The battle of airfield Ypenburg

[litchu]

On the morning of May 10th 1940 Germany invaded The Netherlands by dropping paratroopers at multiple airfields ( Ypenburg, Valkenburg and Ockenburg ). All of these airfields were located near The Hague, and the plan was to capture queen Wilhelmina and the goverment to force a surrender. The Germans managed to take over airfield Ypenburg but had many losses. While the German soldiers were setting up in the main building of the airfield the Dutch forces regrouped and launched a counter-attack.

The Dutch soldiers fought their way into a position to fire artillery at airfield Ypenburg and set the building on fire. Becaus of the fire the German soldiers were forced to leave their defensive positions which made it possible for the Dutch to advance onto the airfield. Many German soldiers were either defeated or captured and the airfield was retaken by the Dutch forces.

Today and tomorrow are dedicated to the heavy battles that took place during the 10th of may and the days following. On the location of airfield Ypenburg ( which is sadly destroyed to build a neighbourhood ) they did a re-enactment of the morning of May 10th in 1940. These are the pictures I've taken today: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/g24moa6b6fue5ky/AADYjYKnRX7dZ9_IuHGxXzipa?dl=0

Hope you've all enjoyed the little story and the pictures I've taken

 

[Aniallator]

Thanks for this! I honestly find the battle for France and the Low Countries one of the most interesting parts of the war.

 

[FlyingR]

Very interesting, I didn't know this. It is amazing to know how countries regarded as being weak actually did have great moments of glory. This battle would be really cool to play in a Traction Wars chapter!

 

[siben]

I don't think there where weak countries, each country did there best until they saw it was hopeless or they saw to many civilians where getting killed.

I feel pitty for the French on this, they are seen as cowards yet fought hard and suffered 360 000! casualties against the Germans in their 6 week fight.

 

[litchu]

I don't think there where weak countries, each country did there best until they saw it was hopeless or they saw to many civilians where getting killed.

I feel pitty for the French on this, they are seen as cowards yet fought hard and suffered 360 000! casualties against the Germans in their 6 week fight.

I wouldn't call the Dutch army strong either. We had "a few" tanks on Java and in The Netherlands itself only armored trucks ( about 41 ). Also the Dutch Army wasn't very experienced, in comparison to the Germans. The war for The Netherlands only lasted 5 days but that doesn't take away that I think that the battle for Ypenburg was handled very well. Even against the large numbers of Germans they managed to retake the airfield and they held it till Rotterdam got destroyed by German bombs making the Dutch forces surrendered.

 

[Aniallator]

Now imagine a Ypenburg map in TW...

 

[litchu]

Now imagine a Ypenburg map in TW...

I'd offer myself as a researcher then

 

[Fuchs]

I wouldn't call the Dutch army strong either. We had "a few" tanks on Java and in The Netherlands itself only armored trucks ( about 41 ). Also the Dutch Army wasn't very experienced, in comparison to the Germans. The war for The Netherlands only lasted 5 days but that doesn't take away that I think that the battle for Ypenburg was handled very well. Even against the large numbers of Germans they managed to retake the airfield and they held it till Rotterdam got destroyed by German bombs making the Dutch forces surrendered.

Different focus for the Dutch army. The policy of neutrality and immense budget cuts (reminds you of any recent events?) caused the neglect of several departments within the Dutch Armed Forces. However, by the thirties things were up and going again and the anti-aircraft side of the Dutch forces was super modern. This is the reason that the Germans lost an immense amount of airplanes during the invasion of the Netherlands. Also remember that tanks are, mostly, an offensive weapon and having artillery and anti-tank guns is far more useful for a nation with a neutral stance. Although those departments were lacking as well.

Which may have somewhat influenced the course of the Battle of Britain! Though most of the planes down were transport planes if I recall correctly.

The airborne assault gamble of the Germans just did not work out very well in the Netherlands in my opinion.

 

[litchu]

Which may have somewhat influenced the course of the Battle of Britain! Though most of the planes down were transport planes if I recall correctly.

The airborne assault gamble of the Germans just did not work out very well in the Netherlands in my opinion.

