Christiaan Antonius Lindemans “King Kong”, born 24-10-1912 in Rotterdam,,Netherlands 
the son of Joseph Hendrik Lindemans, a garage owner, and Christina Antonia, born van Uden. Only married in church on 23-8-1941 with Gilberte Yvonne Letuppe. 2 daughters were born.
After failing his secondary school education, Chris Lindemans obtained his diploma as a car mechanic at the trade school in 1929. He grew up in a wealthy environment and could afford a car and take gliding lessons. Sporty by nature, he practiced boxing, among other things. Lindemans had a tendency to want to impress and take risks. Because of his large stature and bravura behaviour, people called him ‘King Kong’ in his youth, after the giant gorilla from the American film of the same name, which was a sensation at the time. In 1934, he had such a serious motorcycle accident that he was left with a permanent disability – a dragging left leg and a partially paralysed left arm.
In 1939, Lindemans came into contact with the British secret service in his hometown of Rotterdam. However, he did not become a significant agent. Until the capitulation of the Netherlands, he was mainly involved in collecting information about shipping movements in the port of Rotterdam. After being unemployed for a few months, he started working as a driver for the German Luftwaffe 
under command of Hermann William Göring, 
in July 1940. As such, he was employed in petrol transports on the Paris – Lille route. In this last city he met his future wife Gilberte (‘Gilou’).
It was mainly through her that Lindemans, after he had given up his job with the Luftwaffe in March 1941, became increasingly involved in illegal activities, such as transporting people to the unoccupied part of France. On suspicion of supporting the resistance, he was arrested by the Germans in December 1941 and held prisoner for a short time.
Released again, Lindemans returned to Rotterdam in the summer of 1942, where his brother Henk was fully involved in resistance work. In the winter of that year he entered the service of a Dutch contractor who worked for the German state construction company Organisation Todt. 
Lindemans was given the task of recruiting workers and accompanying them to Cherbourg. These circumstances enabled him to play a role in setting up and maintaining escape routes to Spain. In this work he came into contact with Victor Johannes Maria Swane, 
one of the leaders of a ‘pilots’ aid’ group, and with Klaas de Graaf 
of the resistance group CS-6. At the end of 1943 he helped De Graaf escape to Great Britain via Spain, where he was taken on by Prince Bernhard‘s staff. Lindemans also met Johan Hendrik Weidner, 
leader of an illegal network in France, but he rejected further advances because he considered Lindemans’ careless and brazen methods irresponsible. Weidner survived the war and died in Monterey Park, Californië, 21-05-1994, age 81. Victor Johannes Maria Swane’s group was betrayed ans the prisoners ended up in the prison of Fresnes near Paris. On 15 August, the last convoy of prisoners from Paris was taken to Germany from the quai des bestiaux of the Gare de Pantin. Vic Swane and many of those arrested with him were part of that transport. Swane arrived at KL Buchenwald 
on 20 August and was given prisoner number 77686. He died there on 8 or 12 October 1944, age 24..
When his brother Henk Lindemans and shortly afterwards his wife Gilberte were arrested by the occupying forces in the spring of 1944, Lindemans started working with the Abwehr, 
the counterintelligence service of the German army, which enabled him to secure their freedom. As a V-Mann (confidant) he betrayed a large number of resistance fighters. In September 1944, in liberated Brussels, he met De Graaf again, whose confidence he enjoyed, and who introduced him to a British intelligence group and to Prince Bernhard’s headquarters. Lindemans succeeded in gathering information about the upcoming major military operation ‘Market Garden’, 
the Allied plan to capture the bridges over the Maas (Grave), the Waal (Nijmegen) and the Rhine (Arnhem) with a combined attack of airborne and ground troops. After having passed through the lines during the night of 14 to 15 September, he reported to the Dutch headquarters of the Abwehr in Driebergen and reported his findings there. However, the German military authorities did not use his information, so that ‘Lindemans’ betrayal’ was of no significance for the course of the battle.
On 16 September, Lindemans was in my hometown Eindhoven, 
where, after the liberation of the city, he rejoined the aforementioned British intelligence group. In any case, he visited Prince Bernhard’s headquarters several times. 
Death and burial ground of Christiaan Antonius Lindemans, “King Kong”.
Meanwhile, distrust grew towards ‘King Kong’, who was playing the hero and was on the verge of over-excitement. His arrest followed on 28-10-1944. He was transferred to London for interrogation and from there, at the end of November, to Breda. Finally, he was locked up in the prison in the prison Oranjehotel Scheveningen 
, awaiting his trial.
In the prison sick ward, Lindemans struck up a relationship with the nurse Tine Onderdelinden, with whom he agreed to end their lives together. On 18-07-1946, they took a large dose of the sleeping pill luminal. The nurse was saved at the last moment. For Lindemans, that help came too late. According to the official version, ‘King Kong’ age 33, committed suicide, but soon rumours circulated that he had been killed: could Lindemans not have been saved when he was found unconscious?
Lindemans was buried in the Rotterdam cemetery Crooswijk. Rumors persisted that he was still alive somewhere in South America. Based on the Government Information (Public Access) Act (WOB), two journalists from the Haarlems Dagblad demanded access to confidential documents at the BVD. In order to put an end to speculation that Lindemans had escaped, it was decided in 1986 to exhume the remains at Crooswijk: the remains resembled the image people had of the ape-like figure of Christiaan Lindemans: King Kong was dead and buried.
“King Kong” Christaan Antonius Lindemans is buried at the Algemene Begraafplaats ‘Crooswijk’ te Rotterdam. Kerkhoflaan 1, 3034 TA Rotterdam.
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