I also made a video specifically about the Grebbeberg Battle. Check here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WJqfCVoiqbQ.html Do YOU want to learn how the Dutch remember World War II? Click here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-U2WyTZ8_M64.html
@@ariari4133 hey lullo zei ik dat ik een mening erover zou geven? En trouwens jou mening is ongevraagd en blijkbaar van het niveau amoebe dus hou ff snel je bek als volwassenen praten.
My grandfather was a drafted soldier stationed in Rotterdam when the bombardement came. He and three of his brothers in arms seized two trucks filled with explosives wich the Germans wanted to detonate in front of city hall. They took the trucks and drove them to a safe area outside of Rotterdam and detonated them over there. He got a medal for that after the war. Still very proud if him!
Never heard of that Maarten, thanks for pointing this out. What did your grandfather said to you about his war experiences? What was the fighting in Rotterdam like?
@@HistoryHustle As a child I was curious and asked my grandfather about the war many times. Usually he just left the room and didn't give me an awnser. Once he said that he saw things and had to do things he wasn't able to forget and that I as a young boy certainly didn't need to know. He had big difficulties talking about his wartime experiences and I think he had PTSD.
@@HistoryHustle Oh you just wait until Verhofstadt decides the "United States of Europe" project needs a bit of German efficiency from the upcomming Eu army :P
always learned, that Netherlands forces were taken by surprise and speed of the German troops. just didn't know how brave they fought against a overwhelning invader without having a chance.
Fun fact: hitler found that the invasion took too long for such an small country *5 days* were according to hitler too long for an invasion of the netherlands
Look up how long it took the nazi's to conquer Denmark and ask yourself wether or not those expectations of just 1 day were THAT unrealistic. We used every bit of force multiplier that the Dutch terrain could offer us and it was unsuitable for blitzkrieg where we decided to hold the line.
does anyone know if there is any thruth to the urban myth that the german officers made reservations in Hotel on the coast the day before the invasion?
Being German, I find your content highly interesting. Would like to see more of it. And may our countries never be involved anymore in any violent conflicts with each other. Best greets to the Netherlands from Cologne. ✌️
Thije Van Koningsveld This is my hope and the only reasonable thing to do. I have very fond memories every time I travel to your beautiful country and meet cool people. I can’t fathom it differently.
Haha thank you, I am dutch but live in a different part of the netherlands. Actually a lot of people don’t like other parts of the Netherlands here and are very informal. But we are much more “gezellig” so fun basically fun to be around and have a good time with, ( if a place is gezellig it has a inviting fun atmosphere) I don’t think the Netherlands gets credit for all we do, but that’s ok. It’s about what you do, not about doing it to get praised.
I am german and i love the netherlands (i live 20km from dutch border in limburg). The dutch are so super friendly and kind even towards us. That shows how smart they are (compared to other countries especially) and know that past is past. The netherlands always are so underrated in the world - you can see that when you see their education system. It's so superb
Most Dutch and German people didn't experience World War II because they were born after it had ended. The only reason we like to say nasty things to each other from time to time "Mijn fiets terug!" is because of the heat of the moment during football matches etc.
My mother in law said she saw German paratroopers cry when they had seen the result of the bombing of Rotterdam. They said that they were told they were going to be dropped England, not to the neutral Netherlands.
Rudolf Rednose Well, i highly doubt any German wanted civilians to be burned/bombed to death, especially considering how close the relations of Germans and Dutch people had been in the border regions. Of course there’s those who didn’t feel any remorse whatsoever, and certainly there were those bastards who‘d consider other human beings „inferior“, but none of the ordinary soldiers would like to see innocents killed.
Christian S exactly! This is something which he forgets to mention in the video. Also the main reason that the bombing of Rotterdam is seen as unnecessary, they had already signed the document. If I remember correctly, historians also highly doubt if they actually did or did not see the flares.
@ja nee is there a difference between some explosives dropped around the harbour, and incendiary bombs destroying half the city? If not, you are totaly right.....
Grolloër films daar heb ik diepe respect voor je, de Nederlanders kregen na hun schrik een Afschuwelijke vechtlust na de inval.. maar generaal Reinders zag dat er geen materieel,materiaal,manschappen,zeevloot hadden. En schoven Reynders aan de kant. Ze hebben de prijs ervoor betaald door fouten regering.
Geweldig, Loved this! Im dutch, this is what is missed at school. There is so much about after the occupation, but before that, we get so few info. Thanks
Thank you for this, my grandfather was a little boy in Holland during the war and my great grandmother was in the resistance and they would have loved to see this.🇳🇱
Dear Dutch from France, you guys fought bravely and should be remembered even more than you guys are. It sucks that our troops did not reach you guys in time to give you support but if we did we would probably have stood a fair chance against the Germans with the Belgians and British. God bless all of you!
