Visbeen, Jacob “Jaap’ born 24-09-1915 in Nieuwe Tonge, the son of Arie Visbeen and Marie Visbeen- born van Alphen and grew up in Nieuwe Tonge. At the age of 13 he became a cow keeper for one of the farmers in the area. Five years later, Visbeen received his call for military service. Before his military service, he joined the cavalry in The Hague in 1934. He then took the training at the Marechaussee
on horseback in Apeldoorn. Especially when the brigade was fully ridden, he felt at home like a fish in the water. After all, fish bone was crazy about horses. When World War II broke out, Visbeen was placed in Axel, where he was involved in tracing smugglers.
A few days after the capitulation, all the Marechaussee brigades present in Zeeland left for France. This was ordered by Schout-by-Nacht Van der Stad. Visbeen also had to leave the Netherlands. He no longer had the opportunity to inform his family of his departure. The message of his departure from Axel would not be announced until much later via the International Red Cross in New Tonge. The Marechaussee troops managed to keep the fast-moving Germans behind them. The intention was to go to England via Cherbourg, where Queen Wilhelmina
and the Dutch government were also. However, none of that ended up. Probably there were no ships to cross the Marechaussee. Visbeen ended up in England via Brest.
When Jacob came to England and sent messages to his parents via the Red Cross that he had arrived safely in England. There he joined the predecessor of the Princess Irene Brigade under command of Generaal-Majoor David van Voorst Evekink
and received a parachute training, after which he was assigned to the parachute company “Noothoven van Goor”, the para company of the Irene Brigade, after General Gerard Benjamin Noothoven van Goor
led by Major A.A. Paessens. Visbeen was also taught how to dismantle mines. One of his jumps injured his shoulder. He was in a hospital in Liverpool for months.
General van Voorst Eyekink died 16-03-1950, age 59 in Londen. General Gerard Benjamin Noothoven van Goor died on 12-03-1942, age 68, in Woverhampton Staffordshire, England. after a short illness. After the dissolution of the parachute company, he was assigned as an infantryman to Combat Group I , which also operated under Paessens.
Death and burial ground of Visbeen Jacob “Jaap”.



n August 1944, after the invasion on the Normandy coast, the Princess Irene Brigade went to the front in France. Visbeen was part of one of the battle groups. The brigade became involved in battles around Pont Audemer, not far from the Seine. In the last week of August the front broke open over its entire length, after which fast British armored units reached Brussels and Antwerp in the first days of September. After the major air landings in the context of operation “Market Garden”,
the brigade was deployed at Beringen and Grave, among others. After Tilburg was also liberated at the end of October, the active deployment of the Princess Irene Brigade in the liberation of the Netherlands came to an end.
In 1944 Sergeant Visbeen ended up with Battle Group I of the Irene Brigade on Walcheren. It was his job to search for mines with a few colleagues and to make them harmless. The work took place at the Canal through Walcheren, where, among other things, the towpath along the canal had to be mined.
Visbeen died near West Souburg when a number of found mines exploded in a huge explosian..
Jacob was given a temporary grave with a wooden cross at the Molenwater at the Central Training School for Administrative Framework (COAK) and was later reburied at the Municipal Cemetery in Middelburg.


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