Rudi Hemmes

Rudi Willem Hemmes (20 June 1923 – 13 November 2022) was a Dutch Engelandvaarder and major general at the Royal Netherlands Air Force. He is seen as a figurehead of the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade.
Biography.
World War II started when Hemmes was sixteen years old. He decided to join the resistance. Among others he sabotaged German cars by throwing sugar into the petrol tanks. Together with a friend he decided to go to England in May 1943. Via France, Spain and Portugal they were able to arrive in England in May 1943, where they arrived in February 1944. There they joined the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade in Wolverhampton. On 8 August 8 1944 he landed with that brigade on the beaches of Normandy, from where they moved to the Netherlands.
After the war he stayed in the army. In the 1970s he was commander of the Air Force Kaderschool in Schaarsbergen.
Hemmes received several awards for his services. In 2013 he bacame an honorary citizen of The Hague. He also received awards in other countries, including France. In 2019 Hemmes was with Beatrix of the Netherlands during the Speech from the throne. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands mentioned him in the speech. He said he sees him as a hero, "who risked his own life to choose the future of our country and now, 75 years later, it is still the future that drives him. That is not only inspiring, it is a assignment to all of us".
Hemmes died in The Hague on 13 November 2022, at the age of 99. Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Máxima of the Netherlands and Beatrix of the Netherlands replied to his death that they were "intensely grateful for everything he has meant to our country until a very old age". Also the mayor of The Hague Jan van Zanen responded to his death.