As a Canadian, I love your series. It provides unique introspection from a Dutch perspective. My Dad who fought through the Shelt and on to Apeledorne always had fond memories of the Dutch people.
1:00 in addition to this, In WW1The German soldiers literally went to the border house of the Netherlands in the early morning to ask if they could pass through the province of Limburg. After an emergency message to the Dutch government, the government said no because the Netherlands wanted to be neutral. After the Dutch border patrol said no to the Germans, it was a question if they would accept the neutrality. But the Germans did, and moved all the way around Limburg and didn’t enter Dutch territory.
Interesting, I didn't know this. I do know that after WW1 was over, German units requested to pass through Limburg in order to get back to Germany quicker. This passage was granted, yet, the Germans had to leave their weaponry behind in the Netherlands. Some of these weapons were used against the Germans by the Dutch in May 1940.
@@HistoryHustle I've seen photos of that. WW1 German troops being disarmed and crossing the Maas bridge at Maaseik to go from Belgium into the Netherlands. Lots of horses still during that time. Soldiers camping in the Maaseik city center until they're cleared to cross the bridge.
Both my grandfathers never fought in the Dutch army because they were too young when the war started, but I am so proud of them because they both refused to do labor for the Germans. One of my grandpa's eventually got captured, and sent to a German base, but escaped by dressing up as a girl, and walking halfway across the country. ❤
I visited Hoek Van Holland a few years ago. I fell in love with the country and have learned much about its wonderful history from you. Please keep up the great work!
@@Mii378 21 or 23 of them. and half where lost at Bergen when air force specialists kept saying it was a few english fighters and bombers flying over us. They kept saying they positively identified spitfires and Blenheims untill the bombs dropped and broke connection with the AA commander. In Waalhaven 11 were stationed. They too were taken by surprise, but bombs destroyed only 3 of them, the others took off. Makes me wonder, along with the AA commander, if there was some form of treason at Schiphol.... Of the 8 that took off, one was shot down, by a Ju52 transport plane... the pilot probably ran out of ammo, decided to force the slower german plane to land by flying almost on top of him (people on the ground have seen this) and then the German tailgunner could not miss anymore. 3 more G1's ran out of ammo, landed to reload, then the paratroopers and landing aircraft (and the defenders shooting all planes at the field) prevented them from taking off again. Three other G1's, seeing all Dutch airfields sprinkeled with german planes or burning, landed on the Dutch beach. Bad luck, it was Oostvoorne, very hard to reach with fighting everywhere and only a few bridges leading there. By the time pilots made it there (4 days later) with gas, ammo and a starting crew, they were destroyed by German bombers. Yes, you counted correct, there was one left... he flew all the way north to airfield De Kooi at Den Helder, but ended his landing with his propellers stuck in barb wire. Like: all around twisted and stuck. Dont know if he flew again. Two more G1's were almost ready when war broke out, they were hastily finished and flew some missions. At least one was lost during the desperate attempt to destroy the Moerdijk bridge.
Dutch, Danes, Swedes, Finns, Hungarians, Austrians, Ukranians... yep. Are those who shouldnt be allowed to speak about WW2. Beside Germans. If the rest of us, holds some worth to memory of our grandads.
I would definitely like to see more videos on the invasion of the Netherlands! Also, where could I be able to watch the featured short fim? (Awesome video by the way!)
Thank you! Keep an eye on this channel for information about the short film. For now you can check some photos on the Facebook page: facebook.com/Mei1940/
I thank you sir. I've read much WW2 history but it's mainly from the British, Canadian and American point of view. Since my family came from Hilversum and my father fought in the underground, I find your shows fascinating. I do recall my father saying some of the Dutch army fought like lions but the were ilequiped to deal with the Germans. Am looking forward to finding more of your content.
My grandfather lived in Ameland (one of the five inhibited islands of the Netherlands) during the war. He was thirteen when the war started and during the war he didn't got drafted because he made a deal that he would provide the entirety of Ameland with fish, instead of fighting for the Wehrmacht. So he was the one together with his fishing partner responsible for the total fish supply of an entire island. He got to live 88 years. I wished that I could ask him more about the war. I would always ask my mom beforehand whether my questions would be appropriate for him or not because I didn't want to hurt his feelings. I remember how my mom eventually pressured me to ask him things before it was ''too late''. ❤21-01-2015❤
@@HistoryHustle Should definitely look it up. Very interesting stuff happened in Norway: from the german invasion, to the british invasion, to the heavy water found there, to the battleships hiding in the fjords using smokescreens.
