Advanced Search

Ouwehand, Cornelius W.: my Second World War and Indonesian War of Independence recollections (January 11, 2011)

Downloadable Content


Download audio

An interview/narrative of Cornelius W. Ouwehand's experiences during World War II and the Indonesian War of Independence. Interview took place on January 11, 2011.

ABSTRACT: Cornelius Ouwehand, who was born in Dordrecht in 1920, first gives a general overview of his experiences in the 1930s and 40s, beginning with his family life during the Great Depression. After briefly discussing the German occupation of the Netherlands, Kony, as he prefers to be called, elaborates on his childhood and the beginning of the war, and then describes his role in the Dutch underground resistance movement. Responsible for sabotaging the German war equipment they were compelled to produce, Kony and his co-workers were deported to Germany, where they were forced to work in camps and villages under the constant threat of Allied aerial bombardments. Kony details his failed escape attempts and the subsequent sentences he served in Krefeld, near Bremen, and in Remscheid. When he and two fellow prisoners finally escaped to England in 1945, they received further training to serve in Indonesia, where Kony would spend the next three years. He explains that he was not often in combat during the rise of Indonesian nationalism, but was responsible for repairing rail infrastructure and steam engines on the island of Java. Upon returning to the Netherlands in 1948, he explains, he felt disconnected from his country and decided to move to Canada, where he worked as a school teacher until retirement. 1:00 – 6:30: (11 January 2011) Growing up in Dordrecht during the Great Depression. 6:30 – 13:00: Overview of imprisonment in German camps. 13:45 – 23:00: War origins and overview of German invasion of the Netherlands. 23:00 – 41:30: Elaboration on childhood and early 1940s; Underground resistance. 41:30 – 51:00 Jumps ahead to return from war; Finding shelter with two German women. 51:30 – 57:30: Sabotaging German war equipment in Dutch factories. 57:30 – 1:00:15: Time as a school teacher in Kelowna, BC; was stories with students. 1:00:30 – 1:04:45: (20 January 2011) General Dutch history. 1:04:45 – 1:07:00: Arrest; Solitary confinement in Krefeld; Sent to work outside Bremen. 1:07:00 – 1:17:30: Fleeing to Luxembourg; Captured and imprisoned with Ukrainian women; Air raids. 1:17:30 – 1:20:30: Fleeing into Germany and then to England; Engineer training; Sent to Indonesia 1:20:30 – 1:23:25: More discussion of sabotage and resistance fighting. 1:23:25 – 1:34:00: Rape of Ukrainian woman in; Prison in Krefeld; Food. 1:34:30 – 1:39:00: Occupied Dordrecht; Father’s arrest; Mother’s death; Siblings stealing supplies. 1:39:15 – 1:43:50: German nightclubs in the Netherlands; Female collaboration and resistance. 1:44:30 – 1:54:25: Thoughts on arriving at Krefeld prison; Living in camps; No doctors. 1:54:30 – 2:00:00: German propaganda; playing soccer for German team. 2:00:30 – 2:08:30: Russian Front; Family stories. 2:09:00 – 2:14:00: Escaping from Remscheid deeper into Germany; Elaboration of how two German women gave him shelter; Discusses his friends. 2:14:00 – 2:20:30: (25 January 2011) Commissioned in Indonesia (1945); Surabaya; Bandung; Anecdote of meeting a schoolteacher from Dordrecht. 2:20:30 – 2:24:00: Experiences as part of a 300 man engineering unit stationed on Java; Venereal disease among Dutch the soldiers. 2:24:00 – 2:29:30: Religion in Indonesia and the Netherlands. 2:30:00 – 2:36:30: Training outside Aldershot, England to build rope bridges for tanks. 2:36:30 – 2:45:00: Deployment to Indonesia; Sea voyage; Indonesian Nationalism Movement; Military objectives in Indonesia. 2:45:00 – 2:53:30: Inspecting and fixing steam engines; Discusses the conflict between the Indonesians and the Dutch. 2:53:30 – 2:57:00: Coming to Canada (1948/9); Holland post-war; Fellow veteran suffers mental breakdown. 2:57:00 – 3:03:45: Elaboration on experiences in Indonesia; Thoughts on the Japanese. 3:03:45 – End: More thoughts on returning to Holland after the war; Religion; Thoughts on survival and coming to Canada.

Interviewer: Harlton, Justin

Interviewee: Ouwehand, Cornelius (Kony) W., b. 1920

In Collection:
Contributor Subject Language Keyword Date created Relation
  • Alternate title: "The Life and Military Service of Cornelius W. Ouwehand, Dutch Veteran of the Second World War and Indonesian War of Independence".
  • Part of the Military Oral History Class collection of interviews.
Resource type Rights statement Extent
  • 4 sound recordings (MP3)
Geographic Coverage Coordinates
  • 51.5, 10.5
  • 60.10867, -113.64258
Additional physical characteristics
  • Original sound recording (MP3) also available.
Physical Repository Collection
  • Canadian Military Oral History Collection
Provider Genre Archival item identifier
  • OCW_677
Fonds title Fonds identifier Is referenced by Date digitized
  • March 3, 2011
Technical note
  • Digital sound recording in .mp3 format at 192 kbps and 44 kHz. Recorded in digital format by interviewer, technical and cataloguing metadata provided by JF and JP. Interview recorded in digital format for UVic Special Collections in 2011. Migration metadata by KD and MT.
Rights
  • This interview has been posted with the understanding that it may be used for research purposes only. Should the interviewee or their heirs have any objections to this interview being accessible on the Internet, it will be removed promptly. Contact UVic Special Collections for permission if using for other than research purposes: speccoll@uvic.ca
DOI
Thumbnail Title Date Uploaded Actions
file details SC141_MilitaryOralHistory_GenericThumbnail
file details Ouwehand_C_0677_01.mp3