DUTCH MEASURES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23320, 13 April 1939, Page 11

DUTCH MEASURES

MAINTAIN NEUTRALITY GOVERNMENT DETERMINED MOBILISATION ORGANISED READINESS FOR EMERGENCY By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright AMSTERDAM. April 11 In the course of a broadcast address to the nation the President of the Netherlands Council of Ministers, Dr. H. Colijn, said there was no need for alarm. The frontier measures taken by the Government did not indicate fear of dh'ect attack, as the country's relations with all foreign Powers were good.

"Our part of the world is in a latent state of tension, which forces us to consider the possibility of sudden hostilities," said Dr. Colijn. "Holland must show determination to defend her independence and maintain her neutrality in all circumstances." The army was at peace strength, and the Government was not prepared to mobilise its entire defences quickly. Therefore it was taking further measures to allow of rapid mobilisation. These would continue as long as peace was not fully established.

DEFENCE PLANS STUBBORN RESISTANCE PROBLEMS FOR AN INVADER WESTERN FORTIFIED ZONE An invader of Holland would find every mile of his path stubbornly resisted, states Bene Mac Coll in the Nineteenth Century. The main Dutch plan of action, he says, would bo to inflict as heavy losses as possible on an enemy while keeping their own forces intact, and this would necessarily mean withdrawal in the face of what would undoubtedly be overwhelming numerical superiority. According to Jonkheer W. Roell, until recently Commander-in-Chief of the Dutch Field Army, Holland must on no account succumb to the temptation of adding to the number of "Maginot Lines" .already in existence. There is not sufficient man-power to garrison such a system, and he favours a "cement guerilla warfare," the invader being harassed and distracted by a multitude of scattered pill-boxes and other small but powerful units. Mr. Mac Coll says that the Dutch army, 500,000 strong on a war footing and reaching a total, with all possible reserves, of about 1,680,000 men, would withstand the attack as long as possible in the border zones, which are strongly protected with heavy artillery in concrete casemates and small concrete strong points scattered in a broad belt and extending back deeply from the border.

When forced to withdraw, the Dutch would retire to "Stronghold Holland." This is the name given to a vast fortified zone, embracing most of the western part of the country. Comprising the greater part of Utrecht, a part of Guelderland and the whole of the North Holland and South Holland provinces, it includes the cities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Haarlem,' Dordrecht, Rotterdam and Delft. Not only does it possess a general system of flood prolection, but inside it section after section can be independently flooded, making possible a series of defence actions which would trap the attacker's troops in inland seas. For use along her shallow and dangerous coasts Holland is preparing a fleet of motor torpedo-boats. Easily operated and capable of developing very high speeds, these craft could play a valuable part in foiling attempts at landing hostile forces. With these "hornet craft" for close quarter work, while trusting Britain to keep the North Sea defended, Holland keeps the bulk of her 60,000 tons of warships in the East Indies. Here in the East there is a close liaison between Britain and Holland for defence purposes. Another problem which formerly was of considerable anxiety to Holland, has been solved by the steady development of a rapprochement with Belgium.

RESIGN FROM LEAGUE HUNGARY AND PERU LONDON, April 11 Hungary and Peru have notified their resignation from the League of Nations, says a message from Geneva. However, the correspondent of tho Times in that city states that Hungary and Peru are continuing technical collaboration, particularly with the International Court of Justice and the International Labour Office. AFRICAN VOLUNTEERS (Received April 12, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, April 11 The Johannesburg correspondent of the Times saya the voluntary organisation for national service on the Witwatersrand is progressing excellently.