Dutch press coverage of the five-day tour of the Netherlands by Mel and Audrey Ferrer was extensive. Articles in the 6 November 1954 Democratisch-Socialistisch Dagblad and Het Vrije Volk were especially illuminating. The country’s no-nonsense reporters clearly loved their favorite daughter, but not her brusque-to-the-point-of-rudeness husband. Ferrer’s behavior rated headlines in the Dutch press, and they pulled no punches in describing his treatment of everyone from a cheese-toting little girl to his own wife. Through it all, Audrey is described as remaining above the fray.
21. Ultimatum
Audrey spoke of “the war diet” on the Anne Frank tour. Maddie van Leenders positioned the logic of Ella’s move to The Hague—she was seeking a safe harbor for herself and Audrey and these were the reasons why The Hague was the right place to settle after leaving Velp. Dolle Dinsdag is one of the most famous days in Dutch history and has been written about extensively. All the diaries mention it, and so do all the histories. The air attack on Wolfheze and the sudden appearance of SS Panzer vehicles and troops in Velp seemed to be random incidents as mentioned by Jansen and others, but they signaled much grander events. These were opening movements in what would become the Operation Market Garden saga, and so they have been covered by Ryan, Kershaw, and Martin Middlebrook in his opus, Arnhem 1944, among a legion of other authors.
22. The Devil’s Picnic
Audrey’s quote about the opening of the battle was taken from Woodward. Greta Stephany’s account of the first bombing runs appeared in The Dutch in Wartime Series Volume 7: Caught in the Crossfire. Many Market Garden histories chronicle the opening bombardment; I used Kershaw and Middlebrook. For the perspective of the Velpenaren, I consulted local diaries and also interviewed survivors. Kate ter Horst’s diary was published as Cloud over Arnhem: Oosterbeek—September 1944. Kate’s daughter, Sophie, who was a survivor of the battle, handed a copy in English to me in the ter Horst garden, where fifty-nine Tommies had been buried. Receiving Sophie ter Horst’s embrace in that place, a moment arranged by battle historian Robert Voskuil, was something I will never forget.
Various Market Garden histories detail the impressive response of Model to the landings he observed to the west. He did not react as portrayed in the screen version of A Bridge Too Far, because as director Richard Attenborough said more than once, “I’m not making history—I’m making a movie!”
The actions at the Hotel Naeff were relayed in the oral histories of interview subjects in Velp. As for the movements of the van Heemstras on this day, I was guided by the common experiences of the various reporters in Velp, including Jansen (on Oranjestraat) and van Hensbergen (on Rozendaalselaan). These two and others I interviewed responded to the sirens and the nearness of aircraft engines; otherwise, they were out of doors trying to see what was going on. Very early on, the people of Velp knew they were living a moment in history.
Over the course of three investigations in two-and-a-half years, I covered the entire area of the battles for Arnhem and Oosterbeek, from the British landing zones on Ginkel Heath eastward through Oosterbeek, Arnhem, and Velp. All these visits were key to my ability to write about the events of 17 September.
23. Cakewalk
Historian Robert Voskuil, who led me on tours of the entire battle area, found Piet Hoefsloot’s mini-story of the battle in the archives of the Society of Friends of the Airborne Museum. Accounts of Frost’s men were found in Middlebrook and Kershaw, and I used Frost’s descriptions from his memoir, A Drop Too Many. Wilhelmina Schouten’s account also came from Middlebrook. An understanding of the city of Arnhem and the terrain from St. Elisabeth’s to the Arnhem Road Bridge resulted from multiple site visits to the area.
The pre-dawn moment when a woman flung open her window and frightened the Tommies was courtesy of teenager Anje van Maanen’s incredible diary that was published in 2015.
Perspectives of the Velpenaren, including Audrey’s, were provided through diaries and in many interviews with people who were children then, Audrey’s age or younger, and who vividly recalled their proximity to the battle. They suddenly found themselves in the middle of frightful commotion, a deafening cacophony, and a growing force of German troops and captured Tommies. Among those interviewed were Clan and Annemarth Visser ’t Hooft, Herman van Remmen, Ben van Griethuysen, Rosemarie Kamphuisen, and Dick Mantel. All remained in Velp through the entirety of the battle.
