LESSON OF HOLLAND

Evening Post, Volume CXXIX, Issue 136, 10 June 1940, Page 4

LESSON OF HOLLAND

THE NEW WARFARE

ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES

AND TREACHEROUS AID

r (By Air Mail—From "The Post's"

London Representative.)

LONDON, May 21

An assurance that parachutists, although constituting a difficult problem could be successfully dealt with was given by the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. van Kleffens, to Press representatives in London yesterday. "The Times" says he surveyed the manner in which Germany invaded Holland, and discussed the experiences of the Netherlands High Command in the defence of the coun-

try. The Minister quoted remarkable facts to show the thoroughness with which the Germans had prepared their lightning attack.

In the case of the Netherlands, he. said, there was not even the semblance of negotiations such as preceded the invasion of Norway. The Netherlands. Government, warned by her secret service, had put into force all the planned precautionary measures on Wednesday, May 8. These were the calling up of all men to their stations, and the blowing up of all j bridges near the frontier. On Thursday rumours were spread by the Germans that their troops were being withdrawn from the frontier for big manoeuvres in the south. In the early hours of Friday, however, reports came in from the frontier posts of the Air Observer Corps of German aeroplanes flying in a westerly direction. A REVEALING HOUR. The first doubt whether or not this was only a gross case of violation of Dutch neutrality in the air soon gave place to the certainty that Germany had begun a full-scale attack. An hour later the aerodromes of Waalhaven, near Rotterdam, and Bergen, in the north of Holland, were bombed, and troops were landed, as well as in the outskirts of The Hague. The intention was to surround The Hague and to capture the Queen and her Ministers. In spite of the help given to the invaders by German residents at The Hague, naturalised Germans and Dutch Nazis, this attempt failed. The Dutch authorities had been placed on the alert by the discovery a few days before of a plan to .kidnap the Minister of Defence at his home. The landing of parachutists and troops from aeroplanes on this scale, with such abominable ruses de guerre as the use of disguises of nuns, Red Cross nurses, monks, tramcar conductors, policemen, postmen, and Dutch troops, was a new trick. One Dutch army corps, however, which had been kept in reserve for eventualities, was brought into action and special measures were taken. So efficient were the defensive measures taken against this unscrupulous warfare that the lightning stroke of the parachutists and their "fifth columnist" helpers failed* The German general in command of the parachutists was shot. Orders, were found on him that he was to have been in command of The Hague on the evening of the day of invasion, Friday, May 10. As a matter of fact, however, the successor of this general could only declare the Germans to be masters of The Hague five days later. WAITING HIDDEN FORCES. The main reason for the surrender o£ Holland was the occupation of the Moerdijk bridge by parachute troops: and by soldiers who had been hidden in innocent-looking barges nearby, and who were clad in Dutch uniforms. They were supported by German troops from Rotterdam. Here seaplanes landed on the Maas and in b/asins of the harbour. German residents in Rotterdam and traitors assembled in the concrete ■ office of a German firm, situated in a strategical position, to give assistance to the crews of these seaplanes, who rowed ashore in collapsible rubber boats. A ship in the harbour flying the Swedish flag proved to be a Trojan Horse, for in it numerous German soldiers were hidden, together with artillery. Threatening as the situation was,: some measures taken:by the Netherlands Government had prevented it from becoming even worse. The invasion of Norway had taught Holland j an important lesson. In Norway German troop-carrying aeroplanes landed! on broad roads. The Dutch authori- j ties ordered all kinds of obstacles to be placed on the roads in Holland, and J succeeded in reducing the number or landings by troop-carrying aeroplanes in that way considerably. As an in- j stance of the meticulous1 preparations made by the Germans for their march into the Netherlands, the Minister mentioned that the invaders carried with them in their trains spare parts for bridges, accurately numbered, for erection in place of the bridges which were blown up. DUTCH AIRMEN GIVE ALL. Paying a tribute to the Dutch Air Force, the Minister said that of'nearly 200 fighters all were lost, after account- j ing for a great number of German aeroplanes. Altogether, the Germans lost more than 200 machines. The | pilot of one of the few remaining; Dutch bombers, who had only a few j bombs left, remarked before he took off /from an aerodrome, "What I have left, I am going to drop on the Ger- 1 mans in Waalhaven aerodrome. You I will not see me again. Good-bye, boys!" He was not seen again.

Not only did the German air force suffer heavy losses, but the invading infantry must have lost many men. Very heavy, also, were the losses of the Dutch troops, which amounted to about 100,000 killed and wounded, or a quarter of the total force. The civilian population suffered heavily through ruthless bombing. German troops, using women and children as a shield, very often shot their way through the defenders.