Born on a canal boat, Jeannecke De Hertog never would have guessed that before her 11th birthday her ideal life as the daughter of a merchant marine skipper would change from traveling the Benelux canal system to scrounging for meals and scrambling for shelter from the bombs of German Junkers. From aiding downed Allied pilots on a farm in Ghent, Belgium to tending wounded and dying soldiers as Red Cross nurses' aids, Jeannecke and her older sister Germaine grow up quickly in occupied Belgium. "We are looking for coals so that we might cook a little Christmas dinner and keep warm tomorrow," said Germaine.
"You must not steal from German property," he said.
"We are not stealing," blurted Jeannecke.
The guard had a large gunny over his back along with his Schmeiesser pistol, which he now swung to the ground. The girls now feared the worst, so they held their hands high over their heads in an act of surrender and began to cry aloud."