WWII Operations in the Netherlands Quiz

Answer: Fall Gelb

The German army invaded the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France on 10th May 1940.

Answer: 15th

The Dutch Army put up a brave defence but was beaten by the German army which dropped paratroopers behind the front who captured several airfields and a vital bridge in Rotterdam. To end Dutch resistance quickly the Germans bombed Middelburg and the city of Rotterdam and threatened to bomb other Dutch cities.

The Dutch royal family and members of the Dutch government fled to London. Outside the Netherlands the Dutch continued to fight.

Answer: Market Garden

Operation Market Garden aimed at capturing vital bridges in the Netherlands across several rivers and to cross the Rhine at Arnhem and reach the Ruhr industrial area in Germany.

Answer: To free the approaches to Antwerp

The port of Antwerp was captured by the Allies early in September 1944 and was relatively undamaged. This was the first big port the Allies had liberated (outside France) with the capacity to supply the Allied armies. The port could only be reached through the Westerschelde, which was mined and the Germans held gun-positions in the provincie of Zeeland which prevented the use of Antwerp.

Answer: All of these

The Germans fired V-1 and V-2 rockets against Antwerp from bases in the Netherlands. They also used midget submarines to attack the ships heading for Antwerp.

Answer: Overloon

The battle of Overloon lasted from 26th September to 16th October 1944. To commemorate this bloody battle the National War and Resistance Museum was opened in Overloon on 25th May 1946. In the Museumpark there are many relics of the battle, including tanks.

Answer: Kammhuber Line

The Kammhuber Line was a line of radar posts from which German night fighters were directed against the bombers of Bomber Command. The line was established from 1941 to 1943. It ran from northern Germany through to the Swiss border. It was especially strong in the Netherlands because it was on the direct route to the Ruhr, the North German ports and other important cities in Germany.

Answer: Texel

The Georgians were former Soviet soldiers from Georgia who were now part of an Ost-Battalion in the German army. Then the Germans ordered them to the front in Eastern Holland - and they rebelled. The German army conducted military operations against them and the fighting lasted from the 5th April to the 20th May 1945. During the bloody fighting between 480 and 565 Georgians were killed, about 600 Germans and 117 Dutch civilians.

Answer: Operation Manna

Following a general strike of the Dutch railworkers in September 1944 the Germans only allowed railtraffic for the German army themselves and almost none for the civlian population and the food situation in the provinces of Utrecht, Noord Holland and Zuid Holland became critical. After a very long and hard winter all possibility of getting food from the rest of the Netherlands was over when the Allies liberated eastern Holland in March-April 1945.
To help the starving citizens the Germans allowed the Allied airforces to drop food by parachute. This became known as Operation Manna.

Answer: Breda

The Poles liberated Breda on 29th October 1944. After the war many Polish soldiers could not return to a Poland under Communist rule and many Poles returned to the Netherlands were they lived after the war.