| Notes |
- The Dutch military Register of 3 February 1938 records that Taede (age 18 years) is 1.679m tall, weighs 53kg and is a butcher by profession.
Taede was active in the Dutch Underground 'Verzet' during the second world war from 1942 to the end of the war. Taede was part of the 10 Enkhuizen resistance fighter group who performed over 30 operations against the Nazi occupiers in the Enkhuizen region. Some of these operations were not so successful but others were very successful despite the overwhelming odds. In the Verzet Taede held the rank of Onderofficier (sergeant) was known as Ted or 'Cowboy Ted' because he would wear a Smith and Wesson on each hip, hand grenades on a chest belt and a long leather overcoat.
In 1944 Taede and fellow KPs A Fluitman, W Veldhuis and C Wittebrood acting as armed security accompanied US airman engineer LWG Sergeant Arthur F. Brown from Den Hout, Hoogkarspel to Alkmaar. Brown was one of only three survivors of two allied B-17 bombers which while flying in formation made hard contact and crashed over Hoorn, Northern Holland.
In September 1944 Taede, Barend Mes, Joep Rieter and Steef Meijer transported by bicycle the dropped SOE WT Agent code named Bram or Brammetje, real identity Pieter de Vos from the drop zone Mandril to Spanbroek and on to Amsterdam. Bram was a WT or wireless operator for Biallosterski, aka Hans. Pieter de Vos was later joined by Paul Polal aka Paul Peters. Both were WT operators for Biallosterski and for the top brass of the resistance known as Delta Centrum and were accompanied by resistance fighters for protection. Hans was at this time the most important SOE agent in Holland as it was his operatives that the resistance was able to contact the Dutch government in Britain.
In 1945 Taede and fellow KP Veldhuis acting as armed security accompanied US pilot Lieutenant Cecil Kenneth 'Tuck' Belton from Zwaagdijk to Oostwoud. Beltons B-17 Flying Fortress bomber Lucky Lady had been shot down over Northern Holland on the 20th Jan 1945 after returning from its 5th bombing run over Germany. The only survivor of the crash Belton joined the Enkhuizen underground participating in a number of missions over next several months and became a lifetime friend with its members.
In the midst of the hunger winter of 1944 the IJsfabriek or ice cream factory at the Vette Knol 119 in Enkhuizen was used by the German occupiers as a cool store for their advanced food supplies. A tempting target for the verzet during the Dutch famine which was to take an estimated 22,000 lives.
On the night and early morning of Saturday - Sunday ,18th-19th of November 1944 the Enkhuizen KP group quietly made their way to the rear of the Co-operative IJsfabriek via the adjacent rear garden of a friends home and makeshift forward planning location, Kuipersdijk 66. The KP group consisted of Adrie ?Flip?Fluitman district leader of KPs in eastern Western Friesland, Klaas Bras, Joep Rieter, Alie Commandeur, Ted Laagland, Carla Fluitman, Co Singer, Sjeffie van der Hoek, Harry Licht, Dick van Vliet, Bennie Gerrits and Kick Böhler.
Poorly secured the IJsfabriek quickly gave up its desperately needed foodstuffs which were hurriedly loaded on to two polder barges waiting at the front of the ijsfabriek on the Zuider Boerenvaart. The massive haul of 15,260 eggs, 535 kgs of sausages, 400 kg of beef, 301 kg of pork, 10 x 50 kg barrels and 23 x 25 kg barrels of butter, and 636 x 1.25 kg of preserved sausages were successfully spirited away along a flag marked route to Andijk for distribution to resistance fighters and those in hiding and their host families.
This audacious robbery would not go without serious repercussions. The NSB mayor Broere posted placards demanding the return of the goods or 25,000 guilders to be delivered within 3 days or else there would be severe consequences to be interpreted as random executions. Fortunately although food was scarce the locals were able to raise sufficient guilders before the mayors deadline.
Following the war Taede received a number of acknowledgements for his actions as a member of the Verzet including receiving the Verzetsherdenkingskruis (Resistance Commemorative Cross), the Croix du combatant de l'Europe (Cross of the Federation of European Former-Combatants) and recognition as 'Helper of the A.F.E.E.S. in Holland' and as a 'U.S. NAII Dutch Helper'.
Following the war Taede married and became an Insurance Agent. Taede passed away in 2001.
Sources:
1. Interrogation of Sgt Arthur Brown
3534610 390 Bomb Gp 570 Bomb Sq
8th U.S.A.A.F. by Major A.V. Sainsbury,
at Tilburg, 6th January, 1945
(Ref: GSGS 2541 1/100.000 sheets 2, 1, 4.)
2. Communication Willem Mugge
WEGGUM
ww.weggum.com
3. United States National Archives
Declassified Documents: Headquarters European Theatre Of Operations
Military Intelligence Service
Allied Helper Personnel
Laagland, Taede
ARC Identifier : 38977661
HMS / MLR Entry Number : UD 183
Container ID : 803
4. Website of Zuyder Sea Air War zzairwar.nl
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1919 - 2001 (81 years)
