Evert van de Braak

Barneveld 19 Jul 1915 – ?

Evert van de Braak, farmer, of Lunteren

About: A young farmer near Valk who, with his wife Aartje, took in Sam Walsh and James Branford, by his own list from 1 December 1944, after leaving the group they had been in with Murphy: Hardy has Hardy and Murphy leave the Roekel dug-out on the 24th, Walsh has his party split into two threes on the 25th, and ◐ the two are not shown to be one event. By his own list he kept Branford to 26 February 1945, and three American airmen were with him between December 1944 and April 1945.

Unit or role: Farmer; no movement named on his form, which names "Pilot club" under item 11, persons known to him who helped Allied personnel; item 9, the movement, is blank (his file, p. 4).

Where: A farm at Valk, Lunteren (de Valk 13 on the Ede population card from 1938); Laagenveld weg 5, Lunteren, on his form of May 1946.

Evidence: ✓ Walsh; ✓ his helper file with the Americans, US National Archives 286699240 (pp. 4–5); Noordman, pp. 283, 304; ✓ his birth and marriage, index records; ✓ the American escape and evasion reports of Ramlow and Ferrell (both image-checked); ✓ De Santis's return; ◐ Martinus van Beek's form.

✓ Evert van de Braak was born on 19 July 1915 at Esveld, in the Barneveld birth register (deed 175, registered the next day), son of Aalt van de Braak, a farmer of 42, and Gerritje van den Brink (the birth, index only).

Evert, a farmer of 23, son of Aalt van de Braak and Gerritje van den Brink, married Aartje Hazeleger, 19, at Ede on 19 October 1938 (marriage record). His form for the Americans gives the date as 19 July 1915 with a place word typed "Bnd." or "End." (first read as "Ede", but it ends in a d and is not clearly any place name), married with two children, then aged one and seven, and known to the Allied men, with his wife, as "Evert + Aartje" (his file, p. 4).

✓ Ede's population register card has him born at Barneveld on 19 July 1915, a farmer, of the Nederlands Hervormde church, son of Aalt van de Braak, born at Ermelo, and Gerritje van den Brink, born at Ede; married at Ede on 19 October 1938 to Aartje Hazeleger, born at Ede. It puts him at Lunteren, "de Valk 42" in Ede municipality from 23 June 1933, when he came from Barneveld, and at "de Valk 13" from his wedding (the card, front; the record).

His father Aalt died on 11 July 1944, at Arnhem by the register, and was entered at Ede: a farmer of 71, born at Ermelo, son of Evert van de Braak and Elisabeth van Millingen, with Gerritje van den Brink named beside him (the death, index only). That was nearly five months before Walsh and Branford came to the farm in early December.

Murphy was not with them. From 25 November he and James Hardy were hidden at Jacob Veerman's farm at Klein Achterveld, by the Veerman family's own list (the Veermans' form, p. 3; Hardy).

On 25 November Walsh's party split into two threes after their helper was arrested (Hardy puts Branford, Murphy, "JOHN", "the other Paratrooper" and himself in the Roekel dug-out from 20 November, and has only Hardy and Murphy leaving it on the 24th), and Walsh, Branford (whom Walsh spells "BRENTFORD") and Haller spent a week with a house-builder at Valk. On 1 December the guide "GERD" (Gerrit van Ee: Noordman names him from Van Ee's pocket-book entry for the 7 February birthday, and says himself that Van Ee was the one who took them on 1 December, p. 304) took them to his own house for a night and then took Walsh and Branford "to a farm on the outskirts of VALK", whose owner was "Evaard VAN BRAAK, a farmer, married, with one daughter aged about eight" (Walsh). Haller "was taken to another address in this area" (same).

