(Gaanderen, 1921)

Platoon Commander of the 1st Company DNB

A lifetime against injustice

Co Hettinga was fiercely anti-Nazi, a stance confirmed by the book ‘What Hitler Wants’ (E.O. Lorimer 1939). He called upon others to ignore the compulsory registration for the Arbeitseinsatz (forced labour). He joined the resistance, specifically the Terborg-Doetinchem branch of the Landelijke Organisatie (LO).

Using the pseudonym ‘Cor’, he met with leaders such as Tante Riek, Oom Piet, and Ome Jan. He distributed illegal newspapers like Vrij Nederland and Trouw, arranged ration cards and hiding places for (Jewish) people-in-hiding and striking railway workers, and sabotaged German railway wagons in the area.

In September 1944, he became a member of the armed resistance group Knokploeg Aalten. He formed his own local platoon within the combat section of the Interior Forces (Binnenlandse Strijdkrachten). During this time, he stayed with Bernard and Dora Prinzen at the ‘Somsenhuus’ in IJzerlo, where three Allied pilots—Dell, Davis, and Brown—were also in hiding. He served as one of the group commanders of the ‘De Bark’ resistance group and engaged in espionage.

Following the liberation, Co Hettinga served for three months as one of the three platoon commanders of the first company of the Dutch National Battalion. The company was under the command of Jan Ket, who had also been the leader of De Bark.

Upon the disbandment of the DNB, he remained in the service of the Ministry of Defence until May 1948. Hettinga married Let Huitink in 1951, and together they had five sons and three daughters. For the rest of his life, Hettinga was active in highlighting the dangers that National Socialism and fascism posed to democracy and freedom, speaking at commemorations and in schools.

Co Hettinga passed away on 21 December 2012 in Gaanderen.

Co Hettinga