The Netherlands entered
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
on May 10, 1940, when invading German forces quickly overran the country. On December 7, 1941, after the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
, the Netherlands government in exile also declared war on Japan.
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...
, which started in 1944, liberated the southern and eastern parts of the country, but full liberation did not come until the surrender of Germany on May 5, 1945.
Invasion
Prelude
When
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
erupted in September 1939, most in the Netherlands believed that the country could remain neutral, as it had in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The months of "
Phoney War
The Phoney War (french: Drôle de guerre; german: Sitzkrieg) was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germa ...
" following the German invasion of Poland seemed to justify this attitude. The
Royal Netherlands Army
The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dutc ...
did immediately mobilize in 1939, but was not in full strength until April 1940.
Warning signs to the contrary went unheeded. Among them were some incidents, most notably the
Venlo incident
The Venlo incident was a covert German ''Sicherheitsdienst'' operation on 9 November 1939, in the course of which two British Secret Intelligence Service agents were captured from the German border, on the outskirts of the Dutch city of Venlo. ...
in which members of the German
Abwehr operating in the Netherlands abducted two members of the British
SIS and killed one Dutch intelligence officer. More direct were worrying signals from
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
received by the government beginning in the first months of 1940. The Dutch
military attaché there, Major
Bert Sas
Gijsbertus Jacobus "Bert" Sas (1 August 1892–20 October 1948) was the Netherlands military attaché in Berlin at the time of the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940.
Sas was born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. He was named after his f ...
, had established good relations with Colonel
Hans Oster
Hans Paul Oster (9 August 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a general in the ''Wehrmacht'' and a leading figure of the anti-Nazi German resistance from 1938 to 1943. As deputy head of the counter-espionage bureau in the ''Abwehr'' (German military inte ...
, who occupied a high position in the Abwehr. Oster warned Sas about German plans for an offensive against the Netherlands, Belgium and France, and Sas passed the warnings on. The government in the Netherlands, however, did not take them seriously, as the offensive was postponed several times, even though Oster did eventually offer the correct date of May 10, 1940.
Dutch defensive works
The Dutch army was not considered formidable even at the end of World War I, and it did not prosper during the interwar years. By the time of the German invasion in 1940, only 20 battalions were operational for the defense of the Netherlands, and most were poorly prepared for combat. Only a few had modern weapons; the majority of soldiers carried carbines of 19th-century vintage, and most artillery was similarly outdated. The Dutch army also had little armor, and its air arm, the
Luchtvaartafdeeling, had but a handful of reasonably modern aircraft, most notably the
Fokker G.1
The Fokker G.I was a Dutch twin-engined heavy fighter aircraft comparable in size and role to the German Messerschmitt Bf 110. Although in production prior to World War II, its combat introduction came at a time the Netherlands were overrun by t ...
twin-engine fighter-bomber and the fixed-undercarriage
Fokker D.XXI
The Fokker D.XXI fighter was designed in 1935 by Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker in response to requirements laid out by the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force (''Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger'', ML ...
single-seat fighter, with which to face the
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
.
Reasons cited for the weakness of the Netherlands military include decay during the long lapse of time since its last active participation in a war, the 1873–1903
Aceh War
The Aceh War ( id, Perang Aceh), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1913), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between represen ...
; the effects of widespread
pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
during the 1920s and 1930s; budget cuts, particularly during the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
; and the unrealistic belief by Dutch politicians that the
League of Nations
The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...
would offer sufficient protection from aggression. Certainly, the Dutch military faced an unfavorable political climate between the wars. For example, in 1925, when rebuilding the Dutch army into a modern fighting force would have required increased funding of 350 million
gulden, the government instead cut the army's budget by 100 million gulden. A committee tasked with finding further cuts concluded that the army was already so weak that any reductions would endanger its sustainability; the government thereupon disbanded the committee and appointed a new, more aggressive one, which recommended cutting another 160 million gulden. Meanwhile, potential human capital was allowed to dissipate; compulsory service was cut back from 24 months to six, barely enough for the most basic of training.
