Machiel van den Heuvel (7 May 1900,
Haarlemmermeer
Haarlemmermeer () is a municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Haarlemmermeer is a polder, consisting of land reclaimed from water. The name Haarlemmermeer means ' Haarlem's lake', referring to the body of wa ...
– 29 June 1946, near
Bandung
Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth mos ...
) was a Dutch army officer. As a prisoner-of-war in
Oflag IV-C
Oflag IV-C, often referred to by its location at Colditz Castle, overlooking Colditz, Saxony, was one of the most noted German Army prisoner-of-war camps for captured enemy officers during World War II; ''Oflag'' is a shortening of ''Offiziersl ...
at Colditz Castle, Germany, during World War II, he served as Escape Officer for the Dutch
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of ...
s, a role also held by Captain
Pat Reid, the author of ''
The Colditz Story'', for the British. Van den Heuvel played a key role in most Dutch officer escapes (such as
Hans Larive,
Francis Steinmetz and
Anthony Luteyn) during the war.
POW
Machiel ("Jim") van den Heuvel, known as "Vandy" by the British POW's, was a captain in the
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. T ...
(
KNIL
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. T ...
) who happened to be in the Netherlands at the outbreak of World War II in May 1940. After the Dutch capitulation he refused to give his word of honour not to harm German interests and was sent to a German POW camp. Here van den Heuvel was quickly appointed Escape Officer. Together with Lieutenant
Gerrit Dames the two KNIL officers were a main factor for most Dutch escape successes during the war. He discovered the escape route in the park where two men could be hidden in a manhole, Lieutenants
Hans Larive,
Francis Steinmetz, Lt.
Oscar Drijber
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
and Major
Cornelis Giebel escaped using this route. Vandy worked together with the other Escape Officers.
In June 1943 all Dutch officers at Colditz were transferred to
Stalag
In Germany, stalag (; ) was a term used for prisoner-of-war camps. Stalag is a contraction of "Stammlager", itself short for ''Kriegsgefangenen-Mannschaftsstammlager'', a literal translation of which is "War-prisoner" (i.e. POW) "enlisted" "ma ...
371 in
Stanislau to join other Dutch officer POW's. Vandy also claimed many more escapes from this camp. Finally Vandy was transferred to
Oflag VII-D
Oflag VII-D was a World War II German prisoner-of-war camp for officers (''Offizierlager'') located in Tittmoning Castle in south-eastern Bavaria.
Camp history
The camp was opened as Oflag VII-D in February 1941, but in November 1941 became a sub- ...
at Tittmoning where the Germans thought he could do no more harm because most prisoners were older generals. From Tittmoning Vandy helped
Giles Romilly
Giles Samuel Bertram Romilly (19 September 1916 – 2 August 1967) was a communist journalist, Second World War POW, brother of Esmond Romilly, and nephew of Winston Churchill through his wife Clementine Churchill.
Romilly was educated at Wel ...
escape. Romilly was a prominent prisoner in Colditz because he was
Winston Churchill's nephew.
After the war
After the war, Machiel van den Heuvel was made a major and sent to Java, Indonesia to fight in the
Indonesian war of independence
The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during postwar and postcolonia ...
. He was a battalion commander when he was killed in action at Padalarang, Java, on 29 June 1946. He had been awarded the
Bronze Cross for his actions.
On film
In the film ''
The Colditz Story'' (1955), directed by
Guy Hamilton, the role of Vandy was played by actor
Theodore Bikel
Theodore Meir Bikel ( ; May 2, 1924 – July 21, 2015) was an Austrian-American actor, folk singer, musician, composer, unionist, and political activist. He appeared in films, including '' The African Queen'' (1951), '' Moulin Rouge'' (1952), ...
.
See also
*
List of attempts to escape Oflag IV-C
References
*
*
*
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heuvel, Machiel van den
1900 births
1946 deaths
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army officers
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army personnel of World War II
Prisoners of war held at Colditz Castle
Dutch escapees
Escapees from German detention
Dutch prisoners of war in World War II
People from Haarlemmermeer
Dutch military personnel killed in action
Dutch people of the Indonesian National Revolution