Date of birth:

August 22nd, 1908 (Rotterdam/Zuid Holland, the Netherlands)

Date of death:

May 17th, 1972 (Groningen/Groningen, the Netherlands)

Nationality:

Dutch

Willem van der Mast (‘Frans’) was a professional officer and from March 1943 sector leader Southern Netherlands of the Albrecht espionage group. Van der Mast was recruited by the founder of Albrecht, Henk de Jonge whom he had met at the National Christian Officers Association. He was active from the village of Hank in the country of Heusden and Altena, near the Brabant Biesbosch. He had got to know this area well during the mobilisation period and his fiancée was also from this area.

In addition to his work for Albrecht, Van der Mast made good contacts with local resistance groups including the Group André led by Adriaan Lambertus ‘Jos’ van Wijlen. The contact with Van Wijlen led to being able to use the internal telephone network of the Provinciale Noord-Brabantse Elektriciteits Maatschappij with which messages could be passed on by phone. This network that also allowed contact with other electricity companies was unknown to the Germans. Albrecht's marconists also sent their messages from his area to England.

Because the Alblasserwaard was also added to his area in the summer of 1944, he got to know all the Albrecht employees who would later become part of the line-crossers with whose work he also had an active involvement. After the liberation of southern Netherlands, he remained active for Albrecht until the end of the war.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Reserve Kapitein

Awarded on:

December 14th, 1949

‘Has distinguished himself by particularly courageous and determined acts in the fight against the enemy by, from November 1943 onwards, having already obtained some valuable connections for intelligence work, acting successfully as a collaborator of an important intelligence group in occupied territory and leading this work in the provinces of North Brabant and Limburg.
Furthermore, in February 1944, by contributing substantially to the establishment of a secret telephone network for intelligence work in the provinces of North Brabant and Limburg, which, from the moment Maastricht was liberated, rendered extremely important services in the regular communication of enemy positions.
Continuing this and further life-threatening constructive liberation work until after the Allied occupation of the southern provinces he was able to carry out other important work.
By this action to render important services to the Allied war effort and the Dutch Government’.

Awarded on:

April 15th, 1965

• - SIMONS, J., Liniecrossers, Omniboek, 2021.