Nederlands May 1940 website.

Discussion in '1940' started by Owen, Jan 3, 2008.

  1. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Buteman likes this.
  2. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    And an enormous 'clue' to the current Name that vehicle. ;)
     
  3. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Good website - some excellent maps.
     
  4. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Been reading up on the fighting in Holland in the ATB book, Blitzkrieg In The West.
    Real "boys own stuff", German paras, armoured trains, gun-boats , flying boats etc etc...
    A campaign I'd never looked into before, fascinating.
     
  5. Gerard

    Gerard Seelow/Prora

    That is a brilliant website Owen and some of the Bios of the leading personalities are interesting.
     
  6. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Been reading up on the fighting in Holland in the ATB book, Blitzkrieg In The West.
    Real "boys own stuff", German paras, armoured trains, gun-boats , flying boats etc etc...
    A campaign I'd never looked into before, fascinating.

    Yes, that's something that came across when I was reading it over Christmas. It was amazing how many places we know from operations in 1944-45 were heavily fought over in May 1940 too.
     
  7. Bigfoot

    Bigfoot Junior Member

    Yes indeed! "War over Holland" is a first rate website. The more I ponder into the low countries fight in 1940, the more my eyes are opened. I usually get a stress headache though, as I see the gigantic and monumental lost opportunities that might have taken place if a re-armament program had been instituted there from 35-40.

    We kind of feel sorry for the Dutch, but then we almost get mad looking at the wasted chances that they (Parliament) had to re-arm, and the mistakes that they (govt pre-war planners) made, and the brilliant moments of courage that individual troops showed.. It seems that thier govt made about every mistake that they could have made where re-armament was concerned. It was even illegal for the Army to send regular Dutch conscripts to defend the NEI. The KNIL was a type of sepperate service. Wasnt that part of thier empire too?

    But, hindsight is 20/20. The Dutch were not the only ones behind the 8 ball in the reamament game in the years leading up to the war, and thus they squandered opportunities to revamp thier military. But, the same thing would have happened to the US, except that we had some large Oceans to protect us with distance until we could get our act together.

    Still, I just think that WW2 would have looked a lot different if the Western European Nations had rearmed sufficiently in the 1930s.
     
  8. Buteman

    Buteman 336/102 LAA Regiment (7 Lincolns), RA

    Owen

    Excellent site indeed. It is very difficult to find English language accounts/books about WW2 in Holland.

    I've been trying to find accounts of the taking of the aerodrome at Ypenburg (just North of Delft in 1940, an industrial estate today) as my Mother lived within walking distance of it and also worked very close by at the time. Shortly before the invasion, she reported the suspicious activities and comments made by a German co-worker, to the authorities. As a result, the woman was arrested and screamed retribution at my Mother. When the aerodrome was assaulted and eventually taken she hid in fear of being arrested herself, but luckily nothing happened.

    I get the impression that the Dutch still had a belief and hope that they would be left Neutral in the next war, particularly as they had given sanctuary to the Kaiser after the Great War.

    Cheers - Robert
     
  9. Bigfoot

    Bigfoot Junior Member

    Was the arrested woman at Ypenburg a fifth columnist? Were the comments of the German workers there related to 5th clumnist?

    Yes, the Queen mentioned that there were those who wanted to rest thier heads easily upon the pillow of neutrality. I think that she knew, however, that it would not work. Kaiser or no Kaiser, I think that she knew that Germany needed Holland for strategic purposes. The suspicious activities in the run up to the invasion that you mentioned must have been a warning to the wise of the things to come soon. I bet that the last month or so must have had so much tension in the air that you could cut it with a knife, especially after Norway was invaded.
     
  10. Buteman

    Buteman 336/102 LAA Regiment (7 Lincolns), RA

    Bigfoot

    I think she must have been gathering information. My Mother was working in a house overlooking the aerodrome and the German lady was working as a house maid. Her comments led the occupants of the house to believe that she was up to something.

    Robert.
     
  11. Bigfoot

    Bigfoot Junior Member

    I see...sounds like the 5th columnist rumors were not overdone after all. We may never know just how much of this kind of stuff was real and how much was panic. But, a German housemaid in a house overlooking the aerodrome. Hmm...certainly does sound suspicous. I wonder how long the woman had been working there before the planning for the invasion began? She may well have had sinister sympathies.

    Your mother may have been working alongside someone fairly dangerous! Glad that everything turned out well for her!
     
  12. COMMANDO

    COMMANDO Senior Member

    E H Brongers wrote a serie of books about the battle between the Dutch army and the Germans during the May '40 days... I have all of them as thet are such a good.
    Lucky you -British - one of his books has been published in English in 2004 and its about the defeat of the German Airborne Forces around Den Hague...

    So, I suggest, to get into the topic, you all buy:- E H Brongers, ISBN 9059113071 battle for Den Hague (already available for about 10 euro from Amazon)
     
  13. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    on Play.com for 11.99
    http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/848900/Battle-for-the-Hague-1940/Product.html


    This is the story of the first great air landing operation in history. The plan conceived by Adolf Hitler to capture The Hague by surprise, was carried out as part of the Blitzkrieg offensive in western Europe in May 1940. It became a dismal failure. It also became the only defeat of importance the Germans suffered during their campaign. The so successful course of their offensive, crowned by the surrender of France, enabled them initially to keep silent about the set-back or to present it as a side show. Only after the Second World War it was possible to throw more light on the fighting that took place in the Dutch polders. The defeat of the only German air landing division had not been without consequences. Hitler's enthusiasm for this new arm had diminished, so that its development was slowed down, an advantage for the Allies. Even greater than the heavy losses in air landing troops and paratroopers, were the gaps blown in the ranks of the German air transport fleet. According to authoritative German sources, the Germans never recovered from this blow during the Second World War.An invasion in England thus became a hazardous and difficult to carry out operation; the plans to attack Gibraltar and Malta underwent important changes and were finally cancelled.
     

    Attached Files:

  14. Bigfoot

    Bigfoot Junior Member

    Thanksfor the tip. I shall put the book at the top of my "buy" list!
     
  15. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

  16. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

  17. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

  18. Jedburgh22

    Jedburgh22 Very Senior Member

    One of the interesting tactics the Germans used in this campaign was to use small aircraft such as the Fiesler Storch and small seaplanes in fairly large numbers to land troops on roads or lakes (depending on the aircraft of course) each plane would carry 2-3 equipped troops and carry out several flights into the area.
    Ju-52s were used in both a paratroop assault role and an air landing role in the campaign
     
  19. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    That first link is good Jase, cheers. Some nice pics in the gallery too.
     
  20. Buteman

    Buteman 336/102 LAA Regiment (7 Lincolns), RA

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