11/18/21, 8:11 PM Ida Veldhuyzen van Zanten - Wikipedia

Ida Veldhuyzen van Zanten

Ida Laura Veldhuyzen van Zanten (22 June 1911 - 19 October
2000) was a member of the Dutch resistance during the Second
Ida Laura Veldhuyzen van
World War and a pilot in the British Air Transport Auxiliary. She Zanten
was the only woman to receive the Vliegerkruis, the Airman's
Cross.[1]

Contents
Early life and education
Second World War
Post war and later life
Awards and recognition
References
Further reading
External links
Born 22 June 1911

Hillegom
Early life and education Died 19 October 2000

Emmen
Ida Laura Veldhuyzen van Zanten was born in Hillegom on 22 Occupation Air Transport Auxiliary
June 1911 and grew up with six brothers. Her father was a bulb
pilot, social worker
grower and the family business still exists as Royal Van Zanten.[2]
She attended a boarding school in Zetten, where she met fellow
student Maria Sluis, with whom she remained friends until the end of her life. Together they went to
study at the Christelijk Instituut voor Christelijke Sociale Arbeid (the Christian Social Work Institute)
in Amsterdam. They lived in an attic and travelled a lot, including riding on ox-cart to the Pyrenees.
Van Zanten worked as an au pair in France for a year and a half, and sailed alone on cargo ships to
visit her brother in America.[3]

Van Zanten wanted to become an air stewardess for KLM, the Netherlands' flag carrier airline, but was
rejected in 1936 as she did not have a gymnasium diploma (secondary education qualification).
Disappointed, she went on a world tour with money she had recently inherited from her parents. She
travelled through the United States, Japan, China, Korea, and Indonesia, where she first went up in an
aircraft, before returning home.[4] She then left for Britain where she earned her pilot's licence in
1938, training in a Gypsy Moth for £1 per hour.[5][3] Within 3 months she earned a pilot's 'A' licence
and A, B and C gliding licences.[3]

Returning to the Netherlands, and with the help of Dutch Air Force pilot Jan Leendert Plesman (later
known in the RAF as The Flying Dutchman), and by directly approaching Albert Plesman, KLM's
director, she was eventually hired as a stewardess by KLM. She worked with KLM for a few months

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but the Second World War intervened.[3]

In 1939 she became a hostess on a packetship belonging to
the Van Nievelt Goudriaan shipping line.[3]

Second World War

By May 1940 van Zanten was in the Netherlands and offered her services as a volunteer with the
Korps Vrouwelijke Vrijwilligers (KVV), the Women's Volunteer Aid Corps, to help families affected by
the German bombing of Rotterdam during the invasion of the Netherlands.[3]

After the fall of the Netherlands, the KVV was abolished but Van Zanten heard on a BBC radio
broadcast that female transport pilots were being sought in Britain. 'From that moment on I knew
what I wanted: I wanted to be there'.[3] Van Zanten made two attempts to sail to Britain via the
North Sea but both failed. She eventually managed to reach Switzerland, and with help from former
KLM colleagues she got to Lisbon and was able to fly to London by plane on 13 August 1942[5] with a
group of Engelandvaarder including Wil Kalkhoven.

On 1 October 1942, Queen Wilhelmina awarded her the Kruis van Verdienste (Cross of Merit) for "het
in tijd van oorlog met groot beleid voorbereiden van hun ontsnapping uit het door den vijand bezet
gebied van Nederland en het moedig en beleidvol uitvoeren van hun ontsnapping en reis naar
Engeland, waaraan door het optreden van de vijand groote gevaren waren verbonden".("having
prepared, with great care, her escape from enemy-occupied territory in the Netherlands in a time of
war, and for having bravely accomplished her escape and journey to England, which was fraught
with great dangers because of the enemy's actions").[6] Following the German invasion of the
Netherlands in 1940, Queen Wilhelmina had fled to Britain and taken charge of the Dutch
government-in-exile from there.[7]

At first van Zanten worked with the Intelligence Office, where she met Prince Bernhard, son-in-law of
Queen Wilhelmina. He enabled her entry into the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF).[5] From the
WAAF, van Zanten was able to join the female pilots in the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) under
Commandant Pauline Gower. She joined the all-female ATA Pool No. 15 at Hamble, near
Southampton, commanded by Margot Gore,[8] as a Pilot Third Officer from 18 May 1943. The work
involved transporting planes from the factories to the airfields in what was difficult and often
dangerous work.[3] She was the only Dutch woman there. ATA pilots had to be prepared to fly many
different types of aircraft with often no more than a handbook as a guide and often in difficult
conditions. She totalled 583 flying hours during her time in the ATA and remained with the
organisation until 30 September 1945.[9][10][3]

On 7 February 1947 Queen Wilhelmina awarded van Zanten the Vliegerkruis (Flying Cross) for
"distinguishing herself by acts of initiative, courage and perseverance during one or more flights in
an aircraft, by being classified in the rank of officer in the field of aviation in the period from 18 May
1943 to 30 September 1945, being assigned to the rank of officer in the organisation of the "Air
Transport Auxiliary", as pilot to transfer various types of planes of the Allied Air Force from
factories in Great Britain to various Allied war bases and to make 583 flying hours in solo flights".
She was the only woman amongst about 700 men to be awarded the medal.[3][11] King George VI
awarded her the British Defence Medal.[12]