Yeah, today we don't have any tanks and hardly any army, and the few soldiers we have are equipped with junk and have to buy their own boots and bullet-proof vests. Really something to be proud of.
Great video! Gave me more insights in the "Battle of Holland". My grandfather was a pilot when the war broke out. He was stationed at the Mok (Texel). After the surrender of the Netherlands he found some fellow officers and fled to England by boat. He flew missions for the 320 squadron of the RAF and was awarded the Vliegerkruis. He survived and became a pilot for KLM. He did not speak much about the war because it made such an impact on him. Sadly he died when I was young, so I never spoke to him about it.
Hallo collega, dit is echt heel erg goed - ga zo door! Opbouwende kritiek: als kijker wil ik graag even een korte uitleg over de omgeving waarin je rond loopt, over de loopgraven en de begraafplaats.
My late father and with him a lot of Dutch soldiers could hardly believe that high command did order them to lay down their arms and surrender to the Germans so soon. Most of the soldiers didn't even fire one shot at the enemy and the bulk of the Dutch army was still intact and morale was still good. Needless to say these guys were very disappointed, because they really wanted to fight for their country. Brave and good men, who would have given the nazi's a stiff run for their money. Something like the Fins did with the Sowjets. But this would only have meant pursponing the inavitable defeat, the West of the country in ruins and tenthousands of extra casualties. So high command, realising that any help by the French and the British BEF was out of the question (the only change to stop the German onlsaught), made the right decision, all be it with a very heavy heart.
@@HistoryHustle He was only 20 at the time, but already a corporal and part of a sharpshooters/sniper unit, ecquipped with telescope rifles. Some staff officers did find out, that many boys from Drenthe were excellent shots, due to their experience in poaching. He was very proud of the crossed rifle badge on his right shoulder, pointing out that he was an expert rifleman. Dad (1919-2004) was ''Gereformeerd'' (orthodox protestant), so he never swore. But that day he did, while smashing his special sniper rifle against a tree, so that the Germans couldn't use it anymore.
@TheWeeaboo Millions of casualties in the Netherlands is a stretch. That would only happen if the Germans started shooting everything that moved or cruel orders by Hitler but he didn't have any antisemitic reasons to that to the Netherlands. There is no way we could've won except in fantasy scenarios.
The dutch could of been the next "300" story.. but they just arent spartans. Not for nothing goes the saying dutch cowardness. And this saying goed way back
Great video. Love hearing about all the countries struggle and show bravery in such crazy times. I’m a Brit, and it’s great to see such good connections between us, and that far more binds us (as people) than divides us. So many decent men on all sides gave their lives because of orders from men who largely wouldn’t have done what they ordered others to do.
Fellow dutch history teacher here. lovely video, would love to see more of this. Would it be possible to cite your sources in the video or in the credits next time? That would make it perfect.
Sure. Most prominent source for this video was: "Mei 1940. De strijd op Nederlands grondgebied (Herman Amersfoort en Piet Kamphuis)" Furthermore the books of E.H. Brongers were used. These are also the sources of my follow-up videos that will appear soon. One is already out, check: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o-dBkEqdq-o.html
@@HistoryHustle thank you, very cool. Are you aware dutch archives just recently released all the archives concerning the meidagen and the day before and after the crisis? www.archieven.nl/nl/zoeken?miview=inv2&mivast=0&mizig=210&miadt=2231&micode=409&milang=nl
Despite public opinion, the Dutch fought quite well. The German army had a lot of experience gained in the First World War and therefor had an excellent cooperation between the different army units. A very couragous fight was about the airfield Valkenburg near The Hague where the Germans suffered heavy losses. A general misconception is that the Germans had modern weapons. Dutch people often laugh about the artillery dating back to WW1. Truth is, that the German had canons from WW1. In that time it didnt really matter if you had artillery from 1938 or 1916. And there are other things you should take in consideration.
That's correct. Indeed much more things can be taken in consideration. As a re-enactor of Dutch 1940 people often laugh about the puttees. Yet, puttees were far more comfortable in battle than jackboots IMO.
"Despite public opinion, the Dutch fought quite well." Goes on to describe how the Netherlands doesn't even defend half of the country and some idiotic major killed while charging with a sword with even Dutch soldiers shooting at his charge....
Perspectives vary on this. You have to place things in perspective. Half the country was undefendable so the first proper line of defence was at the Yssel with the Grebbe Line as its main line. The Dutch hoped to hold off the Germans long enough to drive them out with massive allied help.
