Part of the philosophy of Blitzkrieg is that
there is no need to declare war; this gives the aggressor the tactical
advantage whilst the build up to it is a psychological assault on the nerves of
the victims. In the same twisted system
of logic, the fact that the nations under attack are declared neutrals is
immaterial. And this is how an Anglo-Dutch family was dragged into the Second
World War.
On the morning of 10th May 1940,
German forces moved into the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Their intention was to draw the French and
the British Expeditionary forces deep into Belgium, away from the Ardennes and
the airfields on the Dutch coast which the Luftwaffe needed as a springboard to
attack England and to harass Allied shipping in the English Channel.
The Dutch Forces were little more than a
nominal defence force with no tanks, few artillery pieces and only limited
numbers of armoured cars andhe word. The
Dutch Air Force was limited to only about 140 antiquated aircraft, almost half
of which were destroyed on the first day of the invasion.
The German assault was rapid but it met with considerable
resistance. The Hague was well, and
courageously, defended against an assault by German paratroops, foiling the
German attempt to seize the Dutch Government in the initial attack and heavy
casualties were inflicted on the German troops who tried to seize the airfields
at Ypenburg and Ockenburg. But, stiff as
the resistance was, the Dutch were ill equipped and unprepared to take on the
might of Nazi Germany. Queen Wilhelmina
and her Government escaped to England, where they set up a Government in Exile.
In Rotterdam, up to
900 civilians were killed and 25,000 houses were destroyed in the bombing which
had been concentrated on homes rather than defences or military targets. Whilst negotiations for surrender were going
on, the Luftwaffe bombed the city heavily, resulting in the previously
mentioned carnage. The Germans had an
easy victory – but there was still resistance.
General Henri Winkelman (Centre),
just after signing the Dutch capitulation on 15th May 1940
©Bundesarchiv,
Bild 146-1969-097-17 / Hausen, v. / CC-BY-SA
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