REMOVED TO GERMANY

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 4, 4 July 1940, Page 11

REMOVED TO GERMANY

DUTCH GENERAL

"FAILURE TO OBSERVE RULES"

(Received July 4, 9 a.m.)

LONDON, July 3,

The German Commander-in-Chief in the Netherlands announced that General Winkelman, the Dutch Com-mander-in-Chief, has not observed the rules laid down for military and naval demobilisation and consequently has been removed to Germany as a prisoner of war. The function of Dutch Commander-in-Chief has been abolished.

(BrUlsß Official Wireless.) (Received July .4, noon.)

RUGBY, July 3

An official announcement from Amsterdam that General Winkelman has been dismissed from his post and transported as a prisoner of war to Germany has occasioned no surprise in London. It follows closely the often repeated technique which Germany adopts towards conquered peoples, and is regarded as an earnest of the measures Germany may be expected to adopt towards individuals in other countries which' have placed themselves at her disposal by entering into negotiations. ' In Dutch military circles in London General Winkelman enjoys a high reputation for his probity and public spirit, and it is believed that behind his dismissal lies a story of considerable friction between the army of occupation and the people of the Netherlands.

The German announcement mentioned General Winkelman's subordinates as well as the Dutch commander-in-chief as having failed to observe the rules laid down for demobilisation, "as a result of which the orderly progress of demobilisation has been disturbed," and adds the following ominous warning to the population as a whole: "It is in the supreme interest of the population to see to it that no further disturbance shall occur."