Infantrymen of the Royal Netherlands Army stand to guard in their natural element (up to their knees in it), 1939-'40.  

This photo was captioned as relating to Dutch mobilization, but it looks to me more like a light-hearted propaganda shot taken, certainly, before actual hostilities commenced.  The happy faces and "Sunday best" uniforms suggest that this was taken before bullets were actually flying.

As to standing up to the knees in water - I am reminded of the story of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (the wartime Sovereign of the Netherlands) who, as a teenage queen, visited her "Cousin Willi" (Kaiser Wilhelm II) before WW1.  The Kaiser, in boastful mood, remarked to the young queen, "Do you know that none of my grenadiers is less than six foot, three inches tall ?".  Wilhelmina sweetly replied, "Yes, cousin, but do you know that when we open our dykes the water rises to as much as ten feet ?".

Perhaps this was the point the photo was attempting to make ... Best regards, JR.

Dutch infantrymen defend their country ...

This is Korvettenkapitan Reiner Dierksen, former officer on minesweepers, and Captain of U-176, Type IXC U-boat, from the time of its commissioning, on 15 December, 1941.  He died when that U-boat was sent to the bottom in an attack by Cuban "submarine chaser" CS-13  (a WW1 precursor of the corvette) while, apparently, stalking two sugar transport ships in the Caribbean, north of Havana, 15 May, 1943. Under his command, U-176 was credited with sinking eleven ships, with total tonnage of 53,307 tons, over three war cruises (including that in which his boat was sunk).

Cuba is a little noted Allied combatant.  It would be easy to say (as was said by Gilbert and Sullivan about the British House of Lords) that Cuba "did nothing in particular, but did it very well".  This would be unfair.  From the time of their declaration of war against the Axis powers in 1941, the small but effective Cuban Navy played a significant part in supplying escort and security services in the Caribbean, and also contributed to convey operations close to the American mainland in proportion to their limited resources.  U-176, however, is their only claim to a U-boat kill.  For that reason, I am proposing (with the greatest respect to the Captain and crew of the U-176) that this entry be placed in the "Other Forces" album, in recognition of the oft-unrecognized Cuban contribution to the Allies' war.  Best regards, JR.

Cuban success.

Portrait of a requetè during the Spanish civil war. DVX