D-Day: Dutch veteran Max Wolff, 98, joins king, queen, PM for Normandy commemorations

World War Two veteran Max Wolff was able to join the Netherlands delegation at the last minute before they departed for the D-Day commemoration in Normandy on Thursday. The 98-year-old Dutch Jew is the last surviving member of the Princess Irene Brigade, and the only Dutch veteran of the Second World War to be able to attend the D-Day commemorations this year.

He will only attend the commemoration of the Princess Irene Brigade in Arromanches. King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima will be at Omaha Beach with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren,

Wolff has been a loyal visitor to the commemorations in Normandy in recent years, but was in danger of not being present this year, even though it is a special ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the 1944 Allied invasion in France.

As a Dutch Jew, Wolff voluntarily joined the fight against Nazi Germany at the age of 18. He had previously lost his parental home in Arnhem when it was requisitioned by the SS. Part of the family fled; many others were murdered.

Wolff became a member of the Princess Irene Brigade in June 1944, not long after D-Day. Almost immediately he was loaned out to the British armed forces. Ultimately, he never actually fought with the Dutch brigade, but he instead played a role in the advance of the Allies in the run-up to the liberation of the Netherlands in May 1945.

Wolff flew to France on Thursday morning on the Defense Ministry’s private jet with caretaker Minister Ollongren and Prime Minister Rutte. About 200 veterans from Allied countries are expected to be present at the major international ceremony on Omaha Beach. They are now in their 90s or even over 100.