Maybe unknown for most viewers, The French 7th army came from France in Some 30 hours to the south-west of Brabant and Zeeland. In my small town they had Some skirmishes and lost 11 soldiers in heavy fighting with the first Germans, also 1 maybe 2 Germans were killed. Unfortunately they didn’t advance to Moerdijk with their light tanks and armoured cars but stayed around Breda. Then they left afraid of Being cut off. That could be a small chance to block the Germans to enter Rotterdam. But because oud airforce was annihilated, it wouldn’t prevent defeat.
Thanks for the additional comment, Harco. Indeed, some French forces came across into the Netherlands and had some fighting with the Germans. Also some British disembarked from Hoek van Holland, but like the French they quickly retreated. Cheers for your comment!
@@HistoryHustle There were more French tanks in france than German tanks during the invasion. (French troops violated Belgium neutrality by doing that).
@@MaximusDerpynes dit was tijdens geheime onderhandelingen al afgesproken met de Belgen. Bij een Duitse inval zouden de Fransen en het BEF de Dijle beweging maken om de Duitsers op te vangen en terug te slaan. Laat dit nou precies zijn wat de Duitsers wilden en verwachtten. Om daarna de geallieerden in de tang te nemen.
@@HistoryHustle Ik heb me er al sinds mijn 12e in verdiept. Ik ben momenteel 44, een opa van mijn moederskant en enkele oudooms van zowel vaders als moederskant hebben gediend in het Franse leger tijdens mei juni 1940 en ook 1943, 1944 en 1945. Uiteindelijk ook nog vanaf 1946 te Indochina
Great, great video! Thank you so much for making this. You are an excellent presenter as well! As a Dutchman who grew up in France and stayed there until the end of my high school, I have always missed historical and other general knowledge. Your channel will be my 'inhaalslag' at last! :)
My grandparents were babies when the war was life (Born in 1944) they were born in Delfzijl, de dad of my grandpa saved him, when a German Soldier threw a grenade in their house, he lay his whole body on the grenade and died😮, I was so amazed when my grandpa told this to me, I was thinking about if he didn't do that, I wouldn't even be here😳
Excellent educational presentation. So little is known about the Dutch army engagements. I learned much from this presentation. This is a fascinating and somewhat obscure event of WW2 not normally taught in schools. Honor to the fallen Dutch defenders. Also, I find the Dutch designed helmet quite good. The extended rear "fire fighter" flange design seemed to provided better protection from debris and shrapnel. And BTW: Finland is grateful for the D-XXI Fokker. Thank you. Take care and be safe.
Thanks for your reply. In case you're interested, I have a video about the Dutch army of 1940: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--esy4KKhpdo.html
Mijn opa was een eenvoudige boer. Hij moest als arbeider naar Duitsland, maar is toen ondergedoken. Hij heeft er nooit over willen praten, maar ik heb respect voor hem gehad.
Great article-- I was born in Sept. 1942, in COEVORDEN DREHTHE, close to what is now LAAR Germany. My father Harm (Harry) Raue' owned a large tractor for threshing. Dutch army had asked him, to prepare to pull the largest cannon available to the Defense line in an 800 year old town. Expecting to remain neutral, it was a waiting game !!! Dad had his big tractor on standby. As far as I know that was late April 28 or so, 1939. Once German bullets started bouncing off his stractor as civilians, Dad , said time to go home boys, as he was used to ordering his threshing crew. Once in the town with double moat and a harbour to canals, the Germans attacked there, against Dutch defenders downtown at the harbour. They were all surprised as to who had the upper hand? The Hotels fearing destruction of their building and business? One of the Hotel owners, raised White sheets behind the Dutch defenders shooting at the German attackers ! Mixed signals? Both sides may have frequented the border hotels, the commanders reached a truce. Til as in the video here, Holland as a nation surrendered. May 10 1940 as you say. As far as I know Dad encountered the first shots of WWII in HOLLAND, bouncing off his tractor. He later got his crew to wrap it in oiled tarps, and bury it. NO evidence ! I was his 5th child in 1942. Older 1932, 1934, 1936. My brother Harry 1941, and I John, 1942, were born under -' GERMAN- OCCUPIED HOLLAND. The German command was in the school behind our house. In their occupation they had idle evenings as commanders. While soldiers looted, and kept control. These commanders had NO TV, and NO Internet, they found Dad had a piano, one would play it, while they sang hymns. They would bring confiscated food for Mom to cook, 'home cooked meals for them' while my sisters stored surplus foods. While Mom had 5 children and care for her mother. LIFE for RAUE' family More to add, contact JOHNRAUE@GMAIL.COM - Vancouver Canada, where an 80% copy of the COEVORDEN castle is from EXPO 86, Vancouver 100 years old. April 10, 1945, 3 CANADIAN soldiers arrived in an International Carrier to set us free from German occupation. The driver and next to him were killed by a German sniper in the GROOTE KERK steeple. The rear gunner, blasted with his gun, a hole in the steeple, and the German was no more. # Canadian soldiers still honoured in Quelph, Ont. Cnd. Town of COEVORDEN, has honoured them many visits later by the commander,and has named 3 street in their honour. VANCOUVER, is dutch English history. When rescued in a shipwreck, the question from English resuers was "where are you from? Dutch answer, "Ik been VAN COEFORDEN"... anglozised to... "CAPTAIN GEORGE VANCOEVER". My city now and my birth city then. 800 years apart.