24. Aflame
One of the most vivid September 1944 memories of those living in Velp was the blood-red western horizon on the first nights of the battle as Arnhem burned. The account of the last days of Cornelia, Countess van Limburg Stirum, was found in Biographische woordenboek Gelderland: bekende en onbekende mannen en vrouwen by P.W. van Wissing.
Site visits to Oosterbeek and research at the Gelders Archief provided background for descriptions of the village as a scene of battle.
Many accounts talk about the refugees streaming out of Arnhem, and Audrey would speak of the heartbreak of it often, as in a syndicated article that appeared in the 13 November 1953 Joplin Globe, a biographical feature in the April 1954 issue of Modern Screen, and a feature promoting Funny Face in the October 1956 issue of Dance. The SS view of the Tommies was taken from Das Reich by Max Hastings, and confirmed by Frost in A Drop Too Many. Reports of tanks on Rozendaalselaan were confirmed by Dick Mantel, who spent the battle there. Jansen and van Hensbergen both wrote of the situation in Velp, with refugees streaming in from the west and fresh German troops from the east. Above all, interviews with the Velpenaren who experienced the battle allowed me to tell this story.
25. Champagne for One
Audrey’s statement about living conditions after the battle was taken from an interview after the Somalia trip in autumn 1992 that was to run in International Newsweek. Loe de Jong chronicled the railway strike in his Dutch war history. Audrey’s quotes about the refugees appeared in Dance. Ter Horst’s quote came from Cloud Over Arnhem, and the German officer’s quote from Middelbrook. Jansen’s diary entries proved invaluable to set the scene in Velp, as did interviews with the eyewitnesses.
Deane-Drummond’s story first appeared in his memoir, Return Ticket. In the original 1967 edition from Collins in London, he referred only to “a local baroness” who “sent round a bottle of champagne.” But a second edition capitalized on his proximity to the van Heemstras in Velp, and, suddenly, he was describing meeting young Audrey and the baroness during his time on the run. He referred to them being “next door” when in fact Rozendaalselaan 32 and Schaapsdrift Overbeek 16 were a fraction of a mile apart. Velp historian Gety Hengeveld-de Jong took me on a tour of the homes and buildings where Deane-Drummond hid, and based on geography alone, it’s quite unlikely that the phantom major met up with Ella or Audrey in person. I put some faith in his original account that a baroness, probably Ella, sent him a bottle of champagne “for the road.” But that’s about it. His quote toward the end of the chapter was taken from Return Ticket.
The surprising revelation that the van Heemstras sheltered a Tommy at the Beukenhof was provided by Luca Dotti in a June 2018 interview. Because Audrey worked for Dr. Visser ’t Hooft, the story works in all ways. As Luca said, “My mother wasn’t one to make up stories.” And since the van Heemstras were not shot, it’s clear the British fugitive made it out with the help of the Dutch Resistance. Her quote about Les Gueux was found in Harris.
26. The Princess
Every writer needs an angle, but Eleanor Harris writing in the August 1959 issue of Good Housekeeping, ostensibly on the release of the picture, The Nun’s Story, went to the extreme to find some “dirt” on Audrey Hepburn. It’s not often that a star is taken to task for not having faults, but that was Hepburn’s sin on this occasion. The quote by Hepburn about her mother was taken from Edward Klein’s 5 March 1989 feature in the Parade newspaper supplement.
27. Hunters
The opening quote was from a syndicated 13 November 1953 personality profile that appeared in the Joplin Globe. Informat
ion about the 2nd TAF appeared in Davig Wragg’s Fighter Operations in Europe & North Africa 1939–1945. Audrey spoke of the incident with the Spitfire in Ivo Niehe’s 1988 interview for AVROTROS. The situation in Velp was described in interviews and in the diaries of Jansen and van Hensbergen. Ben van Griethuysen told me of the rocket attack that killed his mother in a June 2017 interview; Annemarth Visser ’t Hooft provided her perspective in an April 2018 article, and van Hensbergen and Jansen both described the attack. The Allied pilot’s view by Sir Kenneth Adam was courtesy of The Lost Evidence: Breakout from Normandy from Flashback Television and The History Channel in 2006.
28. The Magic Stamp
The quote about complaining appeared in the Joplin Globe. Jansen reported on the 5 October rocket attacks, on the food situation, and on the refugees from Gennep and its impact on the already-critical shortage of food; van Hensbergen remarked on the steps he took to try to find food for his family in October. Loe de Jong covered the Gennep attack in his World War II series.
