Charles Gesner van der Voort (1916-1991) worked in Shanghai for Holland-China Trading Company from just before WWII. After the outbreak of war, two of his colleagues went to England, to join Dutch forces, they became "Engelandvaarders" from the East. One of them was Karel Baggerman (1918-1982). He joined Princess Irene Brigade, was trained as one of the first Dutch commandos and participated in two major military operations in The Netherlands: Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Walcheren.
He survived both, married his English wife and worked in the Far East after the war. He rejoined Holland-China Trading Company (Shanghai 1946-1949, Hong Kong 1950-1951) and worked for other companies in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. After retirement, he and his wife lived in England.
In 1951 he was awarded for bravery with the Dutch Bronze Cross. <a href="http://www.onderscheidingen.nl/decorandi/wo2/dec_b01.html" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.onderscheidingen.nl/decorandi/wo2/dec_b01.html</a>
On 17 September 1944, he landed near Groesbeek in a glider and went to Nijmegen, to get in touch with several Dutch local authorities and underground resistance. He managed to to so and also helped to setup temporary hospitals.
On 1 November 1944, he landed in Vlissingen, under heavy machine gun fire, went to the city centre and was injured near the Post Office.
Courtesy Baggerman family archives
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