Not until 1936 did the Dutch government recognize the growing threat of Nazi Germany, but the resultant budget increases were too small and too late to establish an effective defense of the country. One factor was practical: by that time, many European countries were rearming and had already placed orders taxing the available capacity of munitions plants, hindering Dutch efforts at procurement. A second factor was continued economic pressure, as Defense Minister
Adriaan Dijxhoorn refused to authorize funds for modernizing both main Dutch lines of defense against attack from the east, the
Waterline
The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...
and the
Grebbe line. The failure of General
Izaak H. Reijnders
Izaak Herman Reijnders (27 March 1879 – 31 December 1966) was in charge of the Dutch military high command just prior to World War II. He was replaced by Henri Winkelman after Reijnders had had an argument with Defense Minister Adriaan Di ...
, leader of the Dutch
General Staff
A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
, to obtain more funding for these lines led to his replacement on February 6, 1940, by General
Henri Winkelman
Henri Gerard Winkelman (17 August 1876 – 27 December 1952) was a Dutch military officer who served as Commander-in-chief of the Armed forces of the Netherlands during the German invasion of the Netherlands.
Pre-war
Winkelman was born in Maast ...
, who opted to concentrate on modernizing the Grebbeline, with its largely wooden bunkers, because German artillery brought up as deep within the country as the Waterline would be within range of Amsterdam. Modernization of the Grebbeline, however, would not be complete or effective by the time of the invasion, in part because the government balked at the expense of clearing forests and houses blocking lines of sight from many of the fortifications.
German preparations
For Germany, the Netherlands was only of secondary importance in the attack on France. Germany's main worry was the route through Limburg, to eliminate the delay caused by the Liege corridor, that had hindered German forces during World War I.
The aim of the German attack plan was to eliminate the country as soon as possible. The
18th Army and the
9th Panzer Division
The 9th Panzer Division was a panzer division of the German Army during World War II. It came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. The division was headquartered in Vienna, in the German military district Weh ...
were allotted for this task.
The 18th Army was to attack the Netherlands above the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, so ...
, most notably breaking through the eastern defences of Fortress Holland (formed by the
Grebbeline) and crossing the
Afsluitdijk
The ''Afsluitdijk'' (; fry, Ofslútdyk; nds-nl, Ofsluutdiek; en, "Closure Dyke") is a major dam and causeway in the Netherlands. It was constructed between 1927 and 1932 and runs from Den Oever in North Holland province to the village of ...
. The 9th Panzer Division was to move through the southern part of the Netherlands and attack the
Moerdijk Bridge.
Furthermore, the
22nd Air Landing Division and the
7th Fliegerdivision were to land around
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
, in order to capture
Queen Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...
, the Dutch government and the General Staff. They also were to capture the Moerdijk Bridge and the bridges over the
Maas in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
so that the 9th Panzer Division could easily cross these.
In preparation for their attack, German
officer
An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...
s had conducted extensive
espionage
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangibl ...
research. The Dutch did not hinder them in this – indeed, a watchtower near the Grebbe Line was not closed because, as Prime Minister
Dirk Jan de Geer
Dirk Jan de Geer (14 December 1870 – 28 November 1960) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Christian Historical Union (CHU) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 8 March 1 ...
said, "it would harm the Dutch
economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
." Although after mobilization the lines would be closed to the public, a lot of high-ranking officers from the German army, including a few colonels, were able to see the Dutch lines and write down where the bunkers were, so artillery could destroy them.
Based on these observations, the Germans thought they could capture the Netherlands in one to two days.
Campaign
In the first days of May 1940, the Dutch government received several indications of German activity near the border, and on May 7 all leave was cancelled and the army was put on alert. Finally, on May 10, 3:55, the German army invaded the Netherlands.
The rivers
IJssel
The IJssel (; nds-nl, Iessel(t) ) is a Dutch distributary of the river Rhine that flows northward and ultimately discharges into the IJsselmeer (before the 1932 completion of the Afsluitdijk known as the Zuiderzee), a North Sea natural harbour ...
and
Maas, running through the Netherlands from south to north and from east to west, were the first obstacles that the Germans encountered. They had created special units to capture the bridges over these rivers (sometimes even clad in Dutch
uniform
A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, se ...
s), but in all but a few places the Dutch defenders were able to demolish the bridges. The German advance was further hindered by a line of
pillbox Pillbox may refer to:
* Pill organizer, a container for medicine
* Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim
* Pillbox (military)
A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, norm ...
es along both rivers, but despite heavy resistance they succeeded in crossing both IJssel and Maas by midday.
