Stamboom Den Hertog » Wilhelmus Hendrikus ( Wilhelmus Hendrikus) van Gaal (1913-1972)

Persoonlijke gegevens Wilhelmus Hendrikus ( Wilhelmus Hendrikus) van Gaal 

• Roepnaam * Wilhelmus Hendrikus.
• Hij is geboren op 24 november 1913 in Someren.
• Hij is overleden op 15 augustus 1972 in Yarram, Australia, hij was toen 58 jaar oud.

Gezin van Wilhelmus Hendrikus ( Wilhelmus Hendrikus) van Gaal

Hij is getrouwd met Aldegonda-Hendrica Zegveld.

Zij zijn getrouwd op 2 juni 1936, hij was toen 22 jaar oud.

Kind(eren):

1. (Niet openbaar)
2. Johannes Jacobus (Hans) van Gaal  1937-2013
3. Christina Josephina van Gaal  1938-2006
4. Wilhelmus Franciscus van Gaal  1942-2000 
5. (Niet openbaar)
6. (Niet openbaar)

Notities over Wilhelmus Hendrikus ( Wilhelmus Hendrikus) van Gaal

zoon van Johannes van Gaal (Someren 9 apr 1872 - 3 mei 1927 Someren) en Francisca Bernarts (Someren 23 jun 1882 - 31 mrt 1951 Someren)

deren uit dit huwelijk naast Wilhelmus Hendrikus van Gaal

(Someren 4 feb 1916 - 18 nov 1918 Someren)

sp;- 20 jul 1924 Someren)

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n: justify;">Chapter 5         Worker and Opportunist

bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">When he was 22, Wilhelmus Hendrikus van Gaal (Wim) fell in love with 20 year-old Aldegonda Elisabeth Zegveld (Elly) in Someren in 1935.  But then he fell in love many times - and so did she!

tify;">Elly was the oldest of eight children and like her sisters, completed only primary school. As the eldest girl, she was needed at home to help her mother (Adriana Zegveld-van Zon). Her father, (Peter Zegveld) an engineer, had died from head injuries in a worksite accident, when building rubble fell on him.

oNormal">Much to Elly’s resentment, her five brothers had a secondary education, while each girl stayed at home after primary school. Her mother had a very strong work ethic.  She had been widowed early (aged 36) and left with eight children aged 5 to 23 years, so she needed help in the house.

es New Roman';">Oma, and her daughter Elly, were workaholics.  Although well respected by all family members, no daughter-in-law could live up to the high work demands set by these two women, across two generations.

ined her mother in the barber and tobacconist shop in Someren, and completed her apprenticeship in hairdressing.  Back then she heated tongs on a small methylated burner to make ringlets. Permanent waves (perms) were done using a machine that heated the rollers, and when applied to hair softened with solution, burnt the hair into curls.  20 years later she was required to attend a hairdressing college in Melbourne to obtain Australian accreditation.  She spent much of this training time, demonstrating her advanced skills.

4pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">It was her brothers who introduced her to Wim, but they did not expect a relationship to develop. Wim, although president of the Young Farmers Association, was a boer.  To their mother, he was uneducated and rough, and well below her social standing. 

in-right: 5.85pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">In comparison, all the Zegveld boys were educated and sophisticated, and they thought that Elly could do better than marry a local farmer with only a primary school education. Oom Frank always said that the van Gaals were highly intelligent and street smart, but lacked the finesse of the Zegvelds. The van Gaals were also against the relationship.  They felt Wim was rising above himself, and he should find a wife more suited to his status.  This tall poppy syndrome surfaced again when news was received of perceived success in Australia (The building and opening of his Motel in Yarram).

margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"> But everyone underestimated him.  Wim was an opportunist, quick witted and a fast learner.  When Elly was 21 they married.  It was 15^th June, 1936 and she wore a black dress with white accessories. Her father had died in a construction accident, fifteen months earlier, so she was no longer in mourning, and was over the age of consent.  The depression was over and although there were rumblings of war, fabric was not scarce.  She made her own dress and Mam always said she wore black because it was fashionable.

10pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Johannes (Hans) was born eleven months later.  Elly continued to live and work with her mother, leaving much of Hans’ upbringing with her mother and younger sister.  During that time Wim also worked in the salon as a barber but he felt this was not a manly profession.  He studied at night school to obtain the qualifications he needed, and then went to the police academy. 

ew Roman';">On graduation into the police force, the family moved to Tilberg where Maynard Koolstra was in charge of the station. Odelia (Tilly) Koolstra, his wife and Elly became lifelong friends.

neighbor, the Netherlands, however on May 10, 1940 they did, and the country surrendered just four days later.  That did not stop the Germans from bombing Rotterdam the next day to bring minor rebellious factions into line and to demonstrate their strength. Within a few months though, it appeared to be business as usual, with the Nazis now the occupying force in the Netherlands.

p class="MsoNormal">During this time Elly had two more sons (Jo and Wim) just thirteen months apart - and she continued to work.  Giving birth upstairs at home, she would then come down to the salon to continue her hairdressing, often enlisting the help of customers to hold and feed the baby while she dressed their hair. Mam said she never had time to breast feed any of her children.  She was just too busy!

; text-align: justify;">            Oom Frank Zegveld, only 16 years of age, quit his studies to be a schoolteacher and joined his brother-in-law in the local police force.  He moved in with Wim and Elly.

o exercised his entrepreneurial skills. Travelling at night across the border, he would purchase contraband goods and distribute them to the locals, profiting handsomely.

l">He rode his police Harley Davidson motorbike into Belgium every Wednesday night, filling the sidecar with butter, tobacco, shoes, etc. Profits raised from his sales, would be sewn into Elly’s petticoat and taken to Someren where her mother was living. The money was buried in the garden. This was the money that helped to pay passage for the family’s move to Australia in 1951.

0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Frank working in police administration had warned Wim that the Germans knew of his nocturnal activities and were going to arrest him the following Wednesday night. Wim cancelled his surreptitious activity that week, thus escaping capture.

amily: 'Times New Roman';">Wim kept his illegal goods in a barn on the outskirts of town and Oom Frank overheard that the Germans knew about these goods and were about to raid his stash.  He again warned Wim that the Germans were onto him so Wim went to move the contraband goods to another site. 

>On arrival at the barn, he found a German soldier had already discovered his cache and was about to arrest him.  Using his police baton, Wim hit the soldier but was immediately arrested by other Germans at the scene.  He was sent to a prison camp for black marketeering.

pt; text-align: justify;">The Germans suspected that Frank had passed information onto his brother-in-law, so Frank, fearing arrest also, absconded and joined the underground movement.  He spent the last two years of the war living in the forest with the Dutch Resistance eventually leading his band of soldiers until the liberation.

ered Camp Haaren officially on 24 February 1943 (at 14:30 hrs). He stayed there for 16 months leaving the camp on 9 May 1944 (at 10:00 hrs), according to Camp files.  It may have been that he was initially taken to Camp Amersfoort and transferred to Camp Haaren as I was told by Tante Mia, however there is no evidence of this. 

gin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">Camp Vught was the only official concentration camp in the Netherlands, and had five sub-camps.  Camp Haaren was one of these and reserved for hostages.  If an inmate escaped from any Nazi camp, family members were held hostage until the escapee was recaptured. According to Mam, Wim worked in the kitchen during the day, and at night, speaking five languages, was used to translate documents into German.

ustify;">While Wim was interned in Camp Haaren, Frits Philips, a well-known local identity was detained.  Frits Philips had stayed in the Netherlands to run the family business. The Philips Lighting Factory was the main industry in Eindhoven employing 19 000 workers across the Netherlands and 49 000 worldwide. Frits, later a national and Jewish hero, worked well supporting the Jews while maintaining a working relationship with the Nazis. He was asked to open a factory workshop inside the concentration camp. When his workers went on strike in May 1943, he was interred for five months in Haaren.

