MARGARET HADFIELD (ZORGDRAGER)
My Fathers secret
Oil
100 x 66.5cm
Having depicted many paintings of military history and participated in this art prize since its inception in 2006, imagine my surprise when I discovered my own father had been keeping a secret about being recognised as a war hero by his homeland.
Recently, my daughter Kerrie and niece Sally investigated our family history and found information about an uncollected WW2 medal that was attributed to my father, Pieter Jan Zorgdrager.
That medal being the Bronze ‘Orange-Nassau Medal’ is an award presented to civilians who have been recognised as having performed acts of special merits for Dutch society.
Pieter Jan Zorgdrager (1920-1982) was born in Terschelling, Netherlands and immigrated to Australia in 1951 with his wife Tryntje and 3 children. I was their 4th child, born in Australia. I grew up visiting military museums, cemeteries and listening to war-time escapades. This upbringing has instilled my lifelong interest in military history.
‘My Father’s Secret’ depicts my ‘Pappy’ with some of the relevant items and images from his past. During my childhood, I would overhear stories about his time as a prisoner in Germany and I remember him telling stories after he’d had a few whiskeys about his sabotage efforts. He said he urinated in the fuel tanks of German trucks.
There is also, a suggestion from Archivist in Netherlands of him being involved with sabotage of some 3 trains heading to Sobibor Death Camp and freeing Jewish prisoners.
The family home on Terschelling was raided by German soldiers on an occasion looking for his painted tiles and posters of the Dutch Navy. It was a anti German act and was grounds for arrest. It is believed that my father’s artistic skills were used for making false documents.
I do not know why my father did not want to collect the medal or tell us about it. I can only surmise that perhaps he didn’t think he deserved it.