• Noordman's Dutch text of Walsh's account names the guide as Gerrit and the host as "Evert van de Braak, een boer, hij was getrouwd en had een dochter van ongeveer acht jaar" (Evert van de Braak, a farmer, married, with a daughter of about eight) (Noordman, p. 304).
• Noordman names Gerrit van Ee of Kootwijkerbroek as one of the guides on the evening the party set out for the Pegasus II crossing (p. 283), and Evert's own list has Branford brought by "Gerrit van Ee c/o Jan van Ee" (p. 5).

Gerd visited them often, bringing extra food and tobacco. On the evening of 7 February 1945 Walsh went to Gerd's house for his birthday and did not go back to the farm; the next morning Gerd "sent someone over to BRAAK's farm to collect my uniform etc, which I had left there" (Walsh).

His own list for the Americans has the two men, as he spelled them, and three Americans who were with him over the same winter (p. 5):

He appears on the pages of James Branford, Sam Walsh, Bernard Haller, Gerrit van Ee and Heimen van Esveld.

What the Americans' own reports say. Three of the Americans on his list put his name in their own accounts.

• ✓ Lt Charles F. Ramlow's report (E & E Report No. 2852) lists "EVART BRAAK, 5 Lageveldweg, LUNTEREN (E 5590). Sheltered Lt. RAMLOW from 15 December 1944 to 11 February 1945", after H. Esveld of Barneveld (19 November to 15 December) and before Jaspar van Scelen of Schalkwijk (22 February to 8 March), and says the guides he had "are known to" the three (Appendix C, p. 10). The address has the same number, 5, as his own form's "Laagenveld weg 5".
  • The report's narrative: "Lt. RAMLOW moved alone to LUNTEREN (E 5590) where he lived until 11 February", and "On that day, Lt. RAMLOW was joined by three English and one Scottish evader and the five were guided to SCHERPENZEEL (E 4689)" (p. 6, read on the image). It does not name the four.
• ✓ 2nd Lt Jack G. Ferrell's report (E & E Report No. 2969), a navigator shot down on 22 January 1945, has "BRAAK, EVERT, LUDWIGSHAUVEN #5, LUNTEREN, HOLLAND (E5689)" for "food, tobacco, shelter 23 Mar to 15 Apr 1945" (Appendix C, p. 8; the report form, p. 10).
  • The helper is "29 yrs. old", with a "26 yr. old wife and 6 yr. old daughter", and "EVERT BRAAK did slaughtering work for neighbors". Evert was 29 that spring, and Aartje, born on 15 January 1919 by the Ede card, was 26 (the card); Ferrell met Allied forces at Lunteren on 15 April.
  • Before Evert, Ferrell was at an Esveld farm at Barneveld from 20 February to 20 March and, the report says, with another Braak on 21 and 22 March. That entry reads "BRAAK, OLST, BARNAVELD", with OLST where the entries beside it ("WOLTMAN, JACOB", "BRAAK, EVERT") have a first name, so it is not read as a place.
    • ✓ Ferrell describes that man as "30 yrs. old", with a "wife and three children who were 4 yrs., 2 yrs., and 8 months old", and Evert as 29, with a "26 yr. old wife and 6 yr. old daughter, and a relative of wife's named 'Humpy'" living with the family: two different households, so the second Braak is not Evert.
    • ◐ He may be Aalt van den Braak below (see the disagreements).
• ◐ Ferrell is the "St. Jack J. Terrell" of Evert's list, by the address: the street address in Birmingham, Alabama, on the list is the private address on Ferrell's report form, number and street (Evert's list, p. 5; Ferrell, p. 10; both read on the image). The rank, the surname's first letter and the dates differ (below).
• ◐ In his own helpers' return for the Americans, dated 26 April 1945, Sgt David L. De Santis wrote by hand, in pencil, "Evert Braak Suntern" (with "Holland" above; the typed card copy of the sheet has "Suntern" too, and we read it as Lunteren, where he lived) and "4 Months food and shelter" below it, on a sheet that also has "Hyman van Esveld, Barnveld Essen", 2 months, very probably Heimen van Esveld (RAMP-45, p. 122; the typed card-list copy is cited below).

