Kokhuis, Valentijn Gerardus

Date of birth:: December 21st, 1919 (Sloten/North Holland, the Netherlands)
Date of death:: March 21st, 2005 (Haarlem/Noord-Holland, the Netherlands)
Service number:: 147
Nationality:: Dutch

Biography

Valentijn Gerardus (Val) Kokhuis was born on 21 December, 1919, in Sloten (near Amsterdam). He was son of Johannes Bernardus Kokhuis and Anthonia Visser. Val had an older brother and sister, and a younger sister. He spent his youth in the polder and many hours doing sports. After primary school, Val attended trade school and started to work as driller apprentice after a year and a half. In his spare time he also helped out in his father’s nursery garden.

On 18 December, 1939, Val entered military service and was assigned to field artillery. In April, 1940, Val was posted at the 20th Artillery regiment, which was part of the Peeldivisie. In the evening of 10th May, 1940, when the Germans had invaded the Netherlands, the Dutch gunners were ordered to retreat. Val, with his mates, then fled, via Cherbourg, France, by ship to Engeland.

In England Val became member of the Detachement Koninklijke Nederlandse troepen in Groot-Brittannië, that in 1941 was transformed into the Koninklijke Nederlandse Brigade Prinses Irene. In early 1942, Val left the brigade and was trained to become one of the first Dutch commandos. After completing the training, he was assigned to No.2 (Dutch) Troop. In Augustus, 1942, he was promoted to Corporal. On 31 May, 1943, his unit transferred to Eastbourne, which would be its homebase until the end of the war.

In December, 1943, Val was shipped, with No.2 (Dutch) Troop, together with 3rd Special Service Brigade, to Bombay (Mumbai) in India. Eventually only five Dutch commandos took part in operations against the Japanese in Birma. The rest of the unit, amongst which was Val, went through jungle training and other exercises. Only after D-Day No.2 (Dutch) Troop returned to Engeland. The Dutch commandos were then divided over the different airborne divisions for operation Market Garden and Val was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division.

On 18 September, 1944, he landed near Overasselt and was assigned, as interpreter and guide, to the 3rd Battalion of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. On 20 September, 1944, Corporal Val Kokhuis took part in the fighting during the dangerous boat crossing of the river Waal near Nijmegen. That among other things was why he later was rewarded the Bronzen Kruis. Val would stay active for another three weeks with the 82nd Airborne Division in the east of Nijmegen.

Early November, 1944, Valentijn took part in the amphibious operation Infatuate, the battle of the Schelde. He landed with the Allies at the coast near Westkapelle. On 3 November Val got wounded by mortar fire during an assault near Dishoek. Afterwards he was moved back to Eastbourne, where he recovered from his wounds. On 7 April, 1945, Val was promoted to Sergeant. He was next deployed in Noord-Brabant, in the Achterhoek and in Recklinghausen, Germany.

After the war, in late 1945, No.2 (Dutch) Troop was dissolved and transformed into ‘Stormschool Bloemendaal’. Val became instructor there. He moved to Bloemendaal, where he was going to live, together with his wife Kathleen and daughter Monica(1945). The family would grow further with three sons, Michael (1947), Christopher (1954) and Peter (1957).

On 1 March, 1947, Val ended his military career and switched to the police of municipality of Haarlem. There he would become chief constable as a sports-, weapons- and shooting instructor. Until his retirement, in 1979, he would stay in the police force. In the mid-nineties his health began to cause problems. Slowly he became less mobile and in the last years he suffered mentally and physically from Alzheimer’s disease. On 21 March 2005, Valentijn Gerardus Kokhuis, one of the first Dutch commandos, died at the age of 85 in Haarlem. Several days later he was cremated.

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