In the meantime, the
airborne forces
Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in ai ...
had taken the Dutch by surprise. German paratroopers succeeded in taking the Moerdijk bridges, the traffic bridge near Dordrecht and partially the traffic bridge in Rotterdam. They also captured the airfields of
Waalhaven
Waalhaven Airport in 1932, with the Graf Zeppelin in the background.
The Waalhaven is a harbour in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It used to be home to an airport, Vliegveld Waalhaven (Waalhaven Airport). It was the second civilian airport in the ...
(near Rotterdam), and
Ypenburg
Leidschenveen-Ypenburg () is a Vinex-location and district of The Hague, located in the southeast. It is geographically connected to the main body of the city by only a narrow corridor. It consists of four quarters: Hoornwijk and Ypenburg on the ...
,
Ockenburg
During May 10 to May 12, 1940, Ockenburg, a small Dutch auxiliary airfield near The Hague, was the scene of bitter fighting between German airborne forces and Dutch defenders during World War II.
A German formation of one airborne company of Fal ...
and
Valkenburg (around The Hague). However, Dutch resistance was again heavier than expected and the Dutch succeeded in keeping the paratroopers out of The Hague itself. Indeed, by the evening, all three airfields around The Hague had been recaptured by the Dutch.
![Grebbeberg the Netherlands](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Grebbeberg_the_Netherlands.jpg)
The next day, the attack on the Grebbe Line started. The Germans attacked its most southern point, the
Grebbeberg
The Grebbeberg is a 52-meter high hill located east of Rhenen, Netherlands in the province of Utrecht. It forms the southeastern tip of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug, a moraine. Due to its strategic location with a view of the Lower Rhine and the Bet ...
, where there were no inundations. Instead, there was a front line of outposts, a main defense line and finally a stop line, from which possible breaches in the main line could be contained and repaired. After an artillery
barrage, the SS regiment "Der Führer" attacked the outposts. Once again, despite stiff resistance, the Germans succeeded in capturing the northern part of the outpost line, after which they could easily outflank the southern part. However, it took them until 16:00 to capture all outposts.
By now, French reinforcements had started to arrive from the south. Because of miscommunications between the Dutch and the French, and also because the Moerdijk Bridge, the only link between the eastern and southern parts of the Netherlands, was still in German hands, their effectiveness was limited.
On May 12, the German
1st Cavalry Division tried to cross the Afsluitdijk. However, at
Kornwerderzand
Kornwerderzand ( West Frisian: Koarnwertersân) is a village on the Afsluitdijk, a major dam in the Netherlands that links Friesland with North Holland.
Overview
Kornwerderzand is located approximately 4 kilometers from the coast of Friesland, on ...
, the Dutch had built modern
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...
fortifications to protect the dam. Moreover, the dam offered no cover whatsoever and the attack was easily repulsed (with the help of a Dutch gunboat). The Germans would try again on May 13, but with no success. The Kornwerderzand fortification would hold out until the Dutch surrender.
On the same day, the Germans attacked the main defense line of the Grebbe Line. Sometimes using Dutch
POW
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...
s as a shield (a
war crime), by the end of the day they had captured this line as well. The Dutch tried to organize a counter-attack during the night, as they thought there were only some hundred German troops opposing them (the real number was probably somewhere around two thousand), but this met with little success. In places, they were even fired upon by other Dutch troops who had not been notified of the counter-attack.
Finally, on May 13, the 9th Panzer Division brushed aside the French and joined up with the paratroopers. However, they met with heavy resistance in Rotterdam, where their advance was stopped.
On the same day, the Germans mounted their final attack against the Grebbe Line. The stop line, the last resort of the Dutch defenders, collapsed and the Germans broke through. Isolated pockets of Dutch troops continued to resist, but a night attack to dislodge the Germans failed. As there were no reserve troops, it was clear that defeat was imminent: there was nothing between the Germans and the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
but the famous ''Waterlinie'' (Water Line) was only very sketchily prepared.
On May 14, the Dutch commander at Rotterdam, Colonel Scharroo, received an
ultimatum
An ultimatum (; ) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series o ...
