SECRET GERMAN TUNNEL

Greymouth Evening Star, 17 September 1940, Page 8

SECRET GERMAN TUNNEL

TRICK THAT FAILED. . Another instance of the peculiar German conception of diplomatic immunity was revealed in Dutch authoritative circles in London when details were given of a tunnel dug to connect the building of the German Legation at The Hague with the Headquarters of the Netherland Military High Command on the other side of the street. The German Legation was situated in the Lange Voorhout, a broad, fashionable boulevard, and the Netherland High Command offices faced the Hofvijver, well known to all visitors to The Hague. The buildings were separated only by a narrow street, a sort of mews. At the outbreak of the war the staff of the German Legation were transferred to the Hotel des Ind.es, in the Lange Voorhout, but after a few days their request to be brought back to the Legation was granted, states “The Times,” In the meantime, however, the Dutch military authorities had dug up the mews behind the German Legation building, as they suspected the Germans of having used the basement rooms for some shady purpose. They discovered something unexpected, a tunnel leading from a house next to the Legation, and leased by the Germans, to the Netherlands High Command building. The tunnel was not yet ready for use. The Germans had had bad luck, having come up against a stout, hard, old stone wall, which took them a long time to pierce, and the invasion overtook them before they could carry their plans through. It is not known whether the intention was to break into the building and steal documents, to occupy it on the day of the invasion, or to blow it up.