Others in the district.

• ◐ Martinus van Beek of Harskamp, of the Pilots Transport Organisation, lists among those who sheltered pilots and paratroopers "Brothers v.d. Braak te Hooge en Lage Valk" beside R. Rab, C. Veldhuis, J. van Ee and H. Esveld (his form, p. 2; Marten van Beek). Evert's farm was at de Valk, and his form names "Pilot club" under persons known to him who helped Allied personnel; the entry does not name him, so whether he is one of the brothers is not shown.
• Aalt van den Braak of Walhuisweg 10, Kootwijkerbroek, born at Barneveld on 14 March 1914, "Provided housing, food and clothing for allied personnel for periods of approximately 2 days": Capt Pare, Ferrell, De Santis, Willig and Bonekat (his file, p. 4). He is not Evert's father, who died in July 1944, and no source held says whether the two were related.

In May 1946 he wrote on the form that he had lost a new bicycle with tyres, and that the 360 guilders "they" owed for shelter were never paid (the form does not say who "they" were):

We never received the 360 guilders they owed us for shelter. , and we could need it very badly at the moment. If you think it's not correct just come over to our house.

— US National Archives · RG 498, helper file of Evert van de Braak · questionnaire, 17 May 1946 · p. 4

The Americans gave him no award: "no award", A.G.O., 11 July 1946 (p. 1). He is not in the British index of Dutch helpers, searched for him on the page images; the index has an Aalt v.d. Braak of Walhuisweg 10, Kootwijkerbroek (the index, what was searched).

