Engelandvaarder

'Sailor to England') is a term given to a Dutch person who, during the Second World War, after the capitulation of the Dutch armed forces on 15 May 1940 and before the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) left the occupied territories of the Netherlands with the intention of reaching England in order to join the Allied Forces and to continue the struggle against the Axis powers.

In July 1940 three Dutchmen escaped from the occupied Netherlands and crossed the North Sea to England in a twelve-foot boat.

With time, land routes out of the Netherlands developed, and a number of the Dutch reached England by traveling overland from safe house to safe house to reach southern France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland or Sweden and from the neutral country transited to England.

Some escaped from detention, such as Bram van der Stok, the most successful Dutch fighter pilot in World War II, who escaped with Bodo Sandberg and four other Engelandvaarders from the prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III, in a car stolen from the camp commander.

[4] Once they cleared the interview process they all had a meeting with Queen Wilhelmina, who viewed them as her window back to her homeland.

The musical is performed in a Theaterhangar on the former airfield Valkenburg near Katwijk and has since attracted more than 3 million visitors.