Discover the story of Arie Schouten and his memories of Julianadorp during wartime.
As a boy of about ten years old, Arie Schouten’s childhood took place between the construction of bunkers and everyday life under German occupation. In what was then still called Callantsoog, his father ran a trucking company and transported, among other things, milk for the Hollandia factory. One day, however, the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, requisitioned the truck to transport materials for bunker construction. Sometimes Arie went along with his father in the truck, a life-threatening journey due to the constant risk of aerial attacks. On one occasion, Arie saw a British fighter aircraft crash, tearing off part of a church tower in its descent and landing directly on the milk factory, where the director was killed on the spot.
The transport of materials for the bunkers went through storage sites in Duinoord, Kortevliet, and Schagen, but also via a unloading site at the beach access De Zandloper, where the gun bunker M219 still stands today. There, the trucks were loaded and the materials were brought to the bunkers. The construction process of the bunkers continued day and night. Dunes turned into grey landscapes of cement dust, sand dredgers dug tank trenches, and hundreds of landmines lay on the plot next to Arie’s house, ready to be deployed.
He remembers how German soldiers from Anna Paulowna accidentally entered a minefield, were injured, and were treated in a café next to their house.
After the war, Arie returned to the bunkers, including the Gun Bunker M219 near the beach access. There he discovered that the occupiers had left behind all kinds of metals and materials. Together with friends, he collected stoves, doors, air ventilators, and even gas masks and signal pistols. This became a trade driven partly by necessity and partly by curiosity. He describes playing with large cannons and discovering intermediate floors and elevators, all with the unguarded curiosity of a boy who still felt the war as something tangible.
Arie Schouten’s memories show how a child’s everyday life during the war became intertwined with the construction of bunkers, the dangers of landmines, and the occupation.
Disclaimer & source attribution: These stories were provided by participating locations and volunteers of Bunkerdag and are based on personal memories of those involved. They are subjective and may differ from historical facts or be experienced differently by others. No rights can be derived from this content.