Displaying items by tag: Missionaries of the Sacred Heart Holland

Forgotten Memories of Dutch and Australian MSC together., World War II.  Liberation of Los Banos. February 22nd, 1945

29 Dutch MSC are freed form the concentration camp at Los Baños, Philippines. 20 of them leave for Australia to recuperate. 

From the bestselling author of Hero Found comes the incredible true story of one of the greatest military rescues of all time, the 1945 World War II prison camp raid at Los Baños in the Philippines—a tale of daring, courage, and heroism that joins the ranks of Ghost Soldiers, Unbroken , and The Boys of Pointe du Hoc.

In February 1945, as the U.S. victory in the Pacific drew nearer, the Japanese army grew desperate, and its soldiers guarding U.S. and Allied POWs more sadistic. Starved, shot and beaten, many of the 2,146 prisoners of the Los Baños prison camp in the Philippines—most of them American men, women and children—would not survive much longer unless rescued soon.

University of Queensland

Deeply concerned about the half-starved and ill-treated prisoners, General Douglas MacArthur assigned to the 11th Airborne Division a dangerous rescue mission deep behind enemy lines that became a deadly race against the clock. The Los Baños raid would become one of the greatest triumphs of that war or any war; hailed years later by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell: “I doubt that any airborne unit in the world will ever be able to rival the Los Baños prison raid. It is the textbook operation for all ages and all armies.”

Maryknoll Missionaries liberated

Combining personal interviews, diaries, correspondence, memoirs, and archival research, Rescue at Los Baños tells the story of a remarkable group of prisoners—whose courage and fortitude helped them overcome hardship, deprivation, and cruelty—and of the young American soldiers and Filipino guerrillas who risked their lives to save them.

MSC news from Holland

The Dutch MSC Province is now officially a community under the Generalate.

Our Dutch MSC community will later become part of the European Union to be established.

 Our work is done, as I said during the General Chapter. What we can do now is: continue to follow you all with interest in your work, and certainly we will accompany our interest with our prayers.

On behalf of the brothers of our Dutch MSC Community,

Theo (te Wierik), msc

 Tribute to the Dutch province:

Establishing the MSC in the Philippines, in Indonesia, in Brazil.

Two Dutch Generals, Adrian Brocken and Kees Braun.

Fr Hubert Linckens, who founded the MSC Sisters, was born in Holland.

In Googling Tilburg, one of the major communities of the Dutch Province, this photo and article came up. Graveyard of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Tilburg

The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, popularly known as 'Rooi Harten', have been a large part of the Tilburg missionary society for over 150 years. They moved into the impressive Mission house on the Bredaseweg  204 in 1890, which included a large garden with graveyard. As the congregation dwindled, the complex was sold to a housing corporation in 2010, which converted the Mission house to apartments and build about 60 houses in the garden. The churchyard however, was maintained.

The churchyard, in which an estimated 100 missionaries are buried, is plain yet meticulously maintained. All grave markers are the same: a white cross, which shows only the name, birth date and death date. Some graves contain multiple missionaries. At the back of the yard is a small chapel with statues and the inscription "Lord, grant them eternal rest" (Heer, geef hen eeuwige rust).