Absolutely loved this video as a fellow Dutchman! I'm trying to get into this bit of our History a bit more and I've been trying to find a good uniform for reenactment purposes recently but no-one seems to be selling those, might you have any clue as to where to get one?😅
@@HistoryHustle Thank you so much! Really sorry for the late reply, this should provide me with most of what I need! Is there still an active 1939-40 Dutch reenactment group in existence?
@@HistoryHustle misschien interessant mocht je het niet weten. In Mill, Noord Brabant heb je de asperge-versperring die Nederlandse soldaten hebben geplaatst op een treinrails zodat een Duitse pantsertrein zou ontsporen, dit is ook gebeurd. De Nederlandse soldaten namen plaats in hun bunkers tegenover het spoor om vanuit daar op de Duitsers te kunnen schieten. De asperge-versperring is nagemaakt met replicas. Het ligt een beetje achteraf, wel erg bijzonder! In Mill staat trouwens ook nog een tank uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog in het dorp. Een bezoekje waard zou ik zeggen! rijksmonumenten.nl/monument/509273/peel-raamstelling:-asperge-versperring/mill/
Many thanks. If you like the topic, please check this playlist for more and indepth videos: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_IIsY664tE4.html
You mentioned the battles in the air but didn’t mention the most important, air to air fighting. Some historians say that if the dutch didn’t perform as well as they did in the air with the dxxi and g1 for example, the battle of britain would have ended differently and less in favor of britain.
This is an important aspect. The AA guns did most of the damage to the german transports. One unique aspect of the Dutch air defence was that a big part of the 20mm guns were privately funded by corporations, and manned by volunteer crews. The planes were sorely missed in the battle of Britain for sure.
Indeed an incredibly important detail (as long as these suspicions are true). If I remember correctly, it was said that the Germans lost so many of their transport planes in The Netherlands that they would never have been able to provide enough paratroopers for Operation Sea Lion (the German invasion of Great Britain), which was supposedly one of the reasons that forced them to postpone/cancel this invasion, which ultimately saved Britain from defeat.
Read the story of Bram (Bob) van der Stok “Oorlogsvlieger van Oranje” which pales the “Sodaat van Oranje” story. He fought during the airbattle over Holland, fled to Britain, joined the RAF ánd was part in the famous “Great Escape” from a POW camp. Why his story was never made into a movie still puzzles me.
@Sander To be fair, Operation Sea Lion was never more than a fantasy for a number of reasons. It was far to ambitious, Germany never had the means to carry it out.
Thanks very much for this video. I know you have been making videos about the German perspective as well. I remember my grandparents talking about the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands. They lived in a small German town very close to the Dutch border all their lives (Vreden). They actually saw some of the troops passing through their town at the time of the invasion.They were absolutely horrified. For them, their Dutch neighbours were far closer to them than most other parts of Germany. They even spoke the same language because the German dialect in that area is almost exactly the same as the Dutch dialect in the Achterhoek. After the war there was much talk about straightening the border and the Netherlands annexed some small areas of Germany. For some reason they abandoned the plan to annex Vreden back in the 1950s. Locally, people always thought that some money was paid to the Dutch government but nobody really knew. In anyway, if the Dutch had annexed this small town I would’ve been welcomed abroad as a cool Dutch dude rather than considered a Nazi when I grew up.
Many thanks for your reply. I actually also covered some individual battles in case you're interested: Rotterdam: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-l4sfzTdbTII.html Den Haag: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-hmmNEMcn6FI.html Grebbeberg: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WJqfCVoiqbQ.html
No, we didn’t had a chance. But the army gave their best with a badly organised and under equipped nineteenth century army, until the Germans bombed Rotterdam. After that the Dutch capitulated.
