André Hissink was studying to become a lawyer when he was called up for military service. Even though he had no desire to enlist, he was drafted into army duty by the Dutch government in 1939 due to the German threat on Holland’s eastern border.

“I never had the intention to join the army but was forced to due to those circumstances. My intent was to become a lawyer, I never made it. I got my call up in my third year (of University) on Oct. 3, 1939. A week later, I was in uniform,” said André. The minute he donned his uniform Hissink’s aspirations to become a lawyer would dissolve and his life would change forever.

Born in the Dutch East Indies, educated in Europe
André Louis Armand Hissink was born in the Dutch East Indies (or Indonesia as it is now known) in 1919. At the age of eight years old his family moved back to Europe to the city of Hilversum in Holland. In later years his family would move to Kalmthout in Belgium, but André and his brother would continue their education in Holland, crossing the Dutch-Belgian border twice a day to go to high school. After completing high school, Hissink headed for the University of Utrecht in central Holland where he studied law for three years prior to his enlistment.

Enlisted and first based in Europe
On May 10, 1940, as Hissink stood guard in Rotterdam swarms of German planes flew over the city, the German invasion of Holland had begun. André and his military colleagues initially thought the planes were destined for England but they soon received information about enemy paratroopers nearby. There were several gun battles in Rotterdam before the Germans bombarded the city four days later using dive bomber planes on May 14. Hissink and some other soldiers took cover in a tunnel that ran under the river Maas before two trucks took them to the city of Vlaadingen just west of Rotterdam.

“We hadn’t had food for quite some time and were exhausted,” said André. “Halfway we stopped, and the officer told us: ‘it’s time for lunch, get some bread from the bakery’.” At this point there were large clouds of smoke rising from the burning city that was Rotterdam. Hissink and five of his friends decided to make a move for Hook of Holland in a bid to get on a boat. They somehow managed to get into a car even though some of the men had to hang onto the outside of the vehicle en route to Hook of Holland. Once there they spotted a large military boat - a British destroyer beside the quay - and asked to board it in the hopes of crossing the North Sea to England.

After attempting to shoot down a German plane and avoiding a magnetic sea mine dropped by the enemy plane, the British Destroyer carried Hissink and his five friends to England. “I was corporal in the Dutch army when we left Hook of Holland. After we had arrived in Dover, I became a sergeant,” said Hissink. The Dutch government officially surrendered to the Germans on May 15, 1940 and a month later the ship that saved Hissink and his friends was sank in battle near Dunkirk. Between June and September of 1940 Hissink was at a Royal Air Force (RAF) station near Birmingham preparing to depart for the Dutch East Indies.

Love enters André’s life
Before he left for the Dutch East Indies love stepped into André’s life. “During my last week in England, I became acquainted with an English girl named Janet Russell. Eventually we married in August 1941 in Surabaya, in the Dutch East Indies.” The day André left for the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) from Liverpool there was an air raid on the port. Hissink and his friends boarded a large trooper ship and made the lengthy journey out east.

André arrived in the Dutch East Indies late November and visited family in Batavia before starting his training in December 1940. He learned the basics of flying in Surabaya and later applied as a trainee Officer-Airman in the Dutch Naval Airforce but didn’t get to fly much. About a year after Hissink’s training began the imperial Japanese navy bombed Pearl Harbour on December 7, 1941. Following the infamous attack imperial ground forces entered and conquered territories of Indochina, the Philippines, China, Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, and the Dutch East Indies.

Hissink expected to be sent to England following his training on December 15, 1941, but with the Dutch Naval Airforce on high alert due to Japan’s aggression in the area he stayed put in the Dutch East Indies. ”The situation had become so bad. I was in Bandung temporarily working at the office of Commander Lt. Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell. But on the February 17, 1942 I was requested to quickly return to Surabaya.”

