How the Castle

Came to Ruin:

The story starts in the year 1648, when Holland became an independent nation, after being a Spanish colony. The southern provincies (now Belgium) however, remained Spanish soil. The borders were unclear which resulted into many struggles and battles.

The Spanish presence was weak (too far away from the homeland), so there was pressure from Holland and from France to conquer those provinces.

The French king Louis XIV was successful as he pushed north and conquered Valkenburg. Maastricht (the province capital) remained a strong Dutch bastion, but now under threat from the Valkenburg fortress.

Stadtholder Willem III (in Maastricht) sent "commandos" to Valkenburg and captured the city for a special mission:

On December 6th, 1672, the castle was blown up with gunpowder and explosives. Willem III decided not to conquer the town and to use the castle as a fortress, but simply to destroy and leave. This was effective, because the French were no now longer interested. With Valkenburg eliminated as a stronghold the town became a quiet village with little strategic importance for centuries to come.

Stadtholder Willem III later went on to become King William III of England.

The following is information regarding the VanValkenburgh family and its arrival in America. This is a general sampling of what I was able to find(that was written in English). One of these days I will go through what my family has regarding our history. My grandfather was very interested in the subject. The origin of the VanValkenburgh family is fairly straightforward. There is a town in Holland called Valkenburg. I am still researching the exact origin of my family. All information here is taken from what appear to be credible sources. I have ordered a couple of books from the Netherlands I hope to receive soon.

Since 1247 until present, our name has been around under different manners of writing.

The reason for this is very simple: the people who where responsible for the registration in the city registers and/or birth registrations could hardly (or badly) write. Before the Napoleonitic age, people really didn't have a "family name" as we know it today. Generally they were named after the region they came from or their parentís occupying profession. A nickname, etc...

DD-656: The Fighting Ship U.S.S. Van Valkenburgh

The busiest time for Van Valkenburgh came on the evening of 17 May, when, in company with Douglas H. Fox (DD-779) and a group of four LCI's, she was on patrol on RP-9. The CAP had just returned to base, and the group wondered when they could secure from the evening alert when suddenly the word came: "Several planes approaching from the west - very low on the deck."

Over the next 30 minutes, a "melee" took place. "Apparently," Van Valkenburgh's commanding officer recalled, "we were marked for 'liquidation' that night as RP-10 had been on the night of the sinking of the Little." With "everybody for himself," Van Valkenburgh twisted and turned, maneuvering while firing with every gun that could be brought to bear. At one point, five blips appeared on the radar screen within a four-mile radius.

Two Japanese planes splashed - victims of Van Valkenburgh's direct fire - one only 50 yards off the fantail. Douglas H. Fox splashed two more, and the pair of destroyers teamed up for a fifth kill. Unfortunately for Douglas H. Fox, one kamikaze found its mark, crashing that destroyer's forward gun mount.

Van Valkenburgh closed her stricken sister and rendered what aid she could. While thus engaged, she diverted her attention long enough to lay down a barrage to discourage a seventh Japanese plane "who appeared to be calculating his chances in on the attractive target of the two slow-moving destroyers." At a range of 12 miles, the plane suddenly disappeared from the radar screen, and Van Valkenburgh claimed that her antiaircraft fire had scored again.

Subsequently, Van Valkenburgh was deployed to RP-16, in company with Robert H. Smith (DM-23), and spent a relatively quiet patrol until her radar picked up the approach of Shubrick (DD-639), en route to relieve Robert H. Smith. While Shubrick was still some 10 miles away and as Van Valkenburgh was about to secure from general quarters, the latter's radar picked up two low-flying bogies, 10 miles to the north and closing.

Van Valkenburgh and Robert H. Smith cleared for action, but the pair of planes turned and headed for the newcomer, Shubrick. Van Valkenburgh passed a warning to her sistership, but too late. At 0010 on 29 May, one of the two enemy aircraft crashed Shubrick astern. Van Valkenburgh's lookouts saw the splash of fire in the pre-dawn darkness and heard the "crump" of the explosion.

Communicating her intentions to Robert H. Smith, Van Valkenburgh veered off and headed for her damaged sister. She arrived to find that the kamikaze had blown a 30-foot hole in the starboard side, and one of the stricken destroyer's own depth charges had exploded, causing further damage. With the situation looking grim, Van Valkenburgh came alongside at 0113, taking on board survivors - some of whom had been badly wounded.

The attacks, however, did not cease. On the evening of 5 June, while on RP-11 in company with Cassin Young (DD-793) and Smalley (DD-565), Van Valkenburgh came under a concentrated torpedo attack. About dusk on that day, four or five planes closed, low from the west and heavy with bombs and torpedoes. Van Valkenburgh's 40-millimeter Bofors batteries hurled out shell after shell, peppering the skies with flak. One bomber launched its torpedo - the "fish" passing 100 yards ahead of the ship - but did not emerge from the attack. The destroyer's 40-millimeter barrage slapped it into the sea. The second torpedo dropped, which was aimed in Van Valkenburgh's direction, passed astern.

Most European towns and cities have Christmas markets but Valkenburg is a little bit different. Whereas normally the market would be in the main square, in Valkenburg the markets are under it, in caves - handy if the weather is a bit dodgy.

There are several markets in different caves but the one we visited was the Fluweelengrot, or Velvet Cave. It was formed nearly a thousand years ago by people quarrying for building material. The blocks of marlstone extracted from the cave in those days were

used to construct the Castle of Valkenburg as well as other buildings in the area.

Under the castle ruins, these are now a labyrinth of mysterious galleries with mural carvings, sculptures, secret corners and a unique 18th century chapel. There are the former 'escape' galleries which will bring you to the imposing Castle Ruins (dating back to 1050) of the one and only hilltop fortress in the Netherlands. From here there's a panoramic view of the fortified town and the

surrounding hills. In World War II, during the occupation by the Nazis, the cave was used as a refuge for Jewish people as well as locals. They were also used as shelter by G.I.s as can be seen by some of the graffitti carved into the butter-soft walls.

The theme of the Christmas Market in the Fluweelengrot when we were there (2002) was inspired by the Gnomes of the Dutch painter, Rien Poortvliet. This gave everything a fairy-tale like appearance in the soft, twinkling lights and magical illuminations reflected from the silvery, marlstone walls. There's gentle Christmas music breaking the otherwise serene silence as you wander through, marveling at the Gnome displays in small caverns, while passing the stalls with various items for sale; including old Dutch handicrafts, culinary delicacies and some 'arty' goods amongst the more usual Christmas-time offerings. There's even a bar and restaurant (with

live entertainment) where you can sample the Dutch version of Glühwein.

The local brewery in Valkenburg is Leeuw but I settled for a familiar friend and had a very welcome bottle of Westmalle in the cafe.

I wanted to visit the Leeuw Brewery but time, and Mrs P, would not allow it. There was an excellent little beer shop in town though,

so I treated myself to a couple of 'hard to finds', and a beautiful big Westmalle goblet.

Valkenburg is a beautiful little town with plenty to do and excellent infrastructure. I'm sure it's a very popular holiday destination

in the Summer, and December also seemed to be one of their busier periods. So, if there is a down-side, I'd have to say it was a bit

on the crowded side.