Austin Friars used to be the oldest Dutch church in London (dating from the 16th century) until it was completely annihilated on October 15, 1940 during the Blitz.

The white Georgian townhouses surrounding the elongated residential garden of Eaton Square in the posh neighborhood of Belgravia was the home of movie stars (like Vivien Leigh of Scarlet O’Hara fame) as well as royalty, like Queen Wilhelmina. Due to continued bombing, the Dutch queen moved to Stubbings House near Maidenhead. Later, the Dutch Domestic Intelligence Office took over the premises. After having been cleared by Patriotic School, all Dutch expats were required to go Eaton Square to determine which branch of the military was best for them.

Early on, Dutch Queen Wilhelmina developed a fondness for the so-called “Englandvaarders,” young men who had escaped from Holland to join the Allied forces in exile. She bowed at them, served them tea, and listened to them attentively. Unlike the Dutch cabinet in exile, which she referred to as “the Old Men’s Home,” she loved the energy and fresh ideas these young men had.

Dutch Queen Wilhelmina even instituted the “Cross of Merit” in order to celebrate the accomplishments of the “Englandvaarders.”

Spoiler alert: While Kairos was not able to go on his mission as a secret agent, the queen insisted on decorating him with the Cross of Merit. Although he felt odd about it and did not display it in his home later, he did become quite close with the queen who had encouraged him when he needed it the most. They often met to discuss post-war education reforms because Kairos had been chosen to be the representative of the Dutch students in exile.

Arlington House (an ugly building around the corner from the London Ritz) is where Dutch Prime Minister Gerbrandy, the Dutch Ministries of War, Education, and Health, a Dutch School (with 300 students), and a small Dutch Library were located. Kairos had many meetings there and even worked there for a while as head of the medical division, but he felt rather useless just documenting things instead of fighting in the war. The upside was that Kairos was now registered as a “real” soldier working for the Dutch government.

Officially working for the Dutch Crown, Kairos could now pay rent and have a little spending money to go out on the town, like at nearby Picadilly Circus. The Dutch often went to café Hong Kong to eat the giant deep-fried Indonesian spring roll called “Loompia” they knew from back home.

Another place where the Dutch could congregate was located at #23 Hyde Park; “Oranje Haven”’(pronounced /Ow-ran-yu Haah-fun/) was opened on June sixth, 1942 by Dutch Queen Wilhelmina. The first floor was for club members to listen to the radio, play ping-pong or piano, borrow or read books, and socialize.

The second floor was the residence of Peter Tazelaar and Queen Wilhelmina’s special confidant Erik Hazelhoff-Roelfzema (of whom Kairos was slightly jealous!) To the Dutch, the latter is a national celebrity known as “the Soldier of Orange,” which was the name of his autobiography on which a movie and musical are based.

While the beautiful reddish-brown building with white window-frames, columns, and portico was not very large and contained donated furniture, it became an instant hit mostly because of its vivacious and caring hostess, the young Kathie Barnes-Peters.

Yet another place for the Dutch to gather was the so-called “Netherlands House.” Also in the presence of Queen Wilhelmina, it had been opened on August 25, 1943 by the British Ambassador to the Dutch government in exile, Sir Neville Bland. The club was located on #16 Charles Street in a friendly, brown-bricked house with tall, white framed windows, and an old-fashioned white portal with ionic columns framing the huge door.

On the ground floor, there was a bar and restaurant where the Brits and Dutch ate. On the second floor, a large hall was used for lectures or movies. The third floor was for billiards and bridge, and the top floor had a few classrooms for Mrs. Marsman’s Dutch school.

Kairos would sometimes meet Heather Sedgewick at Netherlands House or hold his “Netherlands Student World Organization” meetings. Netherlands House was even more successful than Oranje Haven; in the last years of the war, over 3000 Dutch members as well as over 1000 Brits joined the club.