Dutch Defense Plan

The Netherlands shares with Germany a common frontier of over 200 miles. Any attempt at a serious defense of this border with the little over 300,000 men of the Dutch Army was recognized as a military impossibility. To screen most of this border, the Dutch organized four territorial and two group commands, whose purpose was to fight a delaying action, blowing up bridges and flooding fields as they retreated. The time gained by these actions , would allow the Dutch defensive lines to be brought up to full strength.

The northernmost of the screening commands was the Territorial Command "Friesland", which was responsible for the provinces of Drenthe, Groningen, and Friesland. The entire area was deemed by the Dutch High Command to be indefensible, and therefore the two infantry regiments and two border battalions were instructed to fight a delaying action, taking up final defensive positions only to protect the Great Dyke, near the town of Woms.

The next of these screening commands was Territorial Command "Upper Ijssel", which was responsible for the province of Upper Ijssel and most of Gelderland. The five border battalions were in this case to offer initial resistance at the frontier and then withdraw, blowing up the bridges over the Regge and Ijssel Rivers. The border battalions would then join the two infantry regiments in their defense of the Ijssel River, The units of Territorial Command "Upper Ijssel" were instructed that if the Ijssel River was crossed in force the defensive line was to be abandoned. The units were in that case to fall back upon the Grebbe Line; during the retreat they would be screened by the three husar regiments of the 11 and IV Army Corps.

The two screening Group Commands "Betuwe" and "Maas-Waal", with their border and infantry battalions, were instructed to fight a delaying action at the frontier while destroying the northsouth bridges over the Maas, Waal, and Lek Rivers. They were thereafter to conduct a fighting withdrawal while retiring upon the positions of Brigades "A" and "B" respectively, which were manning the Grebbe Line defenses between the Lek and Maas Rivers.

In the area of Territorial Command "North Brabant" three infantry battalions and three border battalions were assigned to defend the line of the Maas River, and were responsible for the destruction of the bridges across the Maas. The remaining infantry battalion and three border battalions were performing border security duties along the Belgian frontier as far west as the Scheldt River. Once the Maas River defense was breached, the forces of the territorial command were to concentrate upon the "Peel" Line, in the area of the Zuid Willems Canal.

The province of South Limburg was recognized to be indefensible, because of the inaccessability of the province to reinforcement or supply from the rest of the Netherlands. The infantry regiment and two border battalions of Territorial Command "South Limburg" were therefore to put up only token resistance in the province and then withdraw into the city of Maastricht. It was hoped they could hold the city until such time as the Allied armies reached them through Belgium.

The Grebbe Line was the first and most modern of the Dutch defensive positions. The line extended from the Zuider Zee south along the Geld Valley (much of which could be flooded) to the Maas-Waal-Lek estuaries, and from there south through the Peel River marshes and along the Zuid Willems Canal to the Belgian border near Weert. To augment the extensive water defenses of this position, the Dutch Army had erected an extensive system of fortif ications, bunkers, artillery emplacements, and anti-tank obstacles. In all, the Grebbe-Peel Line extended some eighty miles and was manned by the bulk of the Dutch Army.

The defenders consisted of three army corps containing six infantry divisions, three infantry brigades, four husar regiments, three independent artillery regiments, the "Light" Division, and three infantry regiments which were brought together on an ad hoc basis to form the "Peel" Division. Added to this were the remnants of the various screening commands outlined above.

The units along the Grebbe-Peel Line were not intended to make a final stand at these positions. Instead, they were expected to hold off the German attack for six to seven days by which time it was expected that French and British aid would reach the front lines and hopefully turn the tide of battle.

Behind the Grebbe-Peel Line the Dutch built a national redoubt called "Fortress Holland". The national redoubt consisted of the provinces of North and South Holland and Utrecht. This area contained the major population centers of the Netherlands: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Den Helder, and The Hague, and its defenses were manned by detached infantry battalions of reservists and territorials.

In the north and northeast the Waddenzee and the Zuider Zee formed the strongest possible natural defenses. The only possible invasion route in this sector was across the Great Dyke. However, the Woms bridgehead in Friesland and the defenses on the dyke itself precluded any serious attempt by the Germans to cross into Holland by this route.

From Muiden to the Maas-Waal-Lek estuaries stretched the East Front defenses of Fortress Holland. This consisted of a 45 mile defensive line which, while not as modern as the Grebbe Line, was indeed a formidible defensive system when manned by the entire Dutch Field Army.

The Southern Front of Fortress Holland was defended by Groups "Kil" and "Spui". The defense of this area was greatly facilitated by the natural barriers provided by the rivers of the Maas-Waal estuary. There were three major water barriers against the invasion of Fortress Holland from this direction: the Niewe Maas River, the Oude Maas River, and the Holland Deep (formed by the confluence of the Waal and Bergishe Maas Rivers).

Behind the defenses of the Fortress Holland positions were the Dutch Army's strategic reserves, the I Army Corps and the coastal defenders of the West Front of Fortress Holland. In addition to these units, there were two peripheral commands charged with the defense of the Dutch islands. Command "Zeeland" was responsible for the defense of the estuary islands and the Belgian frontier south of the Scheldt River. Command "Den Helder" had a similar role being responsible for the defense of the Frisian islands, the Great Dyke, and the Den Helder peninsula.

One last point that must be made is that the army referred to in this defensive plan, and, indeed, throughout this article is the Royal Dutch Army, which must be distinguished from the Royal Dutch Indies Army which was charged with the defense of the overseas colonies. The organization and equipment of the Dutch Indies Army was completely different from that depicted here.

More The Dutch Army 1940

Dutch Defense Plan
Infantry
Armor
Cavalry, AA, Artillery
Air Force
Order of Battle: May 10, 1940