The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Jan Gijsbers
(Jan Frederik)

When the occupation began in 1940, Jan Gijsbers from Venlo was first lieutenant.
Cammaert writes: Led the regional reserve of the O.D. in Limburg. Gijsbers was also in charge of the first (military) camp for people in hiding on the western bank of the Maas. [1]
The intention was to give the young men, who were hiding there because they did not want to do forced labor in Germany, a military training. That went wrong due to poor secrecy. As a result, a Dutch National Socialist discovered the camp. Not knowing that the latter had already reported his discovery, it was decided to kill that traitor, with the approval of a local clergyman.
Finally, the vicar approved the plan to kill the traitor: “Better one than the whole camp. Resistance man Wiel Houwen immediately went to the camp and informed Commander Gijsbers, also passing on the traitor’s name and address. Jan Gijsbers put together a liquidation commando of four people, including his adjutant, Marine J. Nabben [2]
In retrospect, therefore, that liquidation made no sense, quite the contrary. The hospitable farmer Cornelis Krans and the Jewish family De Jong from Nijmegen, who were in an underground hiding place near the farm, did not survive the war. But otherwise there were no casualties. [3]
The government held this acting of Jan Gijsbers in such high esteem that he was awarded the Bronze Cross for it, among other things, on October 8, 1951. The recommendation for Royal Decree number 20 says about this:
He has distinguished himself by courageous conduct in combat against the enemy in mid-1941 until he was ordered at the end of September 1944 to cross the lines into liberated territory as commander of the Mobiele Gewestelijke Reserve (mobile regional reserve) of Gewest 19 (Area 19) of the Ordedienst (OD) Limburg.
In particular for having seen to it in a tactful manner, as commander of a camp for armed military personnel in hiding in the vicinity of Helden, that after the camp had been surrounded by some 300 enemies as a result of betrayal, his men were able to escape in the nick of time taking all weapons and equipment with them. [4]

Footnotes

1. Cammaert, A. P. M. (1994). Het verborgen front: Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
   Hoofdst. 0, pp.18ff: Introductie van vaak genoemde personen
2. floddergatsblog: Een liquidatie in Kronenberg. (3)/
3. Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front – Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Doctorale scriptie 1994, Groningen
   8. De Ordedienst, pp.883 ff.
4. Traces of War, Jan Frederik Gijsbers • Nederlands • English