas
In Hampden Josje
and I were extended a very warm welcome with a
glass of fantastic New Zealand wine. In spite of
the fact we four met each other for the first time
in our lives, our mutual commitment to the Slamat
disaster caused a hit from the start and of course
this mutual denominator inevitably became the
dominant subject of our conversation. The Royal Rotterdam
Lloyd Museum website was consulted and all the
Slamat pictures were downloaded from my external
hard disk to Mary's computer. The conversation caused laughter and moved
us to tears!
A collective glance at the museum website
On
the last day of our call we visited the "Garden of Memories"
in nearby Oamaru. In this beautiful memory garden
with lots of red roses the North Otago servicemen
who lost their lives in WW II are commemorated. They
not only gave their lives for their country but also
for our sake. I consider it very remarkable that
soldiers from such a beautiful and peaceful country,
so far from home, came to fight for our freedom!
Please click for enlargement
Please click for enlargement
New Zealand - South Island / Ashburton
On January 13,
Mary organized an encounter with her sister, the
eldest daughter of Lennox Douglas, Catherine Robins
and her husband, Mark. They live in Ashburton (between
Christchurch and Timaru).
