Harm Snier was born on
6 October
1909, son of Evert and Roelfje Snier. He lived in
Nieuwe Pekela, Groningen where he worked as
a carpenter. He was married to Dina de Groot
on 7 May 1935. They had two children,
Evert, born in 1936 and Johanna, born in
1938.
Harm was conscripted into the Dutch army shortly
before the German invasion in May 1940.
Harm was attached to the staff of the
1st Battalion of the 25th Regiment Infantry
(machinegun section)
that was tasked with the defense of Schiphol
airport near Amsterdam.
I -25 Regiment Infanterie
In the early morning
of 10 May 1940, the German army
invaded the Netherlands. Beside crossing the border
in the east, the Germans
landed airborne troops and an air mobile
division on airfields near Den Haag.
Schiphol airport, as one of the main air
bases in the Netherlands, was also attacked.
In the early morning several waves of German
bombers attacked the airfield. 14 soldiers
and a numbers of civilians died during the
attacks. Harm was one of them.
Graves of the
Dutch soldiers that died in the German
attacks on Schiphol airport, 10 May 1940.
They were buried in Hoofddorp. Soldiers van
der Meulen and Wapstra were later reinterred
in Wolvega. Sld Snier's grave is the second
from the left. (picture Piet Klaassen, via Ab
Jansen in Fliegerhorst Schiphol, vol.I, pg
70. Used with permission)
Soldaat
Snier is
buried at the New Municipal Cemetery in
Hoofddorp.
