Doorn, Willem Theodoor Cornelis “Pim van.

Doorn, Willem Theodoor Cornelis “Pim” van, born 31-05-1911 in Den Haag, Netherland, the son of Elisa Cornelis Unico van Doorn, member of the noble Van Doorn family, and Elisabeth, born Wendelaar. His father was a lawyer and attorney. His parents divorced in 1916. Pim attended elementary school in The Hague and Gouda, and then the gymnasium in The Hague and Kampen. In 1931, he started studying law in Leiden. He was a competitive rower and chairman of the Pro Patria. The Royal Leiden Student Association for Voluntary Practice in Arms “Pro Patria”.  After his undergraduate degree, he stopped his studies to dedicate himself further to the Oxford Movement. The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism.

Van Doorn had to serve and went to the Reserve Officers Cavalry School in Amersfoort.  He became a reserve officer in the 3rd Regiment of Hussars in The Hague. During the May days of 1940, he was with a Bicycle Squadron, among others in Schiebroek.

As a prominent member of the Order Service (OD), it was necessary for the 29-year-old from Doorn to leave for England. He had a sports license and a military license and decided to buy a small plane to fly from Tjeukemeer to England. He was arrested but managed to escape and went into hiding.

On the nite of April 18-19, 1941, Willem decided to make a second attempt, together with the Polish vice-consul Tolo Saryusz Makowski. During World War II, several Dutch people, most famously the ‘Soldier of Orange,’ made the crossing to England. One of the routes was to set sail from the beach, with Katwijk being a popular departure point. Memorial England Sailors Katwijk aan Zee,

One of the attempts from Katwijk was made by the Pole Witold Artur Wladyslaw Saryusz Makowski, known to friends as Tolo. This Polish diplomat is in the Netherlands at the beginning of the war.

A foldable canoe was arranged by Oscar Willem de Brey and Dirk van Swaay, age 22 which was hidden in the tunnel near the Zeehospitium at Katwijk aan Zee. Oscar de Brey, unmarried. Aerospace Engineering student at Delft University of Technology. Oscar was known as an athletic and musical young man. Captured, transported to Mauthausen with an arrival date of 09-05-1944. Two days later, he was executed by firing squad. After a failed escape to England, Dirk van Swaay was missed but on 24-05-1942, Van Swaay’s body was found on the beach of Noordwijk.

After they had departed from Katwijk in that canoe, a storm broke out; the Katwijk fishing boat KW 32, the Sakina, rescued them. Since there were two Germans on board, Captain Willem Ouwehand had to take their money and passport, but First Mate Nico van Beelen whispered to them that they would not dock at the quay in the port of IJmuiden but against another ship, near the station. There he would distract the Germans so they could escape. Van Doorn and Makowski walked calmly to the station and were free again. The captain and the first mate were arrested and interrogated but then released again.

Death and burial ground of Doorn, Willem Theodoor Cornelis “Pim” van.

 Van Doorn then carried out espionage work for the Ordedienst  until he was sent to Vichy in November 1941 on behalf of the OD. The Ordedienst (OD) was an important illegal organization in the Netherlands during World War II. Until 1942, with the formalization of the illegal National Organization for Assistance to Escaped Jews (LO), it was most likely the largest secret anti-German organization in the Netherlands, although exact figures on this are lacking.

On the way, the tall, blonde Dutchman attracted attention and Van Doorn was arrested in Reims. When it turned out that he was carrying weapons and incriminating documents, he was taken to a prison in Paris and from there to the Dutch Oranjehotel,   Kamp Amersfoort,  and Kamp Vught. In March 1943, he was transferred to Camp Haaren. During the Willem Röell trial, the second major OD trial. Röell survived the war and passed away, age 84, in Den Haag, on 15-11-1958, Pim van Doorn was sentenced to death. On 29-07-1943, he was executed by firing squad along with 15 other OD members on the Leusderheide. Pim was buried with military honors at the Rusthof cemetery in Leusden.

On 29-07-1943, Pim is executed by firing squad on the Leusderheide along with Anton Willem Marie (Ton) Abbenbroek, Adrianus Aloijsius Felix “Lex” Althoff, Christiaan Frederik van den Berg, Frithjof Dudok van Heel, Rudolf Hartogs, Willem Hendrik Hertly, Johan Frederik Henry de Jonge Melly, Eduard Alexander “Eddy Latuperisa”, Willem Mulder, Anthonius Cornelis Theodorus van Rijn, Jonkheer Joan Schimmelpenninck, Joannes Aloysius van Straelen, Sieg Vaz Dias, Gerard Vinkesteijn, Abraham Wijnberg. All (except Dudok) are buried in the Rusthof cemetery in Leusden. Pim’s name is on the plaque at the Maerlant-Lyceum (formerly Tweede Stedelijk Gymnasium).

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