Queen Wilhelmina acknowledges the salute of a troop of Boy Scouts at Bergen op Zoom.

Photograph | Digitized | Photograph Number: 51139

Overview

Caption: Queen Wilhelmina acknowledges the salute of a troop of Boy Scouts at Bergen op Zoom.

Original Caption: "In her first visit to her country after five years of exile, Queen Wilhelmina visited every town, every village and every hamlet that she could fit into a 10-day tour of liberated areas in Holland. The 65-year-old Queen did not spare herself. She saw the vast stretches of inundated countryside, which will remain barren for years to come even after the bombed dikes of The Netherlands are repaired. She saw the debris of towns where fighting took place only a few days before her visit, gave sympathy and solace to men, women and children who were wounded or bereaved. She met the valiant miners of Hoerlan and Venlo. Wherever she stopped, she talked with the men and women who fought stubbornly and silently in the Dutch Resistance Movement. It was announced March 23, 1945, that the unofficial, unplanned tour had ended with Queen Wilhelmina's return to England. The queen was born in the Hague in 1880 and has reigned on the Dutch throne since 1890. When the Germans invaded Holland in May, 1940, Queen Wilhelmina was forced to flee to England."
Date: 1945 March 22
Locale: Bergen Aan Zee, [North Holland] The Netherlands
Photo Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Joseph Eaton

Photo Source: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Provenance: Joseph Eaton

Keyword: DUTCH EXTERIORS QUEENS SALUTING SCOUTS WILHELMINA (QUEEN OF THE NETHERLANDS)
Photo Designation: LIBERATION -- The Netherlands