The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Ludo “Lodewijk” Bleijs
(Ludovicus Adrianus)

Wikipedia NL

Ludo Bleijs’ surname is also spelled Bleys, and sometimes Louis is given as his first name. His resistance name was Lodewijk. During the war he was a member of the Redemptorist monastery in Roermond and together with his fellow Gerard van den Heuvel at the neighboring parish church Kapel in ’t Zand works as a vicar.
He was one of the founders of the L.O. in the Roermond region. Cammaert writes: Father Bleijs and secretary Moonen took the initiative to found the Limburgse Onderduikershuip in Central Limburg. [1]
L.O. = Limburgian Aid to Divers. So they called the people in hiding. Later the L.O. became part of the national organization.
He was the inventor of the Limburg divers’ symbol “Our Lady of the Good Dive”. He became too well known to the SiPo and had to go into hiding himself, but he didn’t want that. So he was kidnapped by the KP group of Helden and sent to England [2] to report to the Dutch government-in-exile in August 1944 about the resistance in Limburg. There he praised the LO very much, but the predominantly social-democratic RVV and the underground press were too left-wing for him. He became a Catholic field vicar to the military staff of Prince Bernhard [3] in the rank of major. At Wikipedia NL we read as follows:
After the war he traveled with his resistance colleague Frits Slomp [4] to talk about the background of the resistance. In 1945 he was on his way to a lecture in a jeep driven by Paul Dijckhoff. On the Arkel Dike near Gorinchem, a tire burst and the car fell off the dike road. Buried under the vehicle, Bleys was seriously injured and died in hospital later that day. An examination of the car revealed that a front wheel had come loose and the bolt holes had been torn. Whether this was wear and tear or intentional could not be determined. Allegedly, the jeep was being serviced at a workshop in Utrecht, where some paroled NSB members worked, who said they could easily arrange a car crash. It has never been clarified whether sabotage was actually committed. [10]
So his name is not on the wall of the chapel of the Limburg Provincial Resistance Monument in Valkenburg. What is certain, however, is that he gave his life during his work for the resistance. That’s why he is on this list.
Memorial plaque at the church Kapel in ’t Zand [5]
Buried in the Calvary park next to the Kapel in ’t Zand. [6]
Ludo Bleijs was decorated with the Verzetskruis (Resistance Cross), which was only awarded 94 times. [7]

Footnotes

1. Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front – Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Doctorale scriptie 1994, Groningen
   6. De Landelijke Organisatie voor hulp aan onderduikers, p.611
2. Engelandvaarder • Nederlands • English
3. Bernhard von Lippe-Biesterfeld, Wikipedia • Nederlands • Deutsch • English • Français • Português
4. Frits Slomp (Frits de Zwerver) • Nederlands • Deutsch
5. Verzetsplaquette Kapel in ’t Zand
6. Wikipedia NL Kruiswegpark, Kapel in ’t Zand
7. Verzetskruis, Wikipedia • Nederlands • Deutsch • English • Français • Español
8. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl
9. http://www.schumulder.nl/elly/Roermond%20Pater%20Bleijs.htm
10. Wikipedia NL: Ludo Bleys