I found some more info.
"In
World War II, a Korps Mariniers unit in
Rotterdam preparing to ship out to the Dutch East Indies successfully defended the bridges across the
Maas, preventing the German paratroopers in the central city from hooking up with conventional German infantry. The Germans ended the stalemate by
bombing Rotterdam. The threat of an attack by Marines caused its German captain to scuttle the
Antilla in
Aruba in 1940.
When the surrender was declared and the Dutch soldiers came out of their positions, the German commander who was expecting a full battalion of men was stunned to see only a few Dutch Marines emerge in their black uniforms. He ordered his men to salute them out of respect for their bravery and determination and labelled them Zwarte duivels (The Black Devils).
Some Mariniers later joined the
Princess Irene Brigade to fight against the Germans. They distinguished themselves in combat near the Dutch city of
Tilburg in the autumn of 1944.
Starting in 1943, the
United States Marine Corps trained and equipped a new brigade, the Mariniersbrigade, of the Korps Mariniers at
Camp Lejeune and
Camp Davis in North Carolina in preparation for amphibious landings against the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies. The Japanese surrendered before such landings were needed, but the Mariniersbrigade, fully trained and equipped, left North Carolina in six transports in 1945 and fought against the Indonesians in their
National Revolution for independence. It was part of the A Division, which was itself commanded by a Korps Mariniers officer. It was disbanded in 1949"
Netherlands Marine Corps - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dutch Mariniers Brigade