The Dutch indeed did down alot of transport planes ( reading numbers between 200 and 500 ) and captured around 1500 soldiers. If the Germans ever wanted to invade the UK with paratroopers they wouldn't have enough force left after their performance in The Netherlands. Also becaus of their poor performance the Germans didn't really do it again till they invaded Malta.

 

[Aniallator]

The airborne assault gamble of the Germans just did not work out very well in the Netherlands in my opinion.

It didn't go well in Hitler's opinion, either. Despite the moderate success of airborne drops in Denmark and Norway (let us not forget the role airborne drops played in Denmark's quick surrender), the drops around the Hague were a failure, and discouraged Hitler from further large-scale airborne assaults. He gave it a last gamble in Crete, an operation which, though successful, resulted in immense casualties for the Fallschirmjäger.

These faults cannot be placed on the Fallschirmjäger themselves, who's combat abilities are unparalleled. A great blame goes to their equipment. For example, to remove their parachute harness once landed, a Fallschirmjäger had to stand for around eighty seconds; this harness also prevented him from carrying a primary weapon, forcing them to equip a knife and pistol for the drop, while their primary weapons were dropped in separate containers. It wasn't until after Crete that the parachute harness was redesigned, allowing it to be removed in around ten seconds while prone, and also allowing the Fallschirmjäger to carry his primary weapon on the jump. Unfortunately for Germany, these drastic improvements came too late to make an impact on German airborne assaults.

 

[litchu]

@Aniallator

https://www.dropbox.com/s/do1mk0kmeoo229g/ypenburg19.png?dl=0

The only photo I could find without non-military personal walking infront of it..

 

[Aniallator]

@Aniallator

https://www.dropbox.com/s/do1mk0kmeoo229g/ypenburg19.png?dl=0

The only photo I could find without non-military personal walking infront of it..

Amazing! What I would give to have a looksie in that!

 

[Fuchs]

It didn't go well in Hitler's opinion, either. Despite the moderate success of airborne drops in Denmark and Norway (let us not forget the role airborne drops played in Denmark's quick surrender), the drops around the Hague were a failure, and discouraged Hitler from further large-scale airborne assaults. He gave it a last gamble in Crete, an operation which, though successful, resulted in immense casualties for the Fallschirmjäger.

These faults cannot be placed on the Fallschirmjäger themselves, who's combat abilities are unparalleled. A great blame goes to their equipment. For example, to remove their parachute harness once landed, a Fallschirmjäger had to stand for around eighty seconds; this harness also prevented him from carrying a primary weapon, forcing them to equip a knife and pistol for the drop, while their primary weapons were dropped in separate containers. It wasn't until after Crete that the parachute harness was redesigned, allowing it to be removed in around ten seconds while prone, and also allowing the Fallschirmjäger to carry his primary weapon on the jump. Unfortunately for Germany, these drastic improvements came too late to make an impact on German airborne assaults.

Well put. Dropping without the main firearm truly feels like madness from a modern perspective!

 

[Xanderman]

It didn't go well in Hitler's opinion, either. Despite the moderate success of airborne drops in Denmark and Norway (let us not forget the role airborne drops played in Denmark's quick surrender), the drops around the Hague were a failure, and discouraged Hitler from further large-scale airborne assaults. He gave it a last gamble in Crete, an operation which, though successful, resulted in immense casualties for the Fallschirmjäger.

These faults cannot be placed on the Fallschirmjäger themselves, who's combat abilities are unparalleled. A great blame goes to their equipment. For example, to remove their parachute harness once landed, a Fallschirmjäger had to stand for around eighty seconds; this harness also prevented him from carrying a primary weapon, forcing them to equip a knife and pistol for the drop, while their primary weapons were dropped in separate containers. It wasn't until after Crete that the parachute harness was redesigned, allowing it to be removed in around ten seconds while prone, and also allowing the Fallschirmjäger to carry his primary weapon on the jump. Unfortunately for Germany, these drastic improvements came too late to make an impact on German airborne assaults.

I think the Red Devils could give the fallshirmjager a good run for their money.