: if he did not surrender, the town would be bombed. As the ultimatum was not signed, Scharroo sent it back. A few hours later, he received another ultimatum, this time duly signed by General Schmidt, the German commander at Rotterdam. Schmidt did not know that a squadron of bombers was already on its way to bomb Rotterdam. The Germans tried to warn the bomber crews by shooting red flares, but only half of the squadron noticed this; the other half continued on their mission and dropped their bombs on the city (see the
Rotterdam Blitz
Rotterdam was subjected to heavy aerial bombardment by the ''Luftwaffe'' during the German invasion of the Netherlands in World War II. The objective was to support the German troops fighting in the city, break Dutch resistance and force the ...
).
Under the threat that other major cities like
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
and
Utrecht
Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
would share the fate of Rotterdam in which over 900 civilians were killed, the Dutch decided to surrender. On May 15, in
Rijsoord
Rijsoord is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is located about 10 km southeast of the city of Rotterdam, in the municipality of Ridderkerk.
Rijsoord was a separate municipality until 1855, when it merged with Ridderkerk ...
, General Winkelman signed the surrender of the Netherlands, with the exception of the province of
Zeeland
, nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge")
, anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem")
, image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg
, map_alt =
, m ...
, where the French still operated (Zeeland held out until May 19, after the city of
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Europe
* Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
was bombed). The Dutch colonies also continued the battle.
Casualties were high in the five day campaign: over 10,000 Dutch soldiers were killed, injured or declared missing.
Fighting on
Though the Netherlands was occupied, by no means was all lost. The colonies (most notably the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
) were still free, and Queen
Wilhelmina and the Dutch government had left the Netherlands for London.
The
Royal Netherlands Navy had managed to get most of its ships to England (one, the
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
''Jacob van Heemskerk'' was towed since its construction was incomplete). Also, the Netherlands had a large
merchant marine, which would contribute greatly to the Allied war effort during the rest of the war.
A few Dutch pilots also had escaped and joined the
RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
to fight in the
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...
. In July 1940, two all-Dutch squadrons were formed with personnel and
Fokker
Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. The company operated under several different names. It was founded in 1912 in Berlin, Germany, and became famous for its fighter aircraft in World War I. In 1919 ...
seaplanes
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...
from the Dutch naval air force:
320 Squadron and
321 Squadron (which afterwards moved to
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
). The Royal Netherlands Military Flying School was re-established at
Hawkins Field
Hawkins Field is a baseball stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. It is the home field of the Vanderbilt Commodores college baseball team. ,
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...
. In 1943, an all-Dutch fighter squadron was formed in the UK,
322 Squadron.
In 1942, an all-Dutch
brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
Br ...
was formed, the
Princess Irene Brigade
During the Second World War, the Royal Netherlands Motorized Infantry Brigade, later known as the Princess Irene Brigade ( nl, Prinses Irene Brigade) was a Dutch military unit initially formed from approximately 1,500 troops, including a small gro ...
. This brigade would go on to participate in
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...
in 1944.
Inside the Netherlands, both passive and active resistance was widespread throughout the country, with the first
Dutch Resistance organisation, the
Communist Party of the Netherlands
The Communist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Communistische Partij Nederland, , CPN) was a Dutch communist party. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Part ...
, holding their first meeting the day after the Dutch capitulation.
The Allied Special Forces also recruited and trained a number of Dutch officers for
Operation Jedburgh
Operation Jedburgh was a clandestine operation during World War II in which three-man teams of operatives of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE), the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the Free French Bureau central de renseigne ...
teams and for the Anglo Dutch Country Section of
Force 136
Force 136 was a far eastern branch of the British World War II intelligence organisation, the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Originally set up in 1941 as the India Mission with the cover name of GSI(k), it absorbed what was left of SOE's Or ...
.
Colonial possessions
East Indies
![Hr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Hr._Ms._De_Ruyter_moored_in_Soerabaja.jpg)
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Dutch government declared war on Japan. Like the defense of its mother country, the defense of the Netherlands East Indies (NEI) had been hopelessly neglected; the strongest naval units available were three light cruisers (
''De Ruyter'',
''Java'' and
''Tromp''), though they were supported by a relatively large submarine force.
