Case Maclaim and the story of “Turtle” , The Crystal Ship 2019

Posted by Alex on 17th April, 2019
Filed under: From the Street

I met a turtle in a bar in Ostend the other day. Not of the hard-carapaced or even Mutant Ninja varieties, but “Turtle” – a man whose lust for life and considerable panache clearly remains undiminished despite his having achieved octogenarian status.

And what a life it’s been; as a child in the early days the Second World War, he was sent to England as his homeland of Belgium had been engulfed by the relentless onslaught of Blitzkrieg. His father, Victor Billet, a very highly-regarded Belgian naval officer had taken it upon himself to carry on the fight against Fascism as part the British Royal Navy’s “Section Belge” and quite rightly thought it would be prudent to bring his family to the relative safety of English shores.

“Turtle” , The Crystal Ship, Oostende 2019. Photo credit Alex Stanhope / GraffitiStreet

They eventually found themselves in Skegness on the Lincolnshire coast as this was the location chosen by the Admiralty for the training of Belgian volunteers. Tragically, Lieutenant Billet was listed as missing and presumed dead during the ill-fated raid on Dieppe in August, 1942. Understandably, this was an event that would leave an indelible mark on his young son.

After the war, “Turtle” followed in his distinguished father’s footsteps by joining the reformed Belgian navy, and this took him to just about every corner of the globe, and every kind of adventure imaginable.

“Turtle” and actress Jean Warren , The Crystal Ship, Oostende 2019. Photo credit Alex Stanhope / GraffitiStreet

In more recent times, he’s become something of a local legend and an established part of the Ostend community. It is all too easy to see why this might be; always game for a laugh, and utterly charming with it. We’ll never forget the amazing banter with other pub regulars, or with Janet, the English barmaid at Ron’s (and another huge character herself) and Elisabeta, the Albanian owner. Equally unforgettable was his rousing delivery of quotes from Shakespeare to the crowd assembled outside to witness the spectacle of a huge mural being painted.

Landlady Elisabeta, Turtle and actress Jean Warren, The Crystal Ship, Oostende 2019. Photo credit Alex Stanhope / GraffitiStreet

We were fortunate enough to get to see a stunning portrait of “Turtle” as it was being created by the hyper-talented german artist Case Maclaim (a.k.a Andreas von Chrzanowski), and his partner, Samira, on the exterior of local institution, Ron’s Bar as part of this year’s The Crystal Ship festival.