SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT: Remembrance does not end on November 11, nor is it limited to servicemen from this country, as DAVID MORGAN discovered when researching the life of a Belgian civilian woman resistance fighter who saved the lives of countless Croydon airmen
Secret hero: Martha Janssen-Leyder
In November 1946, the funeral took place at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Wellesley Road of a quite remarkable woman. The Requiem Mass was said for Madame Martha E Janssen-Leyder, of Eisden, Belgium.
During the world war that had ended little more than a year earlier, Janssen-Leyder had been a member of the Geheim Leger, Belgium’s “Secret Army”, fighting against the Nazi occupation of their country, daily at great personal risk. Janssen-Leyder was only 46 when she died, having suffered a stroke on a visit to Croydon to meet some of the many RAF airmen she had helped to save and smuggle across enemy lines.
On her coffin, which was draped with the Union flag and the Belgian flag, was placed a wreath of Flanders poppies with the words, “The many to whom you gave succour and assistance salute you, dear lady.”
The Croydon Branch of the British Legion sent a wreath with a tribute which read, “In memory of a faithful and courageous ally.”
The War Office gave a wreath of chrysanthemums with the words, “In memory of a devoted helper who rendered assistance to the Allied cause.” A Major Blunden attended on behalf of the War Office.
Funeral report: how The Croydon Times covered the memorial service for Janssen-Leyder
According to local newspaper reports of the time, the funeral mass, which was said by Father Knight, was attended by a host of local, national and international figures. Among them, Flight Lieutenant Kinet of the Belgian air force, Mr Jukes represented the Croydon branch of the RAF Association and Mrs Turner and Mrs Denning represented the Croydon Women’s Royal Voluntary Service. The Belgian army was represented by Lt FH Van Hecke.
Among all those she helped to escape, several of them were “Croydon Boys”, who called her “Madame Johnson”. Some may have been figher pilots or crew based at RAF Croydon, some might have flown out of RAF Kenley. It was these men that Janssen-Leyder was planning to meet when she died suddenly.
She was taken ill while at the home of Major CV Biddlecombe in Mount Park Avenue, South Croydon. Major Biddlecombe had met her when he was a staff officer of Passive Air Defence in Antwerp during the latter stages of the war. His job involved taking measures to reduce the effectiveness of enemy air attacks, including camouflage, concealment and deception operations. Major Biddlecombe had admired the good work Janssen-Leyder had done while her country was under German occupation and invited her to stay if ever she came to England.
Official recognition: after the war, Janssen-Leyder received a certificate from US General Dwight Eisenhower
Jannsen-Leyder had travelled to London in autumn 1946 to stay with relatives and she and her husband travelled to Croydon. She collapsed from a stroke within an hour of arriving at the Major’s home. Newspaper reports stated that the strain of her work with the Belgium resistance had taken its toll.
The Croydon Municipal Ambulance Service were called to the house and they strove valiantly to save her. Under the direction of a doctor, they gave artificial respiration for up to an hour. Janssen-Leyder was taken by ambulance to Croydon General Hospital, but was declared dead on arrival.
The majority of the “Croydon Boys” helped by “Madame Johnson” were airmen who had been forced to parachute from their aircraft over Belgium. All those who bailed out with a parachute were entitled to become members of the Caterpillar Club. They could wear a small caterpillar badge, a symbol that a parachute was made of silk and caterpillars spin threads of silk.
Janssen-Leyder had been formally recognised for her brave work during World War II with a certificate signed by Air Chief Marshal Lord Tedder, “for assisting British service personnel to escape from or evade capture by the enemy”.
She also received one from American General Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. Janssen-Leyder may well have been one of the 14,000 Belgian citizens who were presented with their Tedder and Eisenhower certificates at the Palais des Sports in Brussels in July 1946.
She also got letters of thanks from members of the Russian underground movement.
As well as helping downed airmen from Britain and America, Janssen-Leyder had helped many Russians to escape. Eisden, where she was born in 1900, is in the coalfields of eastern Belgium, not far from the Dutch border. Close to the village, the Germans established a prison camp, Stalag IV H 1304, which interned a large number of Russians, many of whom were sent to work down the mines.
One newspaper article talked about the many times “Madame Johnson” and the Belgian Secret Army tricked the Gestapo and how she risked her life to help the soldiers and airmen return to their own countries.
The Secret Army needed the expertise of many people. Papers would have had to be forged, secret radio transmitters hidden and moved regularly to avoid detection, coded messages sent and received, spare clothing hidden, safe houses set up.
The resistance groups were diverse, “housewives and countesses, workers and factory owners, priests and students”.
Lasting memorial: the Secret Army plaque outside Janssen-Leyder’s home in Belgium
Whatever part they played in the resistance, the fewer the number of people who knew about the work, the better. Often, members of the resistance would know of only one other person working in their operational “cell”. Even Jenssen-Leyer’s own family did not know of her involvement.
The Reuters news agency reported on Jenseen-Leyer’s funeral in Croydon: “To the members of the 59th Brigade of the G L Eisden…”, Geheim Leger means Secret Army, “… Mrs Janssen-Leyder was not just a sister-in-arms, but a mother and mentor. She never hesitated to carry out any job for the resistance whatever its nature and throughout displayed an amazing courage.”
One of British airmen helped by the Belgian resistance was Ft Lt Douglas Jennings, a bomb aimer in 57 Squadron. His Wellington was shot down over Belgium on June 21, 1944, just a fotnight after the D Day landings had taken place in Normandy. It was Fl Lt Jennings’ 18th mission.
His pilot died, remaining at the stricken bomber’s controls while the remainder of the crew, including, Jennings, bailed out.
Jennings was found by the Secret Army and hidden by them until the liberation of Belgium began three months later. Jennings later wrote a book about his wartime experiences, called Jump or Die.
A couple of months after her funeral, a granite memorial tablet was fixed on the front wall of Janssen-Leyder’s wartime home in Eisden, at 44 Dorpstraat. The plaque includes the information that she died in Croydon. Beneath this was an olive branch and a Shakespearean-style quotation.
The Secret Army was determined that her name and her deeds should live on.
For the “Croydon Boys”, she was always remembered.
David Morgan, pictured right, is a former Croydon headteacher, now the volunteer education officer at Croydon Minster, who offers tours or illustrated talks on the history around the Minster for local community groups
If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
Some previous articles by David Morgan:
- How Croydon Parish Church remembered its brothers in arms
- Surrey Street’s Pightling holds unique place in WWI memorials
- Croydon churchwarden’s outstanding service in war and peace
- The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
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The most interesting paragraph in this remembrance of a wonderful lady was the mention of the Caterpillar Club as my father was a member of this and wore his gold caterpillar with pride to the day he died. His had red eyes as he had to bale out of a burning plane – over N. Germany where he was captured and sent to a PoW camp for the rest of his war. He told me those who landed in water got a badge with blue eyes! I have never seen another person wearing a caterpillar badge.