My grandfather, Joop van der Laan, escaped from the Netherlands on 14 May 1940 aboard the Zeemanshoop from Scheveningen. He was a journalist, a Jew, who had spoken out against what was happening in Germany; therefore his name was on the wanted list and he feared retribution. His story is one of those told on the website prepared by Bill Forster.
holywellhousepublishing.co.uk/Joop van der Laan
There are still stories as yet untold. Anybody researching family members who arrived in England from the continent in 1940 should start by reading the National Archives guide to Internees in Britain during the Second World War.
If you trace a family member who arrived in Britain on the Zeemanshoop please contact Bill Forster, the publisher, so that their story can be told on this page.