During the war Bert Pulles lived in Eindhoven, Kloosterdreef 19c. His father had a bakery. I got in contact with him after he visited my website. From 1927 till 1933 he lived and went to school in Canada. Short after the ending of the war he married Coby and emigrated to Canada. They still live there. This story has been told before but getting in contact with the narrator who lives in Canada now and was an Eindhoven citizen during the war, is very special. I think that's what Bert thought too. He wrote his story again and mailed it to me with some pictures.

On Sunday Sept 17 1944 after we came from Church, we went home and had our Sunday dinner, If you can call it like that. Meat was very little. My mother tried all kinds of way's to stretch it out. Lucky for us we were never really hungry. We had a bakery and could always fill up on bread.
After our meal I went to Coby my fiancee. We were planning to be married shortly after the end of the war. We had hopes that this would be soon as we were in anticipation of being liberated soon as the allied progress toward Holland seemed good,
On my way to the Bondstraat where Coby lived, we heard what we thought were bombings in the direction of Welschap Eindhovens Military Airport which was then being used by the German Air force. I hurried to get to her house as I knew Coby was very afraid that she would be Bombed.
December 6th 1942 her father was killed on the way to watch his stepson play soccer, Cor Smets was this son's name and he played for Eindhoven ! Mr. van Luijt always went to every home game. Coby and her sister An went to a pub called Trocadero in the Vrijstraat (downtown Eindhoven) which had just opened. Both were caught on the
Demer in the middle of the Allied raid on the Philips factories,
The two of them were caught on the Demer during the Bombing and escaped death when all the windows in the store entrance in which they had gone for shelter, collapsed
A girl whom they did not know and had also run into the store entrance, was killed. They never found out who she was.
Just as I got to the Bondstraat we saw the first Transport planes towing Gliders come over and than, wave after wave of Airplanes were seen coming over.
I climbed up on the roof of a neighbors house to be able to see better, and looking in the direction of Son actually saw parachutists come tumbling from the planes.
After watching till no more planes came over. I decided to go home and see what was happening there.
Coby thought the Bondstraat was too close to the Philips factory and said if she could she would come to our house next morning.
That night I could hardly sleep I was so excited,I knew that something would happen what I did not know .
Early in the morning Dad woke us up and said that we better go about our business as usual as people had to eat and he was sure that nobody would go to work that day
Because war is war everyone would want to stay with their loved ones.
After the bread was baked at least till we had enough to start our delivery, I loaded my three wheeled delivery Bicycle and started on my deliveries.
My first customer lived on the Woenselsestraat,At Houthandel Klerckx,While going there i saw Germans setting up the 88 mm gun across the street from Dr. Goyarts
home, this was at the intersections of Frankrijkstraat Woenselsestraat and the Kloosterdreef. A few blocks further up I saw another one being put up. Then I started thinking boy there might be actual fighting going on here.
So after dropping of some bread at the first customer I went back home and told them that we should stay together if we could. Coby had arrived and started helping mom . I kept running outside and getting more nervous by the minute I knew that something would happen and I wanted to know what. After running back and forth about ten times at last I saw some Soldiers coming toward me they came hugging the houses and came from the direction of the Petruskerk toward me
I ran out to meet them first thing I asked are you English , ( I had lived 6 years in canada 1927 to 1933 as a boy and went to school there,) They answered me no we are Americans. My answer was better yet. I must say that I never asked any names I was not concerned about that at that time.
Captain Shettle (L) who I would get to know much later Asked me if I knew of any Germans around there, I could tell him what I had seen and with a little stick lying on the ground I drew a street map in the dirt and explained where the first gun was. He then asked me if I would lead them closer to the Gun. I told him I would.
Coby who had been upstairs to help Mom was making beds. She glanced out of the window. Our house was directly across from the Runstraat. Coby saw 2 Americans coming toward the Kloosterdreef and two Germans coming down Kloosterdreef. Guns at the ready pointing toward the Runstraat She started waving toward the Americans and caught their attention. By gesturing and pointing she made them understand they were in danger. They stepped into a doorway and when these two Germans came by they caught and captured them. Staff Sergeant John Taylor came at the reunion of the 101st Airborne Division Association and publicly thanked her as he said for saving his life. Ever since he has been a very good friend and we were with him at 7 reunions.
Lt. Russell Hall, Platoon Leader, 2nd Platoon, F Company took me and half the men of his platoon behind the grocery store

owned by the van Tongelre family. I led them behind the houses climbing over fences and hedges till we got to the house corner Frankrijkstraat Kloosterdreef. Hall was a great soldier and leader and was killed at Veghel, September 23, 1944 same day his assistent platoon leader Robert Perdue was wounded.
Hall then asked for the mortar and the ammunition after he had peeked from behind the house to see where the gun actually was. While talking things over we suddenly heard a loud bang and all of a sudden bits of mortar and pieces of brick rained down on us. 15 minutes later I found out that the German Gun had fired on Leo Wilbers Butcher shop as they had seen approaching Paratroopers.
Hall ordered the Mortar fired and that was the end of the war for those German soldiers manning the gun. The photographs I sent you tell the rest of the story.
I went home to find Dr. Goyarts who had just been passing by, bandaging my fathers leg because he had been hit by a piece of shrapnel from the German gun firing on the Butcher shop.
The third man on the right from the Airborne trooper is Bert Pulles. Front row, the girl kneeling on the right is his sister in law Riek van Luijt, nowadays Riek van Heuven. The right trooper is Wiseman. David Kenyon Webster, an Easy Company veteran who wrote the book "Parachute Infantry", wrote on the back of that photo the name of the soldier and also that he had dug most of the fox holes for David and that he was a brave man and a rough and tough miner.
In front of the house of Jan Sloots, Kloosterdreef 19B, left from the house of Bert Pulles.

In 2003 Bert and Coby still live in Canada

They have 7 children, 18 grandchildren and en 13 grand-grand children.

Bert Pulles passed away on June 3, 2006

Fltr: Coby, the spouse of Bert Pulles, Tonni Sloots (Now Mrs. Walenta living in Geldrop next to Eindhoven.)
Antoon van Uden the deceased uncle of Bert Pulles.

The 506 Paratroopers are unknown.

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