Page 9 - aruba-today-20201019

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LOCAL Monday 19 october 2020
Aruba and the Second World War

Continued from Page 8 in 1942. When he was in the story of the exploded
Rotterdam on an important guns came to be found
After the attack on San assignment in July 1944, is a chapter of its own: in
Nicolas and Lago, the in- he was seized by the Ger- the years after the war, an
habitants of San Nicolas mans and imprisoned in American staff member of
began to move away. Scheveningen. He refused the Lago decided to spend
Many Arubans went to to mention the names of his several months leave in
Santa Cruz, families of his resistance friends and in Europe. As was custom- tively researched by vari- footage can be found un-
Americans traveled back November of that year he ary at the time, he took his ous historians and so is this der DAN'S MOVIE.
to the US via Maracaibo. was shot on the Waaldorp car on vacation. And so story. After the war, the logs At reunions of former La-
Immediately after the at- Plateau. After the war his an American car with Aru- of the U-boats and also of go-Colony residents, ev-
tack, artillery positions remains were transferred ban license plates drove the U-156 were captured ery other year in the US or
began: tent camps were to Aruba and he was bur- through Europe. When he by the Allies from the Ger- in Aruba, so-called U-156
erected at the Seroe Col- ied there in April 1947 with was in Germany at one mans. The story of the ex- Round-Table Conferences
orado lighthouse and at military honors. In memory point and drove into a gas ploded guns could thus be take place regularly where
Seagrape Cove. of Aruba’s resistance hero, station to refuel, he was confirmed. various experts shed their
a park with a bust of Boy helped by a somewhat in- light on truth and fiction in
The tankers that had to Ecury was established on firm man; at the sight of the For more about the attack this regard, as well as new
bring oil from Lake Mara- the Boulevard in Oranjes- Aruban license plate, the on Aruba in World War II publications about the sub-
caibo to Aruba had to pro- tad in 1949. His cousin Ted German exclaimed: "Ah, see: www.lago-colony. ject. Reports of these con-
ceed very carefully from Schouten has written a that's where I lost my leg!” com, under World War II. In ferences can also be found
now on: they only sailed in book about his story enti- And that's how this story particular, the article from at www.lago-colony.com,
convoys accompanied by tled Boy Ecury, an Antillean came about. the ARUBA ESSO NEWS in 'newsletters' under U-156
naval vessels and patrolling boy in the resistance; this goes into detail about the Roundtable Discussions.
aircraft. book was made into a film The history of U-boat expe- events on board the U-156 Source: http://www.histo-
by filmmaker Frans Weisz. ditions has been exhaus- and photos and unique film riadiaruba.aw/. q
Also in 1944 a few ships
were torpedoed off the The legend of U-156
coast of Aruba. The story of U-156 also men-
From 1942, the water and tions that, in addition to a
food supply was precari- fatality, there was also
ous in Aruba. This was due a seriously injured crew
to the large number of member who lost his leg
people, mainly soldiers, in the explosion. This seri-
that had been added and, ously injured person was
moreover, a lot was built. brought to Martinique af-
As always they were com- ter U-156 had withdrawn
pletely dependent on sup- from Aruban waters. This
plies from outside, but the was French territory, but
Battle of the Atlantic raged took a neutral position.
in all its fierce and many There was a military hospi-
boats with food and mate- tal and the wounded was
rial did not make the cross- left there for treatment. By
ing. the way, things didn't end
well with U-156: a year lat-
Aruba has a homegrown er, when the U-boat (with
war hero: Boy Ecury, born and other crew) surfaced
in 1922. He studied in the elsewhere in the Carib-
Netherlands since 1937 bean during a patrol mis-
and stayed there when sion at one point and was
war broke out in 1940. With not on his guard, an Ameri-
his great sense of justice can bomber suddenly ap-
and with an urge to fight peared and seized the sub-
against the occupier, he marine. U-156 was wrecked
joined the Dutch resistance with man and mouse. How