Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema

Siebren Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema,DFC, Knight in the Military Order of William (April 3, 1917 – September 26 2007), was the writer of the 1970 book "Soldaat van Oranje" (Dutch: "Soldier of Orange") in which he describes his experiences in World War II, and which was made into a 1977 film directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Rutger Hauer.

Early life

Hazelhoff was born in Surabaya, on Java in the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia), the son of Siebren Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, senior, and Cornelia Vreede. His family moved to The Hague in the 1930s, and then Wassenaar. He travelled to the US in 1938, writing a book of his experiences in 1939, "Rendezvous in San Francisco".

He was a law student at Leiden University when the Second World War broke out. He joined the Dutch army reserve, and became involved in the underground after Germany occupied the Netherlands. He managed to escape to the United Kingdom by boat in 1941.

ecret Agent

In London, Hazelhoff Roelfzema, with the help of general François van 't Sant, director of the Dutch CID (Central Intelligence Service) and Col. Euan Rabagliatti (Secret Intelligence Service) set up a secret service group known as the Mews, after Chester Square Mews where they lived in London. The goal was to establish a contact with the Resistance in the Netherlands. Several agents were parachuted, others were put ashore at the beaches of Noordwijk and Scheveningen. Roelfzema did not receive much cooperation of the Dutch government, and Van 't Sant was forced to transfer control over the CID to Colonel Mattheus de Bruyne of the Dutch Marine Corps.

De Bruyne did not do a good job. He failed to recognize the fact that his agents were arrested and continued to broadcast messages - for the Germans. The usual procedure for transmitting messages was to include small errors. If an agent was forced to work for the Germans, he would leave out the errors. The result should be that contact was aborted immediately. De Bruyne, however, concluded that the agents simply forgot to use the security-checks and even sent messages to remind them. Other intelligence blunders were the maps he had attached to the wall in his London office, showing the landing sites of Noordwijk, Scheveningen and Walcheren in full detail.

Hazelhoff Roelfzema and De Bruyne did not get on. De Bruyne threatened to court-martial for ignoring an order - at the same time Hazelhoff Roelfzema was proposed for the Willemsorde (the highest military decoration in the Netherlands). He was awarded the Willemsorde (Knight, 4th class) in 1942: the court-martial was cancelled after a meeting with Dutch Navy minister Furstner.

The 1979 history of the Special Operations Executive network in the Netherlands by M.R.D. Foot has confirmed the degree of German penetration of SOE's Dutch networks, something SOE denied during the War. The British intelligence effort in the Netherlands was penetrated throughout the war, from the capture of two SIS agents, Captain Sigismund Payne Best and Major Richard Stevens in the Venlo Incident in November 1939, to the capture of some 50 British and Dutch agents by the Abwehr and the Sicherheitsdienst in Operation North Pole.

Royal Air Force

Hazelhoff Roelfzema became frustrated by the treatment and joined the Royal Air Force in 1944. He attended flying school in Canada, where he became the best pilot cadet of his group.

He returned to England in 1944, and joined No. 139 Squadron RAF, part of the elite Pathfinder Force, tasked with illuminating targets for the nightbombers of RAF's Bomber Command. He made 72 sorties in Mosquito bombers, of which 25 went to Berlin, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross

Adjudant to the Queen

In April 1945, Hazelhoff Roelfzema was appointed adjudant (assistant) to Queen Wilhelmina. He accompanied her back to the Netherlands in May 1945, and piloted the airplane in which Princess Juliana, Prince Bernhard and their daughter Princess Beatrix flew back to the Netherlands. Hazelhoff Roelfzema helped Beatrix walk her first steps on liberated Dutch soil.

After the war

Hazelhoff Roelfzema led a fairly restless life after the war, including a stint in Hollywood as an actor and then a writer. In 1950, he was involved in a failed attempt to support the South Moluccas Republic, flying there with weapons. [http://www.klinkers.info/default.asp?contentID=98] He also worked as writer for NBC's "Today Show" and "Tonight Show", and then for Radio Free Europe in Munich from 1955. He later wrote for Dutch newspapers.

He was involved in the Racing Team Holland to attract sponsors using his fame. His book, published in 1970, relates his adventures during the war and the political turmoil of the Dutch government in exile. It attracted a lot of attention, even more so when it was made into a film by Paul Verhoeven in 1977, starring Rutger Hauer as Hazelhoff Roelfzema. The film brought Verhoeven, Hauer and Hazelhoff Roelfzema to wider public attention outside the Netherlands, and was nominated for a Golden Globe.

In 1980, Hazelhoff Roelfzema played a ceremonial role as one of two kings of arms at the inauguration of Queen Beatrix. He was close to Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, whom he entertained frequently at his home in Maui.

He moved to Hawai'i in early 1973, and joined energy company Barnwell Industries Inc. as a director in 1977. He wrote a second autobiography, "In Pursuit of Life", in 2000. He died at his home in Honoka'a, on the Big Island, at the age of 90. He was survived by his wife, Karin Steensma, and their son and daughter.

External links

* [http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Sep/28/bz/hawaii709280337.html Obituary] , "Honolulu Advertiser", 28 September 2007
* [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article2562741.ece Obituary] , "The Times", 1 October 2007
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/08/world/europe/08roelfzema.html?scp=1&sq=roelfzema&st=cse Obituary] , "New York Times." Ocotber 8, 2007.
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2211039,00.html Obituary] , "The Guardian", 15 November 2007