Jacob "Jaap" Staal (8 July 1913,

Assen Assen () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in ...

- 1981?) was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

commando A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines. Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He fought in Operation Market Garden in 1944. In recognition of his services, Staal was decorated with the Dutch

Bronze Lion The Bronze Lion () is a high Royal Dutch award, intended for servicemen who have shown extreme bravery and leadership in battle favouring The Netherlands; in some special cases it can be awarded to Dutch or foreign civilians. It was first created ...

and the American

Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by decision of the president of the United States to "any person recommended to the President ...

with bronze palm. Following the German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940, Staal left for England, where he joined the British regiment

Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry The Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army founded in 1794 as the Dorsetshire Regiment of Volunteer Yeomanry Cavalry in response to the growing threat of invasion during the Napoleonic wars. It gained its first ro ...

, seconded to the

Special Operations Executive Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British organisation formed in 1940 to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and to aid local Resistance during World War II, resistance movements during World War II. ...

(SOE). In 1944 Staal, now a lieutenant, trained for

Operation Jedburgh Operation Jedburgh was a clandestine operation during World War II in which three-man teams of operatives of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Free French Bureau Central de Renseigne ...

with fellow Dutch officers Arie Bestebreurtje, Henk Brinkgreve and Jacobus Groenewoud. Operation Jedburgh involved allied agents being parachuted behind enemy lines to conduct sabotage and guerrilla actions and organize local resistance groups.Th Peelen & Ab L. J. van Vliet, ''Zwevend naar de dood'', Van Holkema & Warendorf, 1977 (Dutch) During Operation Market Garden, Staal commanded a five-men Jedburgh team codenamed "Edward". Staal, now a captain, was the only Dutch member of his team, the others were British and American. The team landed by glider near corps headquarters outside

Groesbeek Groesbeek () is a town and former municipality in the province of Gelderland, the Netherlands. In January 2015 the former municipality merged with Millingen aan de Rijn and Ubbergen. The larger area was known as Groesbeek until January 2016, whe ...

on 17 September 1944. Team Edward's task was to organize and support the local resistance, serve as liaison between the Allied airborne troops and the

Dutch resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...

, gather tactical intelligence and maintain lines of communication between the different Jedburgh teams taking part in Market Garden. As Market Garden progressed, the "Edward" team moved to

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

. Subsequently, Staal and his team (American Captain McCord Sollenberger, British 2nd Lieutenant Len Willmott and American Technical Sergeant John Billingsley) entered

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

, where the British 1st Airborne Division was struggling to survive. The team provided communications for the British division and established an outlet for intelligence from Dutch resistance networks, in extremely difficult conditions. When the 1st Airborne Division either surrendered or was evacuated from Arnhem, Staal's team had to arrange their own escape. This was done did in a notable manner by commandeering a German staff car (a

Bentley Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of Luxury vehicle, luxury cars and Sport utility vehicle, SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Crickle ...

Vanden Plas which Willmott was able to start without a key). They passed through or forced German checkpoints but were halted by heavy fire from an American patrol. The team returned to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

from

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

on 28 September.Major Robert G. Gutjahr, "The Role of Jedburgh Teams in Operation Market Garden", thesis, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, 1990
/ref> After the end of the war, Staal was promoted to reserve lieutenant colonel of the artillery. In 1947 he emigrated to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Staal, Jacob 1913 births 1981 deaths Royal Netherlands Army officers Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II British Army personnel of World War II Dorset Regiment soldiers Dutch resistance members Dutch emigrants to South Africa Recipients of the Bronze Lion Recipients of the Medal of Freedom People from Assen