History Hustle we capitulated before rotterdam was bombed. the bombers werent able to be told that we did indeed capitulate and dropped their bombs anyways
0rang3 Capitulation was on the 14th of May, the bombing of Rotterdam was on the 14th of May. Some of the Dutch army in Zeeland continued to fight until the 17th of May. So no, you are wrong.
Jesse No tanks, some machineguns, rifles, but were starkly short on ammo, that was actually one of their main problems. They had radio communication, but that was badly organised. While radio communication was the core of the Germans.
@@HistoryHustle Oh yes we do! Indeed against invaders who're allready here! 'Our' government has allowed for the enemy of the next Dutch war, to stockpile weapons. These weaponcaches are far more numerous then most people know or are willing to acknowledge. Don't forget how easy it is to bring in illegal weapons into this open border country. Nonsense you say? Don't forget that research journalist Arthur van Amerongen, when he went underground to do research for his book 'Brussel: Eurabia', over a decade ago, allready estimated there to be some 4000(!) AK-47's in Brussel alone...
@@GTfour01 lol its 2020 mate. serious wars are not going to be waged with Ak47s... a true war between superpowers would end in mutual destruction. That's why we need diplomacy, not weapons.
@@Siliciouss Sure, go tell that to the people in, for instance, Allepo, Syria. There, an army of proxy soldiers, mostly armed with AK's and RPG's, managed to occupy this big city for many months, slaughtering and terrorising many of it's occupants. All the 'superpowers' did, was dropping ordnance from above, basically destroying the place and killing even more of its civilians. Diplomacy didn't quite work out so well for them, or do you think it did? 🙄 I'm staggered by the fact you use 'LOL' here. In my eyes, there's absolutely nothing funny about the clear and present danger of 'our' government willingly importing the very same killing machines from Syria, into our peacefull and naïeve country. Where did you get this smuggness from? I simply can't fathom you dare to pull the condescending card here. That kind of behaviour send our guys into war with Germany with obsolete WW1 weaponry!
You remind me of my own history teacher at secundary school. He even managed to get the attention of the most stubborn pupils. The way in which you explain things is clear and nice to listen to.
@@HistoryHustle but since your job is that of a history teacher, do you know whether the initial bombing of Rotterdam was by accident? Ive read somewhere that some German pilots accidentaly dropped their payload over Rotterdam during the 2nd W.W.
Eeee...I do not know For smaler country...with such a big impact ...contributione In history..economy...inventiones...tolerance... ...even imperial influence Then Netherlands Good yob Dutch people You can be realy proud on your history and all And in the same time...I got impressione...that you are not realy impressed with all that Simply... You seams to be...all about Is it practical....is there good sence....and where it will put you All respects from Croatia Be a Dutch We all neads your atitude 😊👍🍀🔝🍺🙌🎉
@@HistoryHustle Probably want too look at terneuzen, the city was pillaged by french troops in day one. Also you want to look at te retreat of the french army at the sloedam. The french left two or three soldiers behind to cover the retreat. I have heard It took the germans day's to get past those guy's.
Very cool to get some more insight into my country! Born in the netberlands, but left at 8 to other countries. Netherlands would be mentioned in history classes, but always a little brushed off. Good to get some insight as to how it was :)
What are the odds that the same Dutch troops who fought to defend the Netherlands escaped with the army in exile then ended up getting reposted to the east Indies facing another invasion to only get captured by the Japanese.
From what I believe that did only happen in the case that on the moment of the German invasion the last boot that left for Indonesia contained some colonial troops that could have ended up fighting the Japanese, although many KNIL troops saw the first Japanese soldier after their surrender.
Most Dutch troops were either killed or ended up in POW camps. My grandfather was one of them, fought on the Grebbe in May 1940, spent the next 3 years as a POW and forced labourer in Germany, then after being sent back to the Netherlands spent the next 2 years in hiding in fear of being arrested and sent back to Germany. He WAS sent to the East Indies in 1946 to fight the separatists during the Indonesian uprising, after that to New Guinnea to fight the separatists there, and was once again called up for deployment to Korea in 1951 but the armistice was signed 2 days before he was scheduled to ship out (he already had his marching papers), saving him from being sent into war FOUR times.
Nice video! A video on the battle of the kapelsche veer would be interesting! Because it was a useless battle , fought only because generals wanted to eliminate the german bridgehead on the island . This battle is misunderstood in a lot of ways.
Stefan, I'm going through your playlist and I'm gobsmacked the evolution of your vids. They are all good, but they get better as time goes on. Kinda like a quality wine. Cheers from Tennessee.
