Heroes and Villains

During the occupation over 5,000 Dutchmen joined the Waffen - SS, serving in the Panzergrenadier Division "Nederland", and a further 54,000 belonged to Nazi organisations. In February 1943 Sturmann Gerardus Mooyman, serving with the Freiwilligen-legion Niederlande, became the first foreign volunteer to receive the Knight's Cross when, crewing an anti-tank gun, he knocked out 13 Soviet tanks near Lake llmen. The Dutch Queen Wilhelmina with her government escaped to Great Britain aboard a warship on May 13, 1940. Of the Dutch servicemen who made it to Britain the pilots became part of 320 Sqdn RAF. The Dutch 1st Armoured Brigade "Princes Irene" was formed in 1941 and, commanded by Lt Colonel de Ruyter van Steveninck, fought in North West Europe from 1944-1945. Among the warships that escaped from Holland a cruiser served with the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean but most of the Netherlands East Indies fleet was lost in action against the Japanese.