Tony Bouchier has successfully fought for his father's wartime efforts to be recognised. Photo / Dean Purcell
Tony Bouchier has successfully fought for his father's wartime efforts to be recognised. Photo / Dean Purcell
Paul Bouchier rarely talked about the war.
But 78 years after Victory in Europe Day (VE) day marking the end of World War II, he has been recognised for his bravery in fighting for the Dutch Resistance against the invading German Nazis.
Son Tony Bouchier says his dad - who died in 1971 - likely suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and never talked to his family about what he went through.
What is known - and what has now been recognised by the government of the Netherlands - is that he was a member of the Dutch Resistance in Kop van Overijssel, Plaatselijk Commando Steenwijk from May1940 when the Netherlands was invaded. The war record describes this resistance service as “illegaal”.
Tony explained his father was based in Steenwijk and helped feed the masses who were hiding from the Nazi regime.
Paul Bouchier was a resistance worker in the Netherlands during World War II.
“Dad was involved in getting the rations coupons by fair means or foul. He was a photographer by trade, so I imagine he would have been involved in preparing false documentation. It appears he was involved in assisting Allied airmen through the network into Spain, France, Belgium, into the Pyrenees back to the UK.
“The Germans knew Dad was in the resistance and was operating under a different name and in disguise. It must have been tough. A lot of Dutch men were sent to Germany as slave labour. It was amazing he managed to evade them.”
Paul Bouchier has been awarded the Mobilisation War Cross, which was given to Tony and his family in a private ceremony at the Netherlands embassy in Wellington on July 8.
It marks the end of a three-year battle by Tony to win recognition for his father.
Tony Bouchier, a former police officer turned lawyer spent three years fighting to get the Mobilisation War Cross for his father. Photo / Dean Purcell
Tony, a former undercover cop turned barrister, became interested in his father’s involvement with the Resistance movement in the 1970s. He had just finished an undercover programme and decided to visit Holland, his place of birth.
In 2020, when Covid came, and the country went into lockdown the semi-retired lawyer began his research.
Last year, on one of his annual visits to the Netherlands, Tony approached the Dutch Government to apply for a medal but was met with a “multitude of faceless bureaucrats”.
He discovered that in 1980, 35 years after the war, the Netherlands awarded medals to honour the services of the Resistance workers but there were three rules.
“It was a bloody disgrace. Frankly, I found the rules disrespectful and appalling. One rule was the recipient had to claim the medal personally, which was ridiculous, Dad died in 1971. The second thing is you must prove an act of resistance so what does that mean? Then they set a 5-year deadline for claiming the medal so beyond 1985 it was too late.
“I got nowhere then out of the blue, I got contacted by the military attache at the Netherlands embassy in Canberra to say Dad was going to be awarded the medal.”
Tony is proud his father has finally been acknowledged for his courage.
Tony Bouchier, a former police officer turned lawyer has spent three years fighting to get a medal for his father. Photo / Dean Purcell
“I have always respected the people who have served our country and other countries. I was in the police for 27 years and got a service gong. In the police, like in the war, you don’t get bonuses for being a good serviceman, the only thing they can give to you to recognise your service is a medal. It is a deep and abiding respect I have for Dad and what he did for his country. It was important for us that he be recognised, it is a connection for us.”
After the war, Tony’s father met and married Anke, a nurse. They had seven children and the family immigrated to New Zealand in 1953 when Tony was a year old. It was a huge adjustment.
Paul Bouchier met and married Anke, a nurse, after the war.
“We had a tough upbringing and if you come from an immigrant family it’s the parents who do the hard yards, the children are the beneficiaries of that. Mum was raised in Amsterdam, which had Roman roads and when we settled in Mt Maunganui it was dirt roads and long drops.”
Paul came from a long line of photographers in the Netherlands and set up a business in Te Puke.
After Tony left Tauranga Boys’ College, he worked on a dairy farm in the Waikato, which disappointed his father who wanted him to choose a profession.
Before he died, Paul encouraged his son to join the NZ Police, which taught him discipline.
Tony Bouchier was a police officer before he became a lawyer.
His father was “unwell” most of his life and when he died at 52 years old, he left a “void” in the family. His mother went to university and became an Anglican minister. She eventually moved back to the Netherlands.
Tony says his father never spoke much about the war but was broken by it.
“I was the oldest boy. He had a bit of a temper and was a bit of a violent bloke to me. I think it was probably the Dutch way. I found him very short, and I think the main reason was I didn’t live up to his expectations, it was simple as that,” Tony said.
Paul was seconded into the domestic army on April 13, 1944 as a “section-commandant”, service the record described as “legaal”.
His military record is a blank page because it was difficult obtaining any information while he worked in isolated secret cells.
“The Resistance workers had large organisations but then collaborators would join the movement then expose the cells and the Germans would arrest them and execute them.”
Tony Bouchier said it was important that his father's wartime work was recognised. Photo / Dean Purcell
A year later, on August 1, Paul was released from the Army.
Tony says his father instilled in him a strong sense of community and generosity of spirit.
“Dad fought for the underdog. I think if he was alive today, I would have realised all his expectations.”
Carolyne Meng-Yee is an Auckland- based investigative journalist. She has worked for the Herald since 2007 and was previously a commissioner at TVNZ and a current affairs producer for 60 minutes, 20/20 and Sunday.
