Guarded By Angels
Memoir of a Dutch Youth in WWII
by
Book Details
About the Book
As a young man, Alard Ages survived Nazi-occupied Holland and escaped at the age of 18. He eventually emigrated to Canada, where he lives on the west coast of British Columbia. For many years, Alard has taken time away from his professional life as an oceanographer to lecture high school students about the effects of oil spills on the marine environment. During these lectures, students and teachers were eager to hear of Alard's experiences during WWII. It is their enthusiasm that inspires this memoir, "Guarded by Angels." It was not a guardian angel who had guided Alard to freedom. The book is a tale of sympathetic countrymen, of total strangers who advised him on routes to take and who courageously helped him through danger. It is a tale of German guards who should have stopped and arrested him but who didn't. It is a tale of courage and resistance through the eyes of a young man during some of the world's darkest hours.
About the Author
Alard Ages was born in Soestdijk, the Netherlands, in 1924 and was raised in Wassenaar near the coastal city of The Hague. After graduating from the gymnasium in Leiden and the Kweekschool v.d. Zeevaart (nautical college) in Amsterdam, Al left German-occupied Holland as a courier of the Resistance and enlisted in the Dutch merchant navy as an apprentice. He returned to liberated Holland in the late summer of 1945, and continued his seafaring life through the ranks of the third and second mate in the Nederland Line until he emigrated to Canada in 1953.
After working as a chainman in Saskatchewan, Al returned to sea to survey the coastal waters of B.C. and the Arctic during the summers, while attending U.B.C. in the winters. He obtained a Master's degree in fluid dynamics. His thesis analyzes the use of rising air bubbles to alleviate river sedimentation. As an hydraulic engineer with the Government of Canada's Tides and Currents Group under Syd Wigen, Al worked on the development and verification of the first numerical models of harbours and estuaries and became involved in the prevention and containment of marine oilspills. He retired in 1991, but continues his work with the Institute of Ocean Sciences as a research engineer emeritus in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.