In 1946, jobs were hard to
get because Holland's infrastructure and factories were destroyed during the
war. Everything had to be rebuild from scratch.
(Sometime not a bad thing, see Germany)
Paper
money was "sanitised", everybody starting
from scratch as far as cash money was concerned.
So,
when I finished five years HBS b in July, 1946, my father was unable to take us
on a holiday and there was little to do at home. So, my main priority became to
get a job, preferably with a future. My old man was a film maker for Polygoon in Haarlem. Before the war he had made films about
tourist voyages to the Norwegian fjords by S.M.N. ships, a film of m.v. "Oranje", "van Kielplaat
tot Zeekasteel" and in 1946 he came back from
Indonesia where he had made a Red Cross film, on the "Tegelberg"
in troop ship configuration. He had
liked what he had seen about shipping !
A
girl friend of mine's uncle, Oom Scheepers
of the K.N.S.M. knew a
Mr. H.Jonkman, Procuratiehouder
in charge of the personnel department of the Holland Afrika
Line. A few 'phone calls and a few hours
later I stood at Mr. Jonkman's front door in the
Juliana Laan, 3, in Overveen,
with my H.B.S. results. I was engaged on the spot with an undertaking I may be
considered for employment in one of the African offices upon completion of my
military service in a few years time.
Salary fl. 75.- per month of which fl 25.- went on the train fare
Amsterdam-Haarlem and fietsenstalling !
I
never had any ambitions to become a sailor but was looking at jobs like my
father's which took one all over the place in a big car, even at the expense of
any spare time over weekends. But the main objection to the sea was having to leave my girlfriend alone for months on end.
"Good thinking Jansen !"
Mr.
Jonkman was in charge of the A.Z. department (General
Affairs). His assistant Bottinga was the sous-chef (louche little man) and
Bottinga's assistant was a Mijnheer
de Boer whose main attention went to the coastal service in Africa: m.v. Holland, Tayari, Tug Upesi and 8 seagoing lighters plus the Beira lighterage service with harbour craft. At the opposite of
these gentlemen was the freight department under Mr Storm (in Jonkman's room) Mr. Koerse, Trampe and apprentice Oosterbaan
whom I met in East Africa again years later on.
Aforementioned
gentlemen sat in the centre of a large room at opposite desks
. There was some barrier of files so that they need not look at each
other all the time. Against the AZ dept. wall were files but on the freight
side were two more desks which belonged to what was then called "aquisiteurs". Mr Jansen covered Holland by train and
bicycles hired at railway stations. Very correct, staid
gentleman. I would consider him the opposite of what a salesman should
be. But he certainly had style and was a pleasant enough chap.
His
travel arrangement being what they were he must have spent 75% of his time
sitting in railway carriages. Nobody worried because there was more cargo than
shipping space.
The
other acquisiteur covered Continental Europe outside
Holland which meant Belgium, France, Switzerland, Germany.
A most flamboyant man, dressed to the nines, colourful spats and a deep voice
which used a mixture of French and German besides Dutch. He lived next to and
was therefore on good terms with the two directors. He made enough money to
send his only son to Swiss schools.
As
the Apache Headman Winnetou used to say: "HOW ?"
I
venture to guess foreign exchange? But he gave us all a good laugh whenever he
came to the office. I got to know the son very well as he also went to Africa.
Like his old man quite a character!
Hovering
over the whole lot was Heks Haaievel,
or Mej. Simonis the chief-typist and assistant Joke van der Linden (een lieverdje).
My
job was to receive telegrams worldwide by telephone and after typing them show them to the recipients via Mr. Jonkman.
Vice versa all telegrams sent were handed to me on scribbled notes, typed out
by me, countersigned and telephoned through to the Post office by me. The three
foreign languages I had studied came in handy ! In
between I had to sort out copies of confidential mail, mainly on staff matters How I was to
judge ?
Throw
away at least 50%..
I
hated the job. Every morning we entered the beehive called "Het Scheepvaart Huis", had lunch
on the roof if it was sunny, a quick walk looking at "les girls"
behind the curtains opposite the office and then in the evening the stampede
for the train back to Haarlem. Most of the railway stock had ended up broken in
Germany and we often had to travel in goods wagons. Mind you, 25 minutes only.
The
monotony of the routine was too terrible and I resigned three times every time
being persuaded by Mr. Jonkman and my father to stay.
They argued if you got injured during your forthcoming tour of duty in Her
Majesty's Service in Indonesia, the company was obliged to take you back so the
future was secured that way.
After
working for a year and a half in Amsterdam, I was suddenly asked on the 10th of
January, 1948, aged 19,
if I would like to be sent out to Cape Town where the expatriate
passage man had been summarily dismissed.
He
was, Herbert Huyser son of a wealthy Bloemendaal family. Our Cape Town office at the time was
General Sales Agents for K.L.M. A wealthy but very ordinary looking Dutchman,
importer of bibles, came to enquire about K.L.M. fares to Amsterdam.
Herman
was busy talking to one of his many girlfriends on the 'phone with his feet on
his desk. Covering the mouthpiece with his hand and holding the 'phone away
from his mouth he asked the Dutchman what he wanted. When he was asked to give
details of K.L.M. flight he remained seated and said: "why do you want to
know, you could not afford it anyhow!"
The
then Manager Cape Town, Siebe Henstra,
rather a conceited and arrogant man, did not like Huyser
because Henstra's new (second) wife had shown an
interest in dapper Herman. So he grabbed the opportunity to sack him on the
spot. Herman emptied his desk, walked to his new Buick convertible went out to
look for greener pastures. My good luck! On the 24th January (14 days later) I
embarked on to the Oranjefontein in Antwerp, destination Cape Town! Arrived
17th February, 1948, 6 am on a sweltering day! What a fantastic sight for an
innocent young Dutchman who had never been abroad!
Very busy job. Regular emigrant ships going home
could take 400 passengers with relatively plenty of space. Monthly "Fontein" passengers ships (160 )
and in between freighters with 12
passengers , ( maximum allowed by Dutch law without having to carry a doctor!)
Demand for passages was very heavy because South Africans with a lot of money
made during the war, wanted to travel overseas'. So, daytime was mostly spent
behind the counter warding off customers and the administration had to be done at night and over
weekends. No overtime. Monthly salary £ 33.0.0. The average workman
got at least £ 60.- !
But
I was very happy and enjoyed living in one of the most beautiful cities in the
world. Boarded with a Dutch lady, widow, who lived in Kloofnek between Table Mountain and Signal Hill with a nice
view of the city and harbour below.
More
some other time!
Anton
Jansen