Times New Roman';">We were told that Wim protected Frits in the camp and ensured he received extra rations.  Much to Elly’s surprise a large black car arrived at her stoep one day and gave her a Jaeger Blau Saks porcelain dinner setting for eight. This was a thank you from the Philips family and this china was carefully packed in the crate for transport to Australia.  The only remaining piece of the original set, a large coffee pot, is now with Annalis Broad, her granddaughter.  When Frits was finally released from the camp he went into hiding until after the liberation

elm van Gaal was transferred to s’Hertogenbosch and treated for appendicitis on June 22^nd 1943.

ext-align: justify;">In May 1944, he was released from Camp Haaren and (according to Mam) he was sent to Austria where he was forced to work in the garden of a Nazi officer.  It was the Soviet army who liberated the area where he was held  (March/April 1945) and to avoid the Russians, Wim fled.

soNormal">After the liberation of the Netherlands, (May 1945) Wim sent Mam a postcard from France. When the Red Cross finally located Wim, he was quarantined in Paris. He was brought back to the Netherlands and detained under suspicion of collaboration. This time I believe he was held at Amersfoort. 

by the Germans had two choices – you did what was asked (collaboration) or you were killed. Without evidence of wrongdoing there was a period of rechterstalling (re-establishment of rights) before he was reinstated into the police force.  There remained however, a cloud of suspicion and his future within the police force was limited.

in-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">In 1949, at the Netherlands court in s’Hertogenbosch, Wim was a witness in the trial of SS Fredrich Johann Boehm (Böhm).  Boehm, the Camp Commandant was brought to trial for mistreating prisoners at Camp Haaren, during Wim’s incarceration.  He was convicted and sentenced to 5 years imprisonment but was handed over to German authorities in 1950. 

t; font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The Netherlands was a war-torn country. Oom Frank had already migrated to Australia and urged Wim to join him, with glowing reports of life and opportunities there. There was no real future for Wim in the police force, and this, combined with the recent death of his mother, all contributed to the decision for a new start in another country. 

class="MsoNormal">To top matters off, after WW2 the Australian government under Prime Minister, Ben Chifley and Immigration Minister, Arthur Calwell (both Catholics) had started a Populate or Perish campaign. Australia was in urgent need of a larger population for the purposes of defence and development. Large-scale immigration, tied into the White Australia Policy seemed to be the best solution. The Australian government looked only to Britain and northwestern European countries for migrants, in the belief that people from these countries would more easily fit in with the Australian way of life.

align: justify;">Australia chose Dutch migrants because of their workplace skills and behaviours and their large families. Dutch migration was overwhelmingly family-oriented. Dutch Calvinists and Catholics - the two religions that rejected birth control, both encouraged emigration. Their clergy insured migration’s success by charging Dutch wives with the custodianship of the family’s spiritual welfare and with creating a convivial home in Australia.

ign: justify;">The Netherlands was greatly motivated by overpopulation concerns. With a depleted economy, massive unemployment and serious housing shortages the Dutch Government and Monarchy constantly exerted pressure on citizens to register for emigration at one of the many offices set up around the country specifically to promote their exodus.   Prospective emigrants were lured to information evenings at these centres, where Australian propaganda was vigorously promoted.

ttom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">We were going with the flow!

lign: justify;">Everything needed in the new country was packed in a giant crate to be sent as cargo to Australia.  Anything that was not necessary was left with Oma Zegveld.  Any money left from his surreptitious activities was used to purchase passage for the trip.

1pt; text-align: justify;">On May 9th 1951 Wim and Elly and the extended brood of seven children, left the Netherlands on the SS Sibajak for Sydney Australia and the opportunities the new world offered.

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