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PART 4, SECTION E
THE WESTERN AND NORTHERN FRONT OF THE FORTRESS OF HOLLAND
(INCLUDING THE EVENTS AT AMSTERDAM)
SUMMARY
The Western Front of the Fortress of Holland in 1940 was formed by the coastal region between
the fortifications of Den Helder (near Callantsoog) and the estuary at Brielle (now dammed up).
Except for the ports of IJmuiden, Scheveningen and The Hook of Holland, the garrison consisted
only of very weak guarding troops. In case of imminent danger of attack the area had to be defended
by troops to be transported to the area, in the first place I Army Corps, which as a general reserve
was stationed between the North Sea Canal (Noordzeekanaal) and the New Waterway (Nieuwe
Waterweg).
The important ports of IJmuiden and The Hook of Holland were defended by infantry, coast
artillery and naval forces, all of them together under the command of senior officers of the Royal
Netherlands Navy.
Scheveningen was defended by a reinforced infantry battalion, including engineer detachments,
who were kept ready to barricade the harbours and to demolish the port installations.
Many headquarters and troops, not belonging to the actual garrison, were stationed in the area of
the Western front. These included in the first place the Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief
of the Ground and Naval Forces and of the Commander of the Fortress of Holland and I Army
Corps. In and behind the area of the Western Front, situated between the New Waterway and the
river Old Rhine (Oude Rijn), the operations were conducted against the German 22nd Airborne
Division which had landed around The Hague on May 10th. These fights have been described
elaborately in "Algemeen Overzicht" and "De Strijd tegen de Luchtlandingstroepen rondom
's-Gravenhage" (Part 4, Sections A and D), so that in this book, in describing the proceedings at
the Western Front, only the part played by the troops of the Western Front is mentioned.
On May 10th two Netherlands ministers took off from Scheveningen by naval aircraft, bound for
England, where they were going to consult with the British Government. On May 14th the Com
mander of the Netherlands Naval Forces sailed by fishing-boat from the same port. This vessel
also carried the French mission that had arrived at IJmuiden the same morning and now returned
to Dunkirk.
Many British warships called on IJmuiden and The Hook of Holland, French destroyers touched
at IJmuiden.
British demolition parties were brought ashore at these two ports. It was their task to destroy
oil stocks respectively at Amsterdam and near Rotterdam and to demolish port installations. German
aircraft made bombing attacks and dropped magnetic mines in the harbours and in the New
Waterway. At IJmuiden a bombardment caused several casualties aboard the British destroyer
H.Ms. Witshed, which carried the demolition party, while the commanding officer of the British
demolition team for The Hook of Holland, Commander J. A. C. Hill, R.N., fell victim to a magnetic
mine.
Part of this demolition team was transported to Rotterdam by a pilot vessel commanded by a
Netherlands naval officer. Since permission to destroy the oil stocks had not yet been given, this
detachment helped to load gold stocks of the Bank of The Netherlands into the pilot vessel. Because
of the danger of mines, the detachment returned to The Hook of Holland by train, but their com
mander boarded the pilot vessel. Off Vlaardingen this vessel hit a magnetic mine. The British as well
as the Netherlands commander were among those who were killed.
The military missions bound for Brussels, London and Paris left from IJmuiden; the last-
mentioned on board a British warship.
On May 12th the Family of the Crown Princess also sailed for England in a British warship. The
French military mission mentioned before arrived at IJmuiden in a French warship on May 14th.
Some days earlier this mission had tried in vain to reach The Hague by land.
During the first five days of the war almost the complete Amsterdam merchant fleet, the greater
part of the IJmuiden fishing fleet and an uncompleted warship, together with some vessels contai
ning material for the completion of this ship, succeeded in escaping to England. Numerous refu
gees, especially Jews and furthermore nearly one thousand German prisoners-of-war were trans
ported to England by this fleet and by British warships.
Finally the British demolition party set fire to the Amsterdam oil stocks. Next, in cooperation
with the Royal Netherlands Navy, they demolished the port installations at IJmuiden and the