The Dutch participated in the
ABDACOM, a joint-command for all American, British, Dutch and Australian units in the area to defend
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
against the Japanese advance. The Dutch military hastily scrambled its forces to provide an adequate defense. By the time of the Japanese invasion, the
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army ( nl, Koninklijk Nederlands Indisch Leger; KNIL, ) was the military force maintained by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in its colony of the Dutch East Indies, in areas that are now part of Indonesia. Th ...
("KNIL") numbered about 85,000 troops while the
Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force ( nl, Militaire Luchtvaart van het Koninklijk Nederlands-Indisch Leger, ML-KNIL) was the air arm of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1939 until ...
("ML-KNIL") had 389 planes at its disposal. Nevertheless, despite these efforts, in the three months following Pearl Harbor the Dutch East Indies (along with the rest of Southeast Asia) were overrun by the Japanese. After the
Battle of the Java Sea
The Battle of the Java Sea ( id, Pertempuran Laut Jawa, ja, スラバヤ沖海戦, Surabaya oki kaisen, Surabaya open-sea battle, Javanese : ꦥꦼꦫꦁꦱꦼꦒꦫꦗꦮ, romanized: ''Perang Segara Jawa'') was a decisive naval battle o ...
, most naval assets were lost and the Dutch East Indies surrendered on March 8, 1942.
However, some personnel, especially aviators, managed to reach
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. Later, three joint Australian-NEI squadrons were formed. The first of these,
No. 18 (NEI) Squadron RAAF, was formed in April 1942 as a
medium bomber
A medium bomber is a military bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized bombloads over medium range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers. Mediums generally carrie ...
squadron equipped with
B-25 Mitchell aircraft. The second joint Australian-NEI squadron,
No. 119 (NEI) Squadron RAAF, was also to be a medium bomber squadron. No. 119 NEI Squadron was only active between September and December 1943 when it was disbanded to form
No. 120 (NEI) Squadron RAAF which was a fighter squadron, equipped with
P-40 Kittyhawks. Both No. 18 and No. 120 Squadrons saw action against the Japanese (and against Indonesian nationalists during the
Indonesian National Revolution
The Indonesian National Revolution, or the Indonesian War of Independence, was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during Aftermath of WWII, postw ...
, before being disbanded in 1950).
Some Dutch ships were also based in Australia and Ceylon, and continued to operate in the Indian and Pacific oceans. Due to the high number of submarines present in the Netherlands East Indies (the major part of the defensive plans of the Dutch government), the Dutch were called, in the Asian Campaign, the Fourth Ally. The total number of submarines operating in the Eastern Theater was seventeen.
During the
Borneo campaign of 1945, some Dutch army units — including some from the
Dutch West Indies
The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-wes ...
and
Dutch Guyana — were attached to Australian Army units operating in the Dutch portion of
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
.
West Indies
![Dutch military exercises on Curaçao during World War II](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Dutch_military_exercises_on_Cura%C3%A7ao_during_World_War_II.jpg)
The Netherlands' colonial possessions in the Caribbean comprised the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten, and these together with Surinam, made up the Netherlands West Indies.
Aruba was of significant strategic importance as it housed the largest oil terminal in the Caribbean, from which much of Britain's oil was shipped. Oil from Venezuela was taken by coastal tankers to Aruba where it was stored in large tanks awaiting transshipment to oceangoing vessels. These facilities were vulnerable to German attack but as the UK could spare no resources to help protect them, their defense fell to the Netherlands West Indies Defense Force. This Territorial force possessed only small arms, a handful of obsolete 8 cm. naval guns and a few small coastal patrol boats. In the summer of 1940 it was felt that the U-boat threat to the oil terminal and shipping lanes necessitated air cover and so an air support unit was created using a
Fokker F.XVIII
The Fokker F.XVIII was an airliner produced in the Netherlands in the early 1930s, essentially a scaled-up version of the Fokker F.XII intended for long-distance flights. Like its predecessor, it was a conventional high-wing cantilever monoplane ...
converted for maritime patrol duties.
In fact, the only
military action in the area occurred in February 1942 when the Defense Force's Fokker together with a US aircraft attacked two U-boats off Aruba which had sunk a number of allied oilers. From the summer of 1942 onwards, air cover for the area was provided by US aircraft.