@@HistoryHustle No thanks needed, Stefan. Like I said you remind me of a Prof I had and he made history live. I'm only relaying the truth. I'm 62 and your vids are excellent, not only are they informative on topics that don't get a lot of time, ie the fate of Dutch SS volunteers after the War, but entertaining, at least to me. I mean you even took on the Dutch slave trade. As far as I know, no American has done such an amazing outlook on that sad chapter. Better yet, that particular vid wasn't apologetic but presented the facts plain and simple. I think in the comments some people were critical, but after the fact how the Netherlands treats people kinda is the best way to apologize. Make a level field. That's why enlightened Americans like places like the Netherlands. The attitude of the state and people to live correctly (?). Live and let live way. Not the Tulips although in the spring when they blossom and bloom is breathtaking, it's the consecutive libral attitude. In other words the Dutch accept the past, but they live in the present and accept change for the future. Not too fast mind you, but it's gonna happen.
Good concise history, thank you. I understand that the bombing of Rotterdam was due to the Dutch surrender message not being received by the bombers. Aircraft en route to the target had wound back in their trailing radio aerials, so never heard the abort command. Sadly the destruction was magnified by an enormous fire in a margarine factory near the waterfront. This spread rapidly to houses nearby. German ground troops were powerless to stop the bombing.
The only conclusion I can draw from this is that the Dutch didn't do such a bad job after all, considering they weren't organised that well and had out dated equipment... and bad training
Well, outdated is a bit too steep. The Mannlicher rifle was designed in 1895, but the German Mauser in 1898. The artillery was not bad either, especially the PAG 47mm guns were very manoeuvrable, easy to hide and very effective against the German armour that was deployed in the Netherlands. About organization of the army. it was a drafted army, and the units were made up from the various drafts. The soldiers (almost) never were trained as a unit. So, they didn't "know" eachother. And at the end of the day, soldiers do not fight for their country, so much as they fight for eachother, as buddies. (No disrespect intended!) Really the main problems were: lack of communication (there were alomost no radios, and the ones thate were used ran out of power very quickly), and lack of training. Not only for the troops, but also for officers. (there had never been any manouvres beyond company scale). And last, but not least, the politics of the time. The broken rifle ("Gebroken geweertje") movement had had quite an influence, and military budget cuts had been severe. Politicians, apparantly, were blind for what was about to happen, untill it was too late.
What happen with simple the Dutch we’re going to resist this illegal invasion and they fought the best they could we’re all grateful to them if it wasn’t for people like the Dutch we would enjoy the freedoms we have today.
Geen schijn van kans. Tegen de paratroepen en op de Grebbe is er keihard en goed gevochten, maar de achterdeur bij Moerdijk stond open. Rotterdam kon herhaald worden omdat er geen luchtafweer was. Die stonden bij de vliegvelden en hebben de Luftwaffe zware verliezen toegebracht. Maar dit kon men nooit winnen, de Duitsers konden zoveel in de strijd gooien.
If you look at the statistics of the big battles we definitely put up a real good fight with our late 1800's Swiss Mannlicher rifles, and soldiers the equivalent of farmer boys in shorts. Given more modern weaponry at the time it could've gone differently. Anyway, we pissed the Germans off for long enough for them to resort to the extreme measures of completely devastating a city instead of duking it out longer.
They didn't have time, the Benelux had to be conquered to conquer France, before Britain and France had fully mobilized everything from their colonies. That's why they were in such a rush, they had to or it would be WW1 all over again.
My grandfather fought the Germans at the Grebbeberg. He and his mates were shocked when they heard the Netherlands surrendered. They had the feeling they could withstand the German attack.
@@HistoryHustle There is a monument of a marine in front of the former marine base at Oostplein in Rotterdam. The garrison succesfully defended the Willemsbrug against the Germans.
Concerning the battle of the Netherlands, it wasn't much of a contest, the Dutch tried to resist the best they could but they had serious inferiority across the board. For starters they had pretty much no armor/tanks, nor many anti tank weapons, or much heavy equipment for that matter, plus their army wasn't even fully mobilized when the Germans invaded. The Dutch army was also poorly trained and I'll equipped, and most of what equipment they did have was outdated The Dutch did have some positive elements in terms of defense, they had an armaments industry, a wealthy educated population. They also had a geography that favored the defender, with their New Holland water line, Peel Raam and Grebbe defense lines, the idea was to coordinate with Belgium in a joint defense until the French and British forces arrived to support them, but the speed of the German blitzkrieg and almost total air superiority from the Luftwaffe virtually rendered the allied defense strategy obsolete.
