Jan van Schaffelaer Barracks

The first residents of the new barracks were people from the Barneveld, Hoevelaken and Nijkerk region who had fled the war in May 1940. German occupiers belonging to the 'SS Verfügungstruppe Pionier Bataillon' - loosely translated: 'SS Support Troops Engineer Battalion' - were the following users. At first, the citizens of Ermelo were hardly bothered by the occupiers of the somewhat remote barracks. However, the name of the 'Jan van Schaffelaer Barracks' took on a more sinister sound at the end of the war when resistance fighters were locked up there awaiting transport to internment camps. After the liberation of Ermelo on April 18, 1945, the roles were reversed and members of the 'Domestic Forces' used the barracks to lock up German prisoners of war and collaborators. The Canadian liberators of Ermelo did not use the facilities of the Jan van Schaffelaer barracks. They generally avoided using buildings abandoned by the Germans. This was done for security reasons, such as the possible presence of booby traps, but also because the location of such locations was known to the enemy down to the meter. Shortly after the capitulation on May 5, the barracks was used as a training center for Gelderland resistance fighters who were transitioning into regular military service. In principle, they receive training for security and surveillance tasks to be carried out under British Command in Germany. In the course of 1945, the assignment changed and the men, then assigned to 1-8 Infantry Regiment 'Veluwe Battalion', nicknamed 'De Haantjes', left for the Dutch East Indies. The main task for this unit is to restore order and peace in the Dutch East Indies, together with KNIL troops.

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Source

• Text: Stichting Behoud Oorlogsherinneringen
• Photos: TracesOfWar.com