Holden, Clive Subterfuge and Sabotage During Hitler's Blitzkrieg

Secret British Operations during the German Advance in Holland and Belgium, 1939-40

In September 1939, Great Britain was once again at war with Germany. In Whitehall, Prime Minister Chamberlain entrusted a senior cabinet minister with the delicate task of coordinating plans to deny Germany access to the vital economic resources of the neutral Netherlands and Belgium, should Hitler invade those countries. Chief among these crucial resources were the local oil stocks; these had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into German hands. This task would ultimately fall to a group of former cement workers who had been assigned to the Royal Engineers as a Territorial Army unit. Little did they know at the time that, just nine months later, some of them would be carrying out dangerous demolition missions under enemy fire on the other side of the North Sea. Preparations for these operations continued into 1940, encompassing intelligence gathering, covert reconnaissance missions, and weeks of intensive training for Navy and Army demolition squads. The German offensive in the West began in May 1940, and four Royal Navy destroyers sailed from Dover to transport demolition teams to their operational sites in Dutch and Belgian ports. Upon arrival, they immediately faced major challenges, including constant air raids and the need to cooperate with hesitant local authorities. In the ports, the Royal Navy was also involved in evacuating British civilians and officials, as well as members of the Dutch royal family, and had to retrieve gold reserves from bank vaults within the war-torn city. Amidst this chaos, the demolition teams accomplished their missions and returned to Englanddemonstrating patience, perseverance, courage, and sheer tenacity. The full story behind the background, planning, and execution of these little-known yet dramatic operationsas well as the associated eventsis recounted here in greater detail than ever before.