Made for the home market and released in German in 1940, this short silent newsreel shows the Wehrmacht invasion of Holland and Luxembourg. The film begins with images of German tanks moving into Holland, and engineers working to remove roadblocks and damaged steel from bridges. At :56 motorcycle troops rumble into Holland. (The Germans seem unstoppable and are shown advancing with tanks, armored cars, motorcycles and even on a railway “speeder” at 1:14!) At 1:31 the Juliana Canal named after Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, is shown. This is a 36 km long canal in the southern Netherlands, providing a bypass of an unnavigable section of the river Meuse between Maastricht and Maasbracht. At 1:44 German engineers install a floating pontoon bridge to replace one bombed. Troops advance using small rubber boats. At 2:30 horses are used to pull artillery across a river. At 2:53 Junkers Ju-52 aircraft are shown, as well as Dornier bombers at 3:05. The Ju-52s release paratroops at 3:20. The paratroops occupy bridges and rapidly form up. At 4:00 the burning docks of what must be Antwerp or Rotterdam are shown. At 4:19 a German convoy moves through shattered streets. Fires burn at 4:40, probably in Rotterdam.
The Battle of the Netherlands was a military campaign part of Case Yellow, the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and France during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until the surrender of the main Dutch forces on 14 May. Dutch troops in the province of Zeeland continued to resist the Wehrmacht until 17 May when Germany completed its occupation of the whole country.
The Battle of the Netherlands saw some of the earliest mass paratroop drops, to occupy tactical points and assist the advance of ground troops. The German Luftwaffe used paratroopers in the capture of several airfields in the vicinity of Rotterdam and The Hague, helping to quickly overrun the country and immobilise Dutch forces.
After the devastating bombing of Rotterdam by the Luftwaffe on 14 May, the Germans threatened to bomb other Dutch cities if the Dutch forces refused to surrender. The General Staff knew it could not stop the bombers and ordered the Dutch army to cease hostilities. The last occupied parts of the Netherlands were liberated in 1945.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
