(Leeuwarden, 1914)

Commander of the 1st Company DNB

A Brave and Decisive Leader

Jan Ket, alias Black Jan, worked as a customs officer in Aalten from 1940 after serving in the Royal Netherlands Navy. In 1943, he went into hiding and, together with Cees Ruizendaal (alias Black Kees), founded the Aalten combat group, which raided distribution offices for ration coupons for people in hiding. In April 1944, a weapons transaction ended fatally; Ruizendaal was killed in action and Ket was captured. He escaped during transport to Camp Vught, together with Feitze de Vries alias Gerrit, and he (Jan Ket) formed an armed resistance group in Aalten.

In the summer of 1944, Ket was commissioned by Bob Krul (district commander of the Council of Resistance) to form a 40-man assault platoon. Together with Henk van ’t Lam, he trained the group at the De Bark farm in IJzerlo. They prepared for the liberation and carried out weapon drops and sabotage actions. Ket later took full responsibility for the events leading to the execution of 46 men at Rademakersbroek.

In March 1945, Ket gathered intelligence on German troop movements and traveled with Allied pilots to Prince Bernhard’s headquarters. On March 30, he returned for the liberation of Aalten. His resistance group formed the 1st company of the Dutch National Battalion (DNB), which contributed to the liberation of Twello, Apeldoorn, Kootwijkerbroek, Nijkerkerveen, Bunschoten, and Spakenburg.

Following the German capitulation, Ket led his company in mine-clearing operations and joined the Royal Netherlands Army. He served in East Java and eventually attained the rank of Major.

He was honourably discharged in 1970. His comrade-in-arms Henk van ’t Lam described him as a brave leader who always led by example. Jan Ket passed away in 1985 in Amersfoort.

Jan Ket