Luijkx, Adrianus Cornelis, born 01-09-1918 in Halsteren the son of Cornelis Luijkx and his wife Catharina, born, van de Riet. Adrianus had one sister, Maria Helena Luijkx, born 24-1-1903. Adrianus was an mechanic by profession, Adrianus married Adriana Wilhelmina Catharina Wijnen born 24-4-1904 on 26-5-1936 in Hoeven.
On 01-09-1939, the German army invades Poland. Two days later, England and France, both Poland’s allies, declare war on Germany. World War II has started, but after the German occupation of Poland there is no fighting for a while. This period is called “twilight war” because it is clear to all parties that this is not the end of the battle. By 1940, neutrality had been the starting point of Dutch foreign policy for a century. The Netherlands does not get involved in international conflicts.
Only when the Netherlands is attacked will it take sides. During World War I, this strategy worked well. The Netherlands remained neutral and the battle passed the Netherlands by.
By 1940, neutrality had been the starting point of Dutch foreign policy for a century. The Netherlands does not get involved in international conflicts. Only when the Netherlands is attacked will it take sides. During World War I, this strategy worked well. The Netherlands remained neutral and the battle passed the Netherlands by. In the early morning of 10-05-1940, Dutch observers saw bombers of the German Luftwaffe flying towards the North Sea. They think these are on their way to England. Over the sea, the planes make a 180-degree turn and fly back to attack the Netherlands. The Netherlands is now at war. Adolf Hitler justifies the attack with a lie in an attempt to influence public opinion. England and France would plan to attack the German Ruhr area via the Netherlands and Belgium. Some German soldiers are therefore surprised to find no Englishmen in the Netherlands. On 13-03-1941, fifteen Geuzen together with three Februaristakers were shot on the Waalsdorpervlakte,
this was the first mass execution on the Waalsdorpervlakte. Following this execution, Jan Campert
wrote the poem ‘The song of the eighteen dead’. The Geuzen or Geuzenverzet/ were a resistance group in the Netherlands World War II. The group was founded in May 1940 under the leadership of Schiedammer Bernard IJzerdraat.
The foundation of the LO, the National Organization for Help to People in Hide,
took place on 25-11-1942 by Helen Theodora “Heleen” Kuipers-Rietberg
and Frits Slomp “Frits the Wanderer”
in Winterswijk. Slomp, Fredrik (resistance names: Frits de Zwerver and Elder Van Zanten from Dordrecht), Reformed minister and resistance member (Ruinerwold 5-3-1898 – Vaassen 13-12-1978). He survived the war. Son of Jan Slomp, farmer, and Grietje Zantinge. Married on 26-10-1926 to Tjaltje ten Kate (1896-1988). From this marriage 1 son and 1 daughter were born.
The LO would develop into the largest resistance organization in the Netherlands. Helen Theodora “Heleen” Kuipers-Rietberg was the great and silent force behind the National Organization for Help to People in Hide. In the resistance she was called Tante Riek. Kuipers-Rietberg was transported to Ravensbrück concentration camp on 07-09-1944. There she was rejected for the Arbeitseinsatz and placed in the knitting command. Later she became “Tischalteste”. Because in that situation she distributed the food among the women who had to work during the day for the war industry in the Siemens factory, she was able to mean a lot to them. Kuipers-Rietberg also supported and comforted her fellow prisoners through her cheerful cheerfulness, under the horrific circumstances. She accompanied her resistance friend Minnie Jolink in her hour of death and commemorated them, as did Betsie ten Boom
amidst the fellow prisoners some time later. At the end of October, Kuipers-Rietberg fell ill himself. She died on 27-12-1944, age 51, possibly as a result of typhoid or a lung infection.
On 05-09-1944 the Internal Forces (BS) were founded, under the supreme command of Prince Bernhard. It unites the three largest and most important movements of the armed resistance to speed up the liberation of the Netherlands: the Ordedienst, the National Knokploegen and the overarching Council of Resistance. Especially in that autumn, when the Allies have reached the Dutch border, their numbers increase sharply. From October 1944, the shock troops of the Interior Forces participate on the Allied side in the further liberation of the Netherlands. Meanwhile, BSs are deployed in the already liberated areas to maintain public order and safety. A special task is therefore to prevent lynchings and revenge attacks against collaborators or people accused of pro-German acts. An important, but dangerous task is to make the Netherlands safe by taking back weapons and ammunition and defusing landmines. In the months after the liberation, fatal accidents still regularly occur due to unstable mines or live grenades in ammunition dumps. More than 1,700 soldiers of the Interior Forces die during the expulsion of the Germans, or die in accidents with weapons and mines. 70 of them are from Brabant.
Adrianus who in the meanwhile lives in Eindhoven, the webmaster’s birthtown, joined the underground during the German occupation years. He has been active in the resistance since early 1944. During the beginning of the liberation of the southern Netherlands, Adrianus joins the Partisan Action Netherlands (PAN) and from that group is affiliated with the Domestic Forces, which recruit their members from the armed resistance. Adrianus is then assigned as a soldier to the Stoottroepen of Commando Brabant who, on the Allied side, are at the forefront of the Dutch liberation.
Death and burial ground of Luijkx, Adrianus Cornelis.
On 18-09-1944, my birthtown Eindhoven was liberated by the 506 Easy Company
of the American 101 Airborne Division
under command of Adrianus was killed during the fighting for the liberation of Eindhoven. That day Adrianus, was hit by gunfire during a reconnaissance trip along the Woenselsestraat. Adrianus has turned 26 and finds his final resting place at the National Field of Honor cemetery in Loenen. Section E 994.

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