Jansen devoted many diary entries to the rumors about Velp’s pending evacuation. Gety Hengeveld-de Jong discussed that situation with me and Clan Visser ’t Hooft mentioned that her father kept a handcart loaded with supplies for the moment the evacuation order came. Verborgen in Velp discussed the one version of how Velp was spared; Dick Mantel provided the story of the prized Dolfuss stamp and seemed confident of its truth. Because of Mantel’s reliability as an eyewitness, the story seems valid, although Hengeveld-de Jong’s rationale about the necessity of keeping Velp a thriving town is compelling. Audrey’s vivid description of life at this time was found in the insightful Joplin Globe piece. Ben van Griethuysen spoke about his time with Audrey in the June 2017 interview.
The fact that Audrey worked as the volunteer aide of Dr. Visser ’t Hooft is critical to understanding why she was asked to carry messages or deliver the Resistance newspaper. She mentioned her stint as “papergirl” in the New York Post, 22 April 1991. Clan and Annemarth Visser ’t Hooft discussed their father the Resistance leader and his activities in our April 2018 interview.
Velp resident and aviation historian Johan Vermeulen accompanied me on a tour of the sprawling air base, the Diogenes command bunker, and Museum Vliegbasis Deelen in June 2017. The worsening food situation in November 1944 was covered in van der Zee’s The Hunger Winter.
29. Streaking Evil
Audrey’s quote about the last potatoes was taken from an undated article that described a UNICEF press conference in the Dutch city of Maastricht. The story of the Green Police raid on the Ziekenhuis was covered in both Verborgen in Velp and in 100 Jaar Ziekenhuis Velp. The story of Sinterklaas and this particular Sint-Nicolaas Eve was found in van Hensbergen and Jansen, with the Audrey angle provided by Clan Visser ’t Hooft. Ella’s discussion of Sinterklaas was found in her unpublished manuscript. Audrey’s quote about children was taken from Richard Brown’s article in the My Fair Lady restoration program. Maddie van Leenders provided perspective on the adult traditions of Sint-Nicolaas. Her quote about the use of humor in dark times was taken from the Ivo Niehe AVROTROS 1988 interview.
I can only wish that someone had mentioned the term V1 to Audrey to get her reaction, because the V1s became a life-or-death matter in Velp beginning in mid-December 1944 and held the attention of everyone every day. The diaries return to the topic daily and even seventy-plus years later, mention of V1 triggered vivid memories among my interview subjects.
The account of the civilians in the cellar was found in Louis Hagen’s Arnhem Lift: A German Jew in the Glider Pilot Regiment. Jansen provided details of the ever-more-severe rationing and van der Zee an overview of the food situation in December.
30. Peace on Earth. Yeah, Right.
Audrey’s quote about dwindling food supplies appeared in The Guardian, 29 March 1988. Dick Mantel provided details about the baron’s nighttime visits to listen to Radio Oranje. The shelling from Nijmegen was described by Jansen. Audrey’s description about family members entertaining each other appeared in the Joplin Globe. Van Hensbergen’s cynical quote about peace on earth was found in his diary. John Hackett’s I Was a Stranger is perhaps the best account of a member of the British Airborne living amongst the Dutch, and from his vantage point in Ede, Hackett had a clear view of the V1s over Velp. Audrey’s statement about the last few months of the war was taken from the autumn 1992 UNICEF interview after the Somalia trip. The quote by Cornelia Fuykschot was taken from her book, Hunger in Holland: Life During the Nazi Occupation. Art Bos described life in Amsterdam in The Hunger Winter, Book 8 in The Dutch in Wartime: Survivors Remember series.
31. A Tree
This chapter was drawn from a thirteen-page statement Audrey gave Christopher Dickey after visiting Somalia. The document is titled “Somalia: The Silent Children” by Audrey Hepburn; I found it in the Barry Paris papers at the University of Pittsburgh. I scrutinized the Somalia trip because of its effect on Audrey. She told her friend Anna Cataldi, “War didn’t kill me, and this won’t either,” but, said Cataldi, “I had this feeling that sooner or later, war kills you. She was so skinny. I felt something was really wrong.”
A June 2018 interview with Luca Dotti provided additional insight on the trepidations of Luca and Sean about the trip and its devastating impact on Audrey.