As being dutch I think a few factors you mention and leave out seriously hampered and still hamper the defence of the country. The endless bickering of ministers and army staff about the budget and if the country was facing such peril. The lack of materials which is also due to orders standing out in Germany, that will obviously never be delivered and were delayed for obvious reasons, as well as orders placed for example in Sweden, which were at the end of the line of orders by all countries that were arming. The Netherlands realized too late that we were underprepared. The biggest and most elusive thing might actually be that wealthy educated population. People here tend to think that through reason we might avoid conflict/ solve a conflict. But when dealing with an unreasonable foe like Nazi Germany was, and today certain powers are too, is not always the correct way. You sometimes need to show teeth. And that is a thing we as dutch more often lack.
@@dgray3771 Thanks for the additional information. Yet, the quick Dutch defeat spared damage. If the Dutch had a better defense it could've lead to more destruction. On the flip side, it could've hindered the Blitzkrieg. All what-if scenarios.
What about the Dutch resistance? Would be pretty interesting to hear more about that they often did bomb attacks and shizzle like that on German offices during the occupation
What resistance? We allready know everything about the few dozens of actual resistance members. Most were Frisian anyway. But off course- ALL Dutch collaborators were 'resisting' the Germans- after the war. It were Dutch policemen, collecting my family for the Nazi's. Dutch reailway personnel brought them to Germany-and Dutch politicians who looked away- but all were 'resistance' after the war. Cowards.
@@furorfrisii7679 If you say so naming other poeple cowards while you weren't even there says enough about the kind of person you are the dutch poeple had enough patriots who didn''t accept the occupation but if you come here with some statements without proper arguments then you're not even worth the time of starting an discussion with
Regarding the Afsluitdijk, I have fairly new information thanks to a friend who works in road construction at that location. They uncovered a new Casemate that was still locked, this casemate was unknown until now. This find was done early January 2020, I was also invited by him to join but due to his work schedual things didn't go as planned. Else I could have identified a lot if not most things in that casemate. They managed to open the casemate with the EOD (explosieve Opruimings Dienst, army explosive disposal team) in tow. What they found was just stunning. Aside from ammunition and guns in near pristine condition they also found several mummified Dutch soldiers. The bodies and everything inside this casemate has been removed obviously. Other finds there include ammunition including artillery and tank shells along side with aircraft bombs, these all were taken to the IJsselmeer and detonated under water (you could easily hear the blasts on most of the Frisian west coast). This included very heavy bombs to which was unknown previously that these were used at this location.
@@HistoryHustle I don't know if they already released that news. But yeah, there is a high probability that they will find more interesting things there now they are redoing the Afsluitdijk.
Sorry but I don't think that this is true, there's no record of any MIA dutch troops at kortewederzand. There was only 1KIA and 2 wounded as stated in the after action reports. As for the bombs are they german or allied? One of the main routes taken by allied bombers to Germany was over Friesland so it is plausible that a bomber jettisoned it's bombs in the area.
History is full of cunts from all countries, all skin colors, all religions. I would not worry about it. All the people responsible are long dead and the sons do not inherit the fathers crimes. At some point we all have to move past this and focus on the crimes happening today.
The brother of my grandpa was six when we were invaded. His parents put him in a closet when nazis invaded his home, he pissed his pants. Idk why I told this😂
My grandfather Francis Cosgrove was in the Royal Montreal Regiment and in 1944 and 1945 was in France, Belgium and Holland. He said that the Dutch were so appreciative and also appreciated.
I one way you can say the Dutch were being colonized by the Germans. Yet, if I compare it with European colonization in Africa or Asia I think it has some differences.
arguably the Indonesian former colonies were more a conquest than colonisation. Cape town in SA was colonized as there were no souls living there and if it weren't for the Dutch, that land might still be uninhabited. Right now it's one of the richer areas of Africa south of the equator, but with the impending genocide of white farmers, because they're white, the region might pull another Zimbabwe and starve.
@@HistoryHustle would love to see a video about the battle of the afsluitdijk, as I did my PWS on the attack on the netherlands and didi myself investigate a lot about the battle by the afsluitdijk
I just found your video. You explain history so well. My father was in the resistance during the war and supplied baled straw for defense purposes before the war. Do you have any idea what the straw was used for? This question has been puzzling me for a while.
Thanks for your reply. Dunno anout a straw. Did make a video on the Dutch resistance: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-u9DWNOhHK_g.htmlsi=SDvvpvxFeZK8ODOB
my great grandpa had his business there. he was devestated when it blew up. he still rebuild it after and it lasted for the next few generations so i think he really loved it.
