North Veluwe, the Netherlands · 1945
The life and legacy of Gerrit Blaauw
Gerrit Blaauw (1907–1945) was a father of five, a distribution clerk and a member of the Dutch resistance. His story connects the rescue of an Allied airman to imprisonment, the Woeste Hoeve reprisals, and the long work of family remembrance.
Read the complete story Download the illustrated master report (118 pages)
Explore the research
CHAPTER 1Gerrit and his familyCHAPTER 2Resistance before February 1945CHAPTER 3The Spitfire and David BlairCHAPTER 4Henk’s arrest and Gerrit’s detentionCHAPTER 5Woeste Hoeve, 8 March 1945CHAPTER 6Jannetje, the funeral and the graveCHAPTER 7The pilot’s escape and postwar connectionsCHAPTER 8New documentary and archival researchCHAPTER 9Chronology, evidence and unresolved questionsCHAPTER 10Sources and guide to preserved records
Research principles
Historical claims are drawn from the October 2026 illustrated master report. Contemporary records, later newspaper accounts, family recollections and open archival leads are distinguished. The 1971 visit by Blair’s wife to Hendrik Boeve is a documented research lead from correspondence; the original newspaper account still requires examination.