Post war and later life

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After the war, with a British friend, van Zanten flew a twin-engine M.57 Miles Aerovan with six
passengers to South Africa, where she became a partner in a small aviation company. When the
rickety plane broke down, she ran out of money and returned to the Netherlands, and gave up flying
professionally.[3]

Van Zanten became a social worker, her original course of study, later stating "I would have loved to
fly, but I don't regret being a social worker. The job was more valuable than serving meals on an
airplane as a flight attendant".[3] She took up gliding as a hobby.[3]

Van Zanten died of a heart attack in Emmen on 19 October 2000.[3]

Awards and recognition

In 1990, Ida Veldhuyzen van Zanten was awarded the Koninklijke Nederlandse Vereniging voor
Luchtvaart the Royal Dutch Aeronautical Society's golden wings pin. At the age of eighty, she had
flown for more than fifty years and had over two thousand flying hours to her name.[13]

Ida Laura Veldhuyzen van Zanten was awarded four medals.

Kruis van Verdienste, 1 October 1942[6]

Defence Medal 1939-1945
Vliegerkruis, 7 February 1948[10]
Verzetsherdenkingskruis

Kruis van Verdienste Defence Medal Verzetsherdenkings Vliegerkruis en

1945 Kruis baton

References
1. "Ida Laura Veldhuyzen Van Zanten (1911-2000) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree" (https://www.wikitre
e.com/wiki/Veldhuyzen_Van_Zanten-1). www.wikitree.com. Retrieved 2021-11-19.
2. royalvanzanten (2016-06-27). "History" (https://www.royalvanzanten.com/en/history/). Royal Van
Zanten. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
3. "Ida Veldhuyzen van Zanten - 08 - de Vliegende Hollander" (https://magazines.defensie.nl/vliegen
dehollander/2015/05/ida-veldhuyzen-van-zanten). magazines.defensie.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved
2021-10-16.

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11/18/21, 8:11 PM Ida Veldhuyzen van Zanten - Wikipedia

4. Kooman, Ingmar (2015). "Ida Veldhuyzen van Zanten - 08 - de Vliegende Hollander" (https://maga
zines.defensie.nl/vliegendehollander/2015/05/ida-veldhuyzen-van-zanten). magazines.defensie.nl
(in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-10-16.
5. "Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Ida Laura - TracesOfWar.com" (https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34
713/Veldhuyzen-van-Zanten-Ida-Laura.htm). www.tracesofwar.com. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
6. Defensie, Ministerie van (1942-10-01). "Veldhuyzen van Zanten, mej. I.L. - Onderscheidingen -
Defensie.nl" (https://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/onderscheidingen/dapperheidsonderscheiding
en/databank-dapperheidsonderscheidingen/1942/10/01/veldhuyzen-van-zanten-mej-i-l).
www.defensie.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-10-23.
7. Ida Veldhuyzen van Zanten (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_MAUJ_YRss), retrieved
2021-10-23
8. "Gore, Margaret Wyndham (Oral history) Imperial War Museum" (https://www.iwm.org.uk/collectio
ns/item/object/80009075).
9. "ATA Personnel - 1943" (http://ata.afleetingpeace.org/the-ata/index.php/ata-women-pilots/9-lists/4-
ata-personnel-1943). ata.afleetingpeace.org. Retrieved 2021-10-16.
10. Defensie, Ministerie van (1948-02-07). "Veldhuyzen van Zanten, mej. I.L. - Onderscheidingen -
Defensie.nl" (https://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/onderscheidingen/dapperheidsonderscheiding
en/databank-dapperheidsonderscheidingen/1948/02/07/veldhuyzen-van-zanten-mej-i-l).
www.defensie.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-10-16.
11. "The Name "United States of America"<xref ref-type="fn" rid="fn1">1</xref>" (https://dx.doi.org/10.
1086/ahr/31.1.79). The American Historical Review. October 1925. doi:10.1086/ahr/31.1.79 (http
s://doi.org/10.1086%2Fahr%2F31.1.79). ISSN 1937-5239 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1937-523
9).
12. Ida Veldhuyzen van Zanten (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_MAUJ_YRss), retrieved
2021-10-16
13. "Ida Laura Veldhuijzen van Zanten" (http://www.geheugenvandrenthe.nl/veldhuijzen-van-zanten-id
a-laura). Encyclopedie Drenthe (in Dutch). Retrieved 2021-10-16.

Further reading
Henny Meijer en Rob Vis, Het Vliegerkruis - Voor initiatief, moed en volharding, 1997

External links
TracesOfWar, met foto (https://www.tracesofwar.com/persons/34713)
Encyclopediedrenthe.nl - Veldhuyzen van Zanten, Ida Laura (http://www.encyclopediedrenthe.nl/V
eldhuijzen%20van%20Zanten,%20Ida%20Laura)
Onderscheidingen.nl (http://www.onderscheidingen.nl/decorandi/wo2/dec_v01.html)
De onderscheidingen van Veldhuyzen van Zanten (http://www.onderscheidingenforum.nl/viewtopi
c.php?t=414)

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