• Walsh's address. ◐ His "S. Walsk" is Murphy's Sam Walsh by Walsh's own report, which names Van Braak; but the list gives him an address at Darnall, Sheffield, while Walsh's own report of March 1945 gives his private address in Leicester (Walsh) and Joop Migchelsen's list has the same address, "35 Jarrom [?] street, Leicester" (Migchelsen's file, p. 3). Heimen van Esveld's list gives "Darmall Sheffield" (Heimen's list, p. 8).
• The start date. 1 December 1944 is the date on Evert's own list for Branford ("1.12.44"). Walsh's report has a member of the Underground come to see them on 1 December, a night at his house, and the move to the farm after it, so by Walsh they reached the farm on 2 December; Bernard Haller's and Sam Walsh's pages say "next day" too (Walsh; Evert's list, p. 5). A day's difference, not settled.
• Walsh's dates. The list types Walsh's stay a year early, "1.12.43. till 24.2.44", and ends it on 24 February; Walsh's report has him leave on 7–8 February (Walsh).
• Ramlow's dates. Evert's list has Ramlow from 5 December 1944 to 28 February 1945; Ramlow's report has him there from 15 December to 11 February, with Esveld until 15 December and van Scelen from 22 February (Evert's list, p. 5; Ramlow, p. 10). ◐ Ramlow's dates are the airman's own and fit his chain of hosts; Evert's list overlaps the Esveld stay by ten days. Not settled.
• De Santis's and Ramlow's arrival. ⚠︎ Not settled: Evert's list has both from 5 December, and De Santis for four months.
  • Frank McNaught, back on 2 December at the farm he calls "ESVHEILT's" (◐ very probably Heimen van Esveld's), found "Sgt. DECENTIAS, and Lt. Charlie (surname unknown)" there, and has the two "moved to another address" about the end of January (McNaught).
  • De Santis's card has him with McNaught "until DeSantis left with Lt Ramlow about the end of January 45(?)", "Last seen approx 3 Dec 44 at farm of ESVELD with RAMLOW", and, from D'Albenas (British), "At farm in ACHTERVELD on 19 Feb 45" (the card, p. 14).
• Ferrell's dates and rank. Evert's list has "St. Jack J. Terrell" from "3.3.44 [sic]" to the liberation; Ferrell's report has 23 March to 15 April 1945, after Esveld until 20 March (Evert's list, p. 5; Ferrell, p. 8). The list's year is wrong on its face, and its "3.3" cannot be right while Ferrell was at the Esveld farm to 20 March. The list's "St." is not his rank either: the report has him a second lieutenant.
• The other Braak. Ferrell's list has a second "BRAAK, OLST, BARNAVELD" for 21 and 22 March, with a farm four kilometres south of Barneveld and 100 metres off the main road, and a household of a wife and three children aged 4, 2 and 8 months; that is not Evert's farm at Valk or his household and is not taken to be him.
  • ◐ Aalt van den Braak's file (above) lists Ferrell, but only for "approximately 2 days", a phrase that covers every airman on his sheet. For: Ferrell gives the man as "30 yrs. old" and Aalt, born 14 March 1914, was 31 on 21 March. Against: his address is Walhuisweg 10, Kootwijkerbroek, which is not given as a farm south of Barneveld (his file, p. 4).
  • That is our reading only; no source says the two are the same man.
• The farm. ◐ Whether it is the same farm renumbered is not shown.
  • Walsh has "a farm on the outskirts of VALK" (Walsh); the form gives his address in May 1946 as Laagenveld weg 5, Lunteren (p. 4); Ramlow's report has "5 Lageveldweg, LUNTEREN" and Ferrell's "LUDWIGSHAUVEN #5, LUNTEREN" (Ramlow, p. 10; Ferrell, p. 8).
  • The population card has him at de Valk 13 from 1938, so the farm was at Valk before the war; the three Americans' number 5 fits the form's, but the road name is spelt three ways (Ferrell's spelling is not obviously the same name) and the map references differ, Ramlow's E 5590 and Ferrell's E5689.
• His daughter's age. About eight in December 1944 by Walsh; six in the spring of 1945 by Ferrell's report; his own form of May 1946 gives two children, aged one and seven (Walsh; Ferrell, p. 8; p. 4). ✓ The reverse of his Ede population card lists a daughter born in March 1939 at Ede (the card, reverse), so she was five in December 1944, six from March 1945 and seven from March 1946: Ferrell's six and the form's seven fit, Walsh's "about eight" does not.
• His birthplace. ✓ Barneveld, on the Ede population card and in the marriage record, and Esveld in the Barneveld birth register (the card; marriage; the birth). ◐ His own form of 1946 has a typed word, "Bnd." or "End.", after the date, enlarged on the image; it is not clearly "Ede" and is not counted as a disagreement (p. 4).
• His father's age. ◐ The card has Aalt born at Ermelo on 22 December "92", 1892 by its two-digit years, which would make him 51 in 1944. Two civil records put his birth about 1872 or 1873: Evert's birth entry has his father 42 in July 1915, and the death record has him 71 in July 1944 (the card; the birth; the death). The card's year is probably the error; all three are index or card entries, and no deed scan has been read.
• ◐ De Santis's own count. The American E&E card for David De Santis has "Evert Braak Suntern Holland - 4 months food and shelter", which matches the length of the stay on Evert's own list, 5 December to 17 April, about four and a half months, but not its dates: the card also has him with McNaught until about the end of January and at a farm at Achterveld on 19 February (see above) (the card, page 14, image-checked); his own handwritten return says "4 Months" (RAMP-45).
• When Branford left. Evert's list has him until 26 February 1945; a list given by Copier's son at Schalkwijk, in the enclosure to A. P. Copier's file, has five evaders including "Mr. James Branford. 'the Cottage'" from 20 February to 8 March (Copier's file, p. 6; father and son are set out on Edward Bradford; James Branford). Not settled.
• Branford's capture. Van de Braak's list has Branford shot down over Berlin in October 1943; the National Archives catalogue has him captured in Germany on 27 August 1943 (WO 208/5406/7; James Branford).

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