In conversation with 96-year-old Ben
40 years of TNO and 40 years of retirement
Ben Wilmer may no longer be as young as he once was, but he enthusiastically recounts the times past. Gradually, more memories emerge.
It’s a special occasion. His son Joop found a letter from 1984 in April saying his father was saying farewell to TNO after 40 years. Joop realised that this meant his father Ben had now been retired for exactly 40 years. That is a remarkable milestone and so the conversation with Ben arose. In front of us is the folder of photos, and together we recall fond memories....
The start at TNO during wartime
The date on which Ben signed his employment contract was 11 April 1944, wartime. Ben – then 16 years old – went to work at TNO in Rijswijk as the eldest of ten children. But that was short-lived. Soon the call for employment in Germany came and Ben decided to go into hiding. After cycling 80 kilometres on a bicycle with wooden tyres, he arrived at the home of the Klaver family in North Holland. There, he worked on the family’s farm for eight months.
Measuring Friesebrug, Alkmaar
When he returned to Delft after the war, he first had to serve another 18 months in Indonesia and could only then continue at TNO. He was seconded to a professor on Ezelsveldlaan in Delft. With a team of four people – two engineers and two employees – they started work for the Directorate-General of Public Works and Water Management's Bridges Directorate. Ben was the youngest clerk/draughtsman. Among their initial jobs was to go and measure the Friesebrug Alkmaar, which they then drew when they returned to the office. Or they travelled to Zeeland to assemble bridges. The Netherlands was under construction until well after the war years, so bridges were being built everywhere and there was plenty of work to be had. His boss at TNO had also instructed him to finish school. So after work, he got on his bike to attend the HTS in Rotterdam. He covered quite a few kilometres, because he had to return home to Delft in the evening.
Ben organised a great deal
TNO was growing and Ben grew with the organisation. Buildings were refurbished under his leadership and he arranged everything: the canteen, the kitchen, the warehouse, the workshops and the maintenance of the grounds. He was given ample scope to do what needed to be done. He was an open book and a real fixer. He also made contact easily. In that way, he had built everything up on the TNO site on Lange Kleiweg in Rijswijk where the IBBC (Institute for Building Materials and Building Structures) was located – the predecessor of TNO Bouw. He had risen from technical person to head of facilities.
Favourite were the stone trips
He has fond memories of stone trips in his green Volvo Amazon with Hirsch. Hirsch was an Indonesian-born HTS (Institute of Technology) graduate who sadly passed away at work. Ben and Hirsch got on well together. In the '60s/'70s, they often went together in the green Volvo Amazon to pick up those stones at a brickworks. The stones to be used for the bridges first needed to be inspected at TNO. Ben and Hirsch drove all over the country collecting the stones. These were often long journeys to Groningen, Friesland and Limburg, returning home late at night. Along the way, they 'ate' Chinese food – i.e. they ate the sandwiches they had brought along and saved the Chinese food for home.
Car full of Groningen cake
Even though he preferred to go back home in the evening, sometimes that wasn’t possible. It was then too far to drive back and they would have to find somewhere to sleep. Ben was then always the one who managed to arrange something, like at a pub in Leeuwarden. They once also travelled to a bridge in Groningen. He asked the bridge keeper if they could sleep somewhere nearby or else perhaps in his attic. Which is how one of the bridge keeper’s children was asked to sleep in another bed so that they could have a place to sleep. At the request of many TNO colleagues, he then bought Groningen cake. And so the next day they drove back to Rijswijk with a car full of cake and, of course, some stones. And on those occasions when they didn’t manage to find a place to sleep? Then they just slept in the back of the car among the stones, like that time next to the river near Arnhem. Ben enjoyed the stone trips with Hirsch. They would sing out loud and experienced all sorts of things along the way. Hirsch's wife was not allowed to know a lot, but Ben assured her that they weren’t being unfaithful.
Retire? Yes, please
The work was enjoyable, the stone trips in particular, and Ben was held in high regard by all. Still, Ben did eventually look forward to retirement. He didn’t get on so well with his last boss, and he felt that enough was enough. Coincidentally, he applied for his pension with his brother Jan, who was working in the TNO pensions department at the time. And so in April 1984 – after exactly 40 years – Ben retired. There was a nice party.
Delft was the place despite his love of Brabant
And then? Ben actually wanted to move to Brabant with his wife, because that's where she was from, but they never did. His wife was also keen to stay close to her children and grandchildren. So they stayed in Delft. However, they continued to visit Brabant as often as before. His son, Joop Wilmer, who also takes part in the discussion, has fond memories of the trips to Brabant too. They would then take the green Volvo Amazon on weekends to a campsite in the Brabant woods near Hilvarenbeek, Middelbeers, Oirschot, Helvoirt or at Ben's colleague Aart's house at the Department of Public Works.
In the front of the folder with photos of his retirement party – typed on very thin wartime paper – is his TNO contract from 1944.
You just have to keep smiling
Until five years ago, Ben was still very active and he still had a lot of contact with other pensionados. He is also in touch with 100-year-old Mrs Klaver from the farm in North Holland. But it's all slowing down. Since this spring, Ben has been living in residential care home ‘Die Buytenweye’ in Delft. 'I won't be leaving here, but you just have to keep smiling,’ says Ben. He got that from his mother, he explains. His mother taught him to always make something good of a situation. Looking back, there were good times and bad. Because he admits it honestly: things really haven't always been sunshine and roses. But Ben doesn't talk about that any more. Finally, the question remains whether he has a tip for readers. Ben doesn't have to think long about that before saying: 'Time is short. You’re old before you know it.' And so we end the conversation there. With his big smile and enthusiastic wave, I say goodbye.