The Dutch operation that lasted from May 10 to May 14, 1940, was a strategic military operation of the German armed forces against Dutch forces during the Second World War.
The Armed Forces of the Netherlands, before the war with Germany, consisted of eight well-equipped divisions, one light division, three mixed brigades and several border battalions. Holland understood that these forces were not enough for a reliable defense of the 400-kilometer border, from Maastricht to the North Sea. In addition, unlike Belgium, she did not have timely or sufficient assistance from the Allied forces. Therefore, only weak forces with no artillery support were located on the border.
On the southern stretch of the border, between the cities of Maastricht and Nijmegen, were numerous railway and highway bridges across the Meuse and Waal rivers, and the Juliana Canal, which was of decisive importance to the German offensive.
The Dutch defended only a specified area, called “Fortress Holland”. From the east, the border of the region was the fortified Grebbe Line, which adjoined the Iceland Canal in the north, and the defenses from the river Vaal to Rotterdam from the south. South of the Meuse River, it was intended to temporarily stop the enemy on the Pel line. The command of the Armed Forces of the Netherlands expected to hold “Fortress Holland” for a long time, the defense of which could be further improved by the flooding of certain sections of the terrain. The main forces of the land army were allocated to the defense of this region. Two army corps occupied and equipped the Grebbe line, the third army corps was located to the south of the Maas river.
Germany
The main task of defeating the Dutch armed forces fell on the 18th German Army. It had to act against the northeastern provinces of Holland with small forces, with the main forces to break through the position at IJssel and the Pel line on both sides of the lower Rhine and the Maas river, in order to attack “Fortress Holland” from the east and the south. To quickly disable the Dutch army, it was necessary to prevent it from organizing a systematic defense on the eastern and southern borders of the “fortress”, which could easily be enhanced by flooding. For this purpose, the 22nd Infantry Division was trained and equipped as an airborne division, as well as the 7th Airborne Division. The airborne forces were to land inside Fortress Holland between Leiden and Rotterdam in order to tie down enemy forces in that area. Paratroopers dropped south of Rotterdam to seize a large railway and highway bridge across the Maas River near Murdike and hold it until the main forces arrived. Since the capture of as many intact bridges across the Maas River north of Maastricht was crucial, special measures were carefully prepared for this purpose.
The 6th Army was supposed to operate south of Roermond – in this place the Dutch did not plan to seriously defend themselves. The main purpose of the 6th Army was to fight the Belgian and French-British armed forces after crossing the border between Belgium and the Netherlands.
Declaration of War
Germany sent a note that pointed out that Holland improved its fortifications only against Germany and grouped its forces so that they were completely unable to prevent an attack from the other side. The General Staff of Holland allegedly worked closely with the general staffs of the Western powers. The Netherlands almost every day allowed English planes bound for Germany to fly over their territory. Therefore, it gave an order to the German troops to ensure the neutrality of the Netherlands. In conclusion, the note urged Holland to see to it that the German troops who came into the country, were not resisted. Otherwise, the Government of the Netherlands would be liable for the inevitable bloodshed. As expected, the Dutch government rejected the fictitious charges against it and asked the Western states for help. The 1st French Army Group and the British Expeditionary Corps received an order to carry out the plan “D”. This meant that the allied forces were to enter the left wing of Belgium, and two mobile French formations were to advance to the Tilburg-Breda area in order to establish contact with the Dutch.
The Course of Hostilities
In full accordance with the plan on May 10 at 5:30, the 18th German Army launched an offensive. It immediately captured the weakly defended northeastern provinces and reached the east bank of the IJssel channel north of the position at IJssel. As a result of the rapid offensive, the German forces managed to capture some bridges prepared for demolition intact in the Nijmegen region and to the south. The position at IJssel and the Pel line were breached and surrendered by the defenders on the very first day of the offensive.
The Dutch 2nd Army Corps and light division, occupying positions behind the Pel line, retreated beyond the river Baal. The much better-defended Grebbe line, on May 12, was broken through in several places and the next day, with the support of dive bombers, finally captured.
Most fatal for the Dutch army were the battles that took place within “Fortress Holland”. Although the landing of airborne forces from the 22nd Infantry Division was not completely successful, the landing forces pinned down the 1st Dutch Army Corps. In the general confusion, and with the fear of new assault forces landing, parts of the garrison of the Grebbe line were pulled down for defense. German paratroopers, thrown out in the area of Rotterdam and Dordrecht, managed not only to repel all attacks of the Dutch, but even advanced to the south. The invasion of “Fortress Holland” was successful.
Although parts of the 7th French Army arrived on May 11 in the city of Breda, the French refused to attack the German troops that captured the bridge from Mordeek. They wanted to wait for reinforcements first.
The End of the Conflict
On May 14, the Dutch command, considering the uselessness of further resistance, decided to begin negotiations on surrender. On the same day at 21:30 the resistance stopped. Wilhelmina, the Queen of the Netherlands, was evacuated to the UK.