On the evening of February 16, 1942, we were awakened by a loud noise on the roof of our home, located at the Tankfarm. Lago built four large wooden barracks covered with stucco and on tarpots for the Police, since in those days there were no housing facilities and the government police were keeping guards at Lago’s gates.

On that particular night it appeared that a grenade hit on the roof of a block, combined with the homes 9 – 12, which were occupied respectively by families:

#9 Family Geerenstein (with 3 children)

#10 Family Pieter Baptist (3 children, Arie, Fred, and Nico)

#11 Family A. Hijmering (3 children, Tony, Dries, and Evert)

#12 Family Gerrit Lughart (2 children, Pietje and daughter)

The largest part of the grenade fell on the roof of house #11, while little pieces were found in house #10.

It could be called a wonder and the families could call it luck, because apparently the grenade either was very old and the gunpowder lost its power, or the explosive mechanism no longer functioned, as the grenade did not explode in the ceiling, nevertheless scattered, and the little pieces went through the ceiling and landed in the house.

A little piece hit into the pillow of Mr. Hijmering, who had just awaken, because the alarm went on and all the policemen and firemen had to report to the Police station.

The alarm was installed near the house of policeman Gerrit van Balen whose responsibility was to sound the alarm. A handle (non-electric) had to be manually cranked for a few minutes. When everything was back to normal, the alarm must again be sounded, with a shorter duration, to advise that everything was back to normal. In case of large fires the alarm will go on and all the policemen who were on off-duties had to report to the station in order to assist the firemen. Later on the alarm was replaced with an electric.

The next morning, Mrs. Hijmering’s brother, Jules Reeder, who was there at the time, together with his neighbor, Arie Baptist, who lived at #10, climbed into the ceiling and picked up all the pieces and gave them to Messrs. Hijmering and Baptist, which they took later to the Police Station, which the experts examined, and determined that 75% of the grenade was found. What later happened to them is unknown to us. But family Hijmering saved these for a long time, which were approximately 7 cm long and 3 cm wide. Apparently, they were lost.

The night after this happened, all women and children who lived close the Police Station, were taken to Santa Cruz, where they were taken care of by Aruban families, and slept on mattresses or double bunk beds.

We drank water from the cistern, which was pulled up with a bucket and was nice and cool and we used a dried calabash as a drinking cup. We still had food (mostly canned), which we took with us, and we also had to go to school. This lasted a few weeks. We don’t know who this family was, where we stayed at, but we still wish to take this moment to thank them for their hospitality, as Arubans are well known for.

The news of the torpedo attacks was well known through the media, equally the attack of the U-boats, nevertheless few people knew of this grenade incident. Now that all is being brought forward, we wish to give this information, which could have caused many to lose their lives, thereby partly completing this historical events of the night of February 16, 1942, in which we were deeply involved.

Compiled by Master Engineer Fred Baptist (then 8 years of age) and Tony Hijmering (then 5 years of age).

Aruba, February 17, 1992.

Signed by Fred Baptist and Tony Hijmering.

(Translated by Dufi Kock for the U-156/U-502 Roundtable on August 25, 2007)