Liberation
![BC856 HUI-1699](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/BC856_HUI-1699.jpg)
The first Allied troops entered the Netherlands on September 9, 1944, on a reconnaissance patrol; on September 12, 1944, a small part of
Limburg
Limburg or Limbourg may refer to:
Regions
* Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium
* Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands
* Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...
was liberated by the
US 30th Infantry Division. During
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an Allies of World War II, Allied military operation during the World War II, Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a Salient (military), salient into G ...
, the Americans and British established a corridor to
Nijmegen
Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...
, but they failed to secure a Rhine crossing at
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...
.
During the rest of 1944, the
Canadian First Army
The First Canadian Army (french: 1reArmée canadienne) was a field army and a formation of the Canadian Army in World War II in which most Canadian elements serving in North-West Europe were assigned. It served on the Western Front from July 1944 ...
liberated Zeeland in the
Schelde Campaign, in order to free access to the harbour of
Antwerp
Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504, . By 1945, the entire southern part of the Netherlands (up to the
Waal
WAAL (99.1 FM "The Whale") is a commercial radio station licensed to Binghamton, New York. It airs a classic rock radio format and is owned by Townsquare Media. WAAL is the oldest FM radio station in the Binghamton metropolitan area. It is an ...
and Maas rivers) had been liberated.
[Mark Zuehlke, ''On to Victory: The Canadian Liberation of the Netherlands, March 23 – May 5, 1945'' (D & M Publishers, 2010.)]
After
Operation Veritable
Operation Veritable (also known as the Battle of the Reichswald) was the northern part of an Allied pincer movement that took place between 8 February and 11 March 1945 during the final stages of the Second World War. The operation was conduc ...
, the Allied advance from the
Germany–Netherlands border
The Germany–Netherlands border (; ) consists of a land and maritime border across the Dollart through the Frisian Islands into the North Sea.
Land border
The border is located in the northwestern part of Germany and the east of the Netherla ...
into the
Rhineland
The Rhineland (german: Rheinland; french: Rhénanie; nl, Rijnland; ksh, Rhingland; Latinised name: ''Rhenania'') is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly its middle section.
Term
Historically, the Rhinelands ...
, and the crossing of the Rhine at Wesel and Rees in
Operation Plunder
Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery. The crossing of the river was at Rees, Wesel, and south of the river Li ...
, the Canadian First Army liberated the eastern and northern parts of the Netherlands, resulting in fights such as the
battle of Groningen and the
battle of Otterlo
The Battle of Otterlo was fought in the Netherlands on 16-17 April 1945. German soldiers were encircled on the De Hoge Veluwe National Park and unexpectedly attacked the already liberated Dutch village Otterlo, leading to fierce fighting in ha ...
. However, they did not attack the German forces in the western part (ironically, they stopped at about where the Grebbe Line was in 1940), for fear of massive civilian casualties: the western part of the Netherlands (also called the
Randstad
The Randstad (; "Rim" or "Edge" City) is a roughly crescent-shaped conurbation in the central-western Netherlands, consisting primarily of the four largest Dutch cities (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht); their suburbs, and many tow ...
) is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. The civilian population there, still suffering from the effects of the ''
Hongerwinter'' ('Hungerwinter'), was now cut off from food that was available in the rest of the Netherlands. However, the Germans, having agreed to a truce, did allow the staging of an Allied relief effort, Operations Manna (RAF) and Chowhound (USAAF). The German forces in the Netherlands finally surrendered in
Wageningen
Wageningen () is a municipality and a historic city in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specialises in life sciences. The municipality had a population of in , of which many ...
, on May 5, 1945. The acts of Canadian soldiers toward the civilian population during this period would be a major point of endearment and friendship in
Canada–Netherlands relations
Canada and the Netherlands have a special relationship resulting from actions during World War II when Canadian forces led the liberation of the Netherlands and hosted the Dutch Royal Family in exile. The special relationship is still visible tod ...
, among other acts throughout the war, for many years afterward.
See also
*
Netherlands in World War II
Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of Fall Gelb (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch government and the royal family r ...
*
References
Further reading
* Foot, Michael, ed. ''Holland at war against Hitler: Anglo-Dutch relations 1940–1945'' (1990
excerpt and text search* Maass, Walter B. ''The Netherlands at war: 1940–1945'' (Abelard-Schuman, 1970)
{{World War II