Engels, Henri Edwin Rudolf Oscar, born 13-09-1919 in Batang Serangan
in North Sumatra the son of a Dutch father Richard Anatöle Marie Eugène Engels and his Indonesian wife Foemikem.
His father left for the Dutch East Indies to become a planter. Harry returned to the Netherlands with his brother to pursue his education. He worked as an assistant at the Philips chemical laboratory, but towards the end of the German occupation, he was a student at the Colonial Agricultural School in Deventer. 
On 08-04-1945, Harry and seven other resistance fighters formed a small combat team that attempted to defend the bridge near the Twentol lubricating oil factory. The Germans wanted to destroy the bridge to hinder the Canadian advance from that direction. The combat team consisted mainly of lightly armed students, no match for the German soldiers.
On the morning of April 10, a German soldier encounters the resistance fighters who have taken refuge in the factory. After a struggle, the German is incapacitated. He begs for his life and swears that he will not betray the hiding place, whereupon the group lets him go. It does not take long before the Germans surround the factory and open fire. During the battle, in which two resistance fighters are killed, the factory is set on fire. One student manages to escape, while the other five are overpowered and taken away. Four men and one woman are taken by two armed Germans to the playground on Snipperlingsdijk, where they are executed by a firing squad. A German soldier, Ernst Gräwe,
refuses to shoot and is executed by the commander along with the resistance fighters. Ernst a medical man, 30 years old, a medic of the 1st Fallschirmjäger Regiment
, refused to shoot civilians and removed his helmet as a symbolic gesture and joined together with the condemned. He was immediately shot in the head by the German Commander at the spot behind a wall. The other designated Germans for the execution carried out their assignments. Less than 45 minutes after the executions, the first Canadian liberators arrived in Deventer.
For the liberation of our city, the following gave their lives on 10-04-1945: Cornelia Corry”, age 19,
. van Baalen-Bosch (02-08-1925). Johannes Wandus Westland van Baalen (22-9-22) Jacobus Jan Bennebroek Evertz ( (08-09-23), Lodewijk Henrick Zeger van Boetzelaer age 23 (11-9-21)
Derk Jan Bruggeman
(28-2-04) H.E.R.O. Engels (13-9-19)
Jan Henrik Louis van Gennep Luhr. (14-6-20)
Marinus Woertman (25-7-24),
given in gratitude for their heroic behavior by the citizens of Deventer.
Harry on 10-04-1945, in Deventer is one of the executed resistance fighters. Harry does not die immediately, but passes away later that day on the way to the hospital. Harry was 25 years old. By the evening of April 10, the same day, Deventer is liberated.
Hero Engels name is also listed on the Twentol Monument in Deventer.
Harry’s first names are together “HERO”.
Engels, Henri Edwin Rudolf Oscar is buried at Steenbrugge Cemetery in Diepenveen, Raalterweg 29 7431 PA Diepenveen Grave 3097.








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