32. The Race
Audrey’s quote about the food situation was found in the 1 May 1953 issue of the Paris News [Texas]. Henri van der Zee’s The Hunger Winter provided information about conditions in the Netherlands in February and March 1945. Her quote about eating tulip bulbs appeared in the 20 January 1992 issue of the Chicago Tribune, and her quote about stretch marks from edema appeared in the 26 May 1991 issue of the Sunday Telegraph.
In her acclaimed book Hunger: An Unnatural History, Sharman Apt Russell provided an overview of the Minnesota Experiment, begun in 1944 with volunteers at the University of Minnesota to understand the effects of semi-starvation on humans so that once the war ended, the Allies would know how best to treat survivors in the Netherlands and elsewhere. Conditions for the volunteers simulated what the Dutch were experiencing, with unsettling results. After reading about the Minnesota Experiment, I could piece together what Audrey and others in Velp endured. Up to now, only Audrey’s descriptions have been available, and she shied away from any graphic details about those dark months of the Hunger Winter. Audrey’s Somalia document included her statement about bartering belongings for food. Details about the breaking of the famine were found in van der Zee.
Many times Audrey told the story about Meisje urging them all to stay in bed the next day because there was no food. I took the quote from Parade.
The ambush of Rauter’s car was detailed in van der Zee and also described by Loe de Jong. I visited the remote spot of the ambush and then the executions of Dutch civilians—all of which took place near the Woeste Hoeve Inn. Jansen reported on the German reprisals that went on across Velp. Audrey described the executions in her 1988 interview with Ivo Niehe, the near kidnapping in the June 1954 issue of McCall’s magazine, and the shelling in her 5 June 1991 appearance on CNN’s Larry King Live. The shootdown of the V1 that came to earth on Oranjestraat was detailed in Jansen and discussed in my interview with Herman van Remmen, who lost four siblings in the explosion. Despite the fact that the explosion occurred in the middle of the night and therefore after curfew, just about every citizen in the village rushed to the scene because everyone knew everyone in Velp. I couldn’t imagine that the van Heemstras would be the exception. Jansen detailed the new and more generous rations after the welcome arrival of a food shipment.
33. Gates of Hell
My starting point for this project was early research about the last year of the war and Velp’s role in it. Many of her past biographies boil this part of Audrey’s life down to, “Audrey lived under German occupation for five years.” Then the next sentence might begin, “After the war…” But the stunning thing is, this girl with the big brown eyes not only lived under Germa
n rule, but she saw the final days of World War II. She lived it. I wanted to bring the reader inside her world and make the connection between the shy fifteen year old and the entertainer/humanitarian who is still beloved more than a quarter century after her passing.
Audrey’s quote about anemia appeared in the 1 May 1953 issue of the Paris News, and Clan Visser ’t Hooft identified Dr. Adriaan van der Willigen as the Velpsche physician who had become expert in issues related to edema because he had treated Clan and her sister Annemarth for the same condition. The detailed reports in Steven Jansen’s diary described the action of the fighters over Velp and general destruction as days passed. Van Hensbergen in his diary gave specifics about the situation on the van Heemstras’ street, Rozendaalselaan, and Dick Mantel provided his own descriptions based on his vantage point within yards of the Beukenhof. Audrey’s quote about parts of her house being shot away was taken from the Ivo Niehe interview.
Her quote about having nothing to talk about because nothing had happened during the day appeared in the Joplin Globe, 13 November 1953. It’s a telling quote because a great deal was indeed happening all around her, just not in the cellar of Villa Beukenhof.
The picture I painted on 14 April as Audrey and the baron ventured outside is drawn from what was known to be going on that day. I can’t say for certain that Audrey stood on the street and looked left and right, but it’s not unreasonable to expect that she did, and if she did, this is precisely what she would have seen—based also on my many visits to the spot. Neighbors were dying in a radius around the Beukenhof; Audrey might have been just another casualty of war if the wind had changed the course of just one rocket or grenade.
Diarists and interview subjects described the last days of the occupation and the final battle for Velp. Audrey spoke about the village being liberated house to house on Larry King Live, and she wasn’t exaggerating. German troops had been ordered to fight to the death, and that’s exactly what they did. Many had nothing to lose because they had nowhere else to go; their homeland had been destroyed and, in many cases, their families along with it.
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