Separated from his love
The next day Hissink and his wife were in a bank in Surabaya when bombs fell. Scared for their safety, they were able to hide in the bank’s cellar thanks to a helpful clerk. Janet accompanied her husband to a nearby port where Hissink boarded the Australia-bound SS Tjinegara.

Janet – not being military personnel – wasn’t allowed on the boat. Instead, she met an English friend bound for Australia and despite having no ticket snuck onto that boat as a stowaway to Australia. She later made herself known to crew and Hissink’s father, still in the Dutch East Indies, paid her fare to the shipping company. Sadly, things would soon turn bad for André’s father. “After Japan completely occupied the Dutch East Indies, my family and father were eventually captured, and locked up in a camp,” said André. “My father died three years after the war, due to suffering in a concentration camp, where he got ill (TB).”

A world tour of duty: Australia; San Francisco, England
Janet followed two days after Hissink arrived in Australia and husband and wife were reunited in Sydney. Hissink only spent a short period in Australia before being transferred to San Francisco. This time Janet was allowed to travel with him on the SS Mariposa for the lengthy cross-Pacific journey. Once in California André and Janet’s journey continued by train to Jackson airbase in the state of Mississippi. This was home to the RNMFS (Royal Netherlands Military Flying School)

In Jackson, Hissink finally had the chance to send his family in Holland a letter thanks to the “black cross” which was an illegal, underground letter delivery service that helped families stay connected in occupied territories. He eventually received a reply that his Dutch family were okay. In April of 1943 Hissink completed his RNMFS training and he and Janet headed for England. “We left the USA for England on the SS Queen Elizabeth. The ship was packed with troops. The next day after departure, the vessel was in pack–ice which thankfully provided some protection against (enemy) submarines.”

After his arrival to England in May of 1943 André was posted with 320 Squadron who were stationed near Attlebridge, a village near the city of Norwich. Squadron 320 moved in August of 1943 from the base near Attlebridge, to Lasham, and in February of 1944 from Lasham to Dunsfold which was just south of London. In October 1944, Squadron 320 finally moved out to the continent, Airbase Melsbroek in Belgium. Two months later things would take a turn for the worst.

Tragedy in the air
On his leave day, December 29, 1944 Hissink’s crew was asked to replace another air crew. During the night mission their plane was hit by Flak - a German anti-aircraft gun - and both engines stopped running and burst into flames. “Our crew tried to bail out, but the escape hatches did not work,” said Hissink. “Finally, only the front hatch gave way. One of our gunners, in the back, Joop Jillings, lost his life. Hissink and the surviving crew members all got out but Jillings went down with the aircraft.”

As the plane was slowly going down over enemy-occupied territory Hissink - looking at the map - told his captain, "if we can hold on for 10 minutes, we will be (away from enemy territory) over our own liberated areas. That is what we did and started jumping out." As for the man (Jillings) they lost, "that is still our big regret, that we lost this one man,” said André. On New Year’s Day 1945, Airbase Melsbroek in Belgium was attacked by the Luftwaffe (the German airforce) but Hissink survived. With so many near misses and close calls it’s safe to say André felt very lucky to be alive at that point.

Life after the war: New Zealand; Vancouver; Montreal
He left the military in 1947 but the availability of vacant jobs was minimal. Since all of his experience was in that field Hissink needed employment in the air Industry. He ended up working for KLM in Holland for three years before immigrating to New Zealand with Janet. There he worked in the Air Department in Wellington and he and Janet lived there for eight years.

From Wellington André and Janet moved to Vancouver in 1959 and then onto Montreal in 1962. In 2014 Hissink paid his respects to his fellow soldiers by visiting a cemetery in Grebbeberg, Holland where many crew members of the 320 Squadron are buried. During his time in the military André was awarded with the Airman’s Cross, the War Memorial Cross and a medal for honour and extended service as an officer.

Today

Today André Louis Armand Hissink is a resident of Aspira Carolina Retirement Living in Perth, Ontario. He is 103 years old.