(Rotterdam, 1924)

Member of the 1st Company DNB

Fatal accident during live-fire training

Jan van den Heuvel was born in Rotterdam on 31 August 1924. Like many others, he refused to work for the Germans. Partly due to contacts between the Reformed churches (Gereformeerde Kerken) in Rotterdam and Aalten, Jan found a hiding place with the Koskamp family in Dale. Immediately after the liberation of Aalten, he joined the 1st Company of the DNB. He advanced with the battalion to liberate the rest of the Netherlands.

When the Dutch National Battalion was disbanded, Jan joined the Eighth Infantry Regiment (Achtste Regiment der Infanterie) and was assigned to the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion.

This battalion was sent to Knokke (Belgium) to undergo training in the dismantling of left-behind mines. In 1946, the battalion was stationed at the Hojel Barracks in Utrecht. On 13 February 1946, a training exercise with assault grenades took place at ‘De Pan’ golf course. As a crate of grenades was being loaded onto a lorry afterwards, one of the grenades exploded.

Both Jan and his comrade Dick Fries were very seriously injured. They were taken by ambulance to a hospital in Utrecht, where Jan passed away the following day, 14 February 1946. He was only 21 years old. Dick survived but was left blind for life. On 18 February, Jan was buried with military honours at the Zorgvlied cemetery in Amsterdam.

Jan van den Heuvel