Dutch Army & Airforce 1939-40 (warning - big pictures)

[Man of Stoat]

Unprepared for war and equipped with obsolete weapons and equipment, the Dutch were rolled over in a few weeks.



The main rifle was the obsolete 6.5mm Mannlicher M1895 turnbolt, which came in a long rifle & several carbine versions:



The 6.5mm ammunition itself had been obsolete since the introduction of the spitzer (pointed) bullet in the 1st decade of the 20th century.



Their machine guns were also obsolete - the Madsen in 6.5mm (similar to this one):



The Lewis M20 in 6.5mm:



The Schwarzlose in 7.92x57R:



The Vickers in 7.92x57R and .303":



The Maxim in 7.92x57R:



Their aircraft were Fokker designs (Fokker was a Dutchman, not a German, although his name is usually associated with them due to their adoption of many of his WW1 biplane designs), and all were obsolete in 1940:

Fokker C.V observation / light bomber:


Fokker C.X observation / light bomber:


Fokker D.XVII fighter:



Fokker D.XXI fighter (note the fixed undercarriage), armed with an unimpressive 2 7.9mm FN machineguns:



Fokker C.1 "fighter-cruiser" (jachtkruiser), a similar concept to the Bf110:



As for "tanks", this is it:



It did have a 37mm semi-auto Bofors cannon at a time when 20mm in tanks were common, although there were only 26 of these vehicles in total for a country of 16,000 square miles. Armour was 9mm on the turret & 5mm on the rest.

They also had some old Vickers Cardon-Lloyd vehicles, which are similar to the Bren gun carrier:



In effect, the Dutch did not have a hope in hell of holding back the Germans - they did well to last as long as they did.

Most of the images are from http://www.grebbeberg.nl/bibliotheek/bewapening/

[South African Military]

I feel sorry for the dutch in WW2. Fokker D.XVII fighter?? Would not like to fly that thing agaisnt the Luftwaffe! Their other planes are a bit more resonable.

More info on Fokker. Dutchman, founded his company in Berlin. Supplied the German Airforce during WW1 (Fokker Triplane). Then left Germany and returned to the Netherlands, continued on the aviation industry. Company went bankrupt in 1996.

[Walther]

Stoatman,

I know the guys with the Maxim. They belong to a group (VHM) that does a lot of living history displays (both about the Dutch military in WW2, 1940 and the exile Prinses Irene Brigade as well as about life in the Netherlands under German occupation) in cooperation with the National War and Resistance Museum at Overloon. They also acted as extras in several History Channel and Discovery Channel productions. They are very serious about what they are doing.
The Maxim does either belong to the Museum or has been rented form a movie prop company called ANTA. In the later case it has been converted to blank firing.

Jan

[Firefly]

Nice photos mate, I can see why they wouldnt last long in May 1940 with such poor equipment. I think many here see the Germans as invincible, but they were merely the first to implement the new theories of mobile warfare on a grand scale, all the others were left playing catchup.

[Natxo]

Well, in fact they fought hard against the paratroopers. General Student him self was wounded by a dutch sniper almost at the end of the struggle.

[Man of Stoat]

Well, in fact they fought hard against the paratroopers. General Student him self was wounded by a dutch sniper almost at the end of the struggle.

Yes, they fought hard against the FJ - but fighting small groups of paratroopers with obsolete kit is a different matter to fighting the main thrust of the invasion with obsolete kit.

[Griffin]

Those planes wouldn't stand a chance agaisnt messerchsmits !
Poor pilots !





p.s. ; I must say the first chap looks like a jovial fellow; he musn't seen much action...

[South African Military]

p.s. ; I must say the first chap looks like a jovial fellow; he musn't seen much action...

Id say he has seen combat, and just gone a bit crazy in the head. Whats the bet he flew the Fokker D.XVII and just couldnt take it any more!

As for those poor pilots who flew the Fokker D.XVII, I have more info!

Only 7 of those planes were in service when Germany attacked the Netherlands. They where actually used as fighter training, but went back into service because of the lack of fighters. The seven planes where numbered, 202,203,204,205,207,209,and 210. On May 11 (war started in 10 May 1940) the planes where ordered to escort reconnaissance/ground attack aircraft. No. 204 stayed behind, and was destroyed by German Aircraft the following day. The rest of planes had to fly over a dutch naval base to get to their destination. The Dutch naval base was told that no Dutch aircraft remained and the AA opened fire on the planes. No. 202 was destroyed in a crash landing. Badly damaged 203 made it to another airfield, the rest of the Fokker D.XVII made it to their destination.

12 May, No. 203 joined the rest of the fighters after being repaired. (5 Fokker D.XVII left). While landing on some airfield No. 203, and No. 207 crashed.

The remaining three was ordered to attack German troops. No German fighters were met but there was AA fire. No. 209, and 210 were badly damaged and left behind. They where destroyed the following day. The other plane (No. 205) managed to escape and flew back to a Dutch airfield, where it was destroyed on the ground after the surrender of the Dutch army.

The Fokker D.XVIIs had a sad and unpleasent life.

those are sweet pictures! Thanks for sharing!

[festamus]

That Fokker C.1 distinctly reminds me of another aircraft, although at this point in time I can't for the life of me think what!!! Maybe the Northrop P-61.

[Dani]

Dutch WW2 subs (fromhttp://www.dutchsubmarines.com/)

O-24 (in 1944):


K-XV (in 1943):


Unknown (in 1944):

[South African Military]

That Fokker C.1 distinctly reminds me of another aircraft, although at this point in time I can't for the life of me think what!!! Maybe the Northrop P-61.

yep same thing crossed my mind at first I thougth it looked very similar to the P-38.


But then after looking at the P-61 I was like


Compare the Dutch C.1 to the P-61, it is almost the same!

[Sturmtruppen]

excuse me man of stoat,are you dutch?.(i think yes,so,i feel like a stupid).

[Man of Stoat]

excuse me man of stoat,are you dutch?.(i think yes,so,i feel like a stupid).

nee, hoor, ik ben geen Nederlander - ik ben engelsman, maar ik woon in Nederland sinds bijna 2 jaar.

(or in English, "No, I'm not Dutch - I'm English but I've been living in Holland for almost 2 years")

[Tubbyboy]

excuse me man of stoat,are you dutch?.(i think yes,so,i feel like a stupid).

nee, hoor, ik ben geen Nederlander - ik ben engelsman, maar ik woon in Nederland sinds bijna 2 jaar.

(or in English, "No, I'm not Dutch - I'm English but I've been living in Holland for almost 2 years")

Off topic but:

Isn't it weird how, when you speak German and English, you can read Dutch pretty much completely correctly? I don't speak it at all but I can understand it very well when written....




BTW, shouldn't it be "Engelsman"?