Date of birth:

July 7th, 1914 (Alblasserdam, the Netherlands)

Date of death:

May 30th, 1972 (Soest, the Netherlands)

Nationality:

Dutch

Johannes (Jo) van Arkel was a reserve lieutenant in the Dutch Army at the outbreak of war. Little is known about his resistance activities before March 1943, but then Henk de Jonge (Albrecht) recruited him for his Albrecht espionage group, which he himself called “Hollands Glorie”. Jo van Arkel became the group's second-in-command and, after De Jonge's arrest, its successor.

Van Arkel was also the man who tried to contact England with the transmitter De Jonge had brought along. This did not succeed; the transmitter did not work properly. Then he himself was arrested in November 1943 during an appointment in a café in The Hague. There was treachery involved. The SD found the malfunctioning transmitter at his home and understood that they had not just caught anyone. Tough interrogations followed but Van Arkel remained silent.

In July 1944 he and Henk de Jonge appeared before a German court. There was, of course, no due process. Both men were sentenced to death but the sentences were not carried out for some unknown reason. Van Arkel spent the rest of the war in various German prisons and concentration which he survived.

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Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Res. 1e luitenant der artillerie (1st Lieutenant of Reserves)

Unit:

II-10 Regiment Infanterie, Koninklijke Landmacht

Awarded on:

November 12th, 1947

Recommendation:
He has distinguished himself by courageous conduct against the enemy by:
1) having served with audacity under hostile fire in the period between May 11th-13th , 1940 as Commanding Officer of communications of II-10R.I. in the fortifications near Veenendaal-De Klomp and
2) having voluntarily performed special tasks, in particular having driven a Dutch armored vehicle through the closed area in a tactful manner

Royal Decree No.26, dated November 12th, 1947.

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Res. 1e luitenant der artillerie (1st Lieutenant of Reserves)

Unit:

Bureau Inlichtingen (BI), Nederlandse Strijdkrachten in het Westen

Awarded on:

December 14th, 1949

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

awarded with 1 clasp

Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

• - MEIJER, H.G., Bronzen Leeuw, Bronzen Kruis, De Bataafsche Leeuw, Amsterdam, 1990.
  - SIMONS, J., Liniecrossers, Omniboek, 2021.
  - Dapperheidsonderscheidingen aan Nederlanders voor de Tweede Wereldoorlog