Battle of The Afsluitdijk
Part of World War II
Date 12 May-13 May 1940 Location Afsluitdijk, The Netherlands Result Dutch Victory
Belligerents
Royal Dutch Army	1st Cavalry Division Luftwaffe
Commanders
Captain Boers	General Feldt
Strength
225 Soldiers Inside series of fortreses [1]	500+ Soldiers 69 Planes Howitzers [1]
Casualties and losses
1 Killed 2 Wounded 2 civilians killed 10 civilians wounded [1]	8 Killed 25+ Wounded 4 Planes Shot Down [1]

The Battle of the Afsluitdijk was an unsuccessful attempt by the German Army to seize control of the Afsluitdijk dike in May 1940, during World War Two. If the Germans had successfully taken the dike, it is very likely that they could have taken North-Holland from its north. The amount of civilian casualties could have been devastating. The Dutch troops were lead by Captain Boers and the Germans by General Feldt. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... is the 132nd day of the year (133rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 133rd day of the year (134th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Afsluitdijk The Afsluitdijk (Closure-dike) is a major dam in the Netherlands, constructed between 1927 and 1933 and running from Den Oever on Wieringen in North Holland province, to the village of Zurich (mun. ... Motto: Je Maintiendrai (Dutch: Ik zal handhaven, English: I Shall Uphold) Anthem: Wilhelmus van Nassouwe Capital Amsterdam1 Largest city Amsterdam Official language(s) Dutch2 Government Parliamentary democracy Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Beatrix  - Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende Independence Eighty Years War   - Declared July 26, 1581   - Recognised January 30, 1648 (by Spain... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... The Royal Netherlands Army (Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land forces element of the military of the Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... (Redirected from 1st Cavalry Division) Shoulder sleeve patch of the United States Army 1st Cavalry Division. ...   (German IPA: ) is a generic German term for an air force. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... Combatants  United Kingdom  United States Poland  France Canada Free France  Netherlands  Belgium Germany Italy Commanders Winston Churchill, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Harold Alexander, Bertram Ramsay, Bernard Montgomery, Lord Gort, Trafford Leigh-Mallory, Franklin Roosevelt,, George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Jacob Devers, WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Anders, WÅ‚adysÅ‚aw Sikorski, Stanis... Combatants Kingdom of the Netherlands Germany Commanders Henry G. Winkelman, Jan Joseph Godfried baron van Voorst tot Voorst Fedor von Bock (Army Group B) Strength 9 divisions, 676 guns, 1 tank (inoperational), 124 aircraft Total: 350,000 men 22 divisions, 1,378 guns, 759 tanks, 1150 aircraft Total: 750,000... This article is about a Second World War battle in 1940, for the 1658 battle of the same name see Battle of the Dunes (1658) Combatants United Kingdom France Belgium Germany Commanders Lord Gort General Weygand Gerd von Rundstedt (Army Group A) Ewald von Kleist (Panzergruppe von Kleist) Strength approx. ... Combatants  Canada  United Kingdom  United States  Germany Commanders Louis Mountbatten J. H. Roberts Gerd von Rundstedt Strength 6,086 1,500 Casualties Canada: 950 dead, 2,340 captured or wounded; United Kingdom: 600; United States:4+; 311 dead, 280 wounded The Dieppe Raid, also known as The Battle of Dieppe... This article is about the first few weeks of the Invasion of Normandy (D-Day). ... Combatants United States1 United Kingdom2 Free France3 Germany Commanders Lt. ... American soldiers cross the Siegfried Line The drive to the Siegfried Line was one of the final Allied phases in World War II of the Western European Campaign. ... Belligerents Poland United Kingdom United States Germany Commanders Field Marshal Montgomery Lieutenant-General Dempsey Lieutenant-General Horrocks Major-General Urquhart Major General Taylor Brigadier General Gavin Walter Model Wilhelm Bittrich Kurt Student Strength 35,000 (airborne only) 20,000 Casualties and losses Poland: 1st Polish Brigade: 378 Casualties[1] United... The Battle of Overloon (Code named Operation Aintree) took place between September 30th and October 18th 1944. ... Combatants Canada United Kingdom Poland Belgium Norway Germany Commanders Guy Simonds (acting) (First Canadian Army) Gustav-Adolf von Zangen (German 15th Army) Strength  ?  ? Casualties 12,873 total; including 6,367 Canadian  ? The Battle of the Scheldt was a series of military operations which took place in northern Belgium and south... Combatants United States Germany Commanders Courtney Hodges Walter Model Strength 120,000 80,000 Casualties 33,000 casualties 12,000—16,000 deaths[1] (est. ... Combatants United States Germany Commanders William Simpson Gerhard Wilck Strength 100,000 soldiers 12,000 soldiers Casualties 2,000 dead, 3,000 wounded 5,000 dead or wounded, 5,600 captured The Battle of Aachen was a battle in Aachen, Germany, that took place in October 1944 in World War... For the 1965 film, see Battle of the Bulge (film). ... Located near Alsace in Eastern France, the Colmar Pocket was the site of a ten-day battle during the Second World War that saw four divisions of the French Army and an entire Corps from the U.S. Army overwhelm German resistance. ... Operation Nordwind (North Wind) was an attack conducted by the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS during January 1945 in Alsace and Lorraine. ... wtrwretqwt ... During the Battle for Berlin, the Red Flag was raised over the Reichstag, May 1945. ... Afsluitdijk The Afsluitdijk (Closure-dike) is a major dam in the Netherlands, constructed between 1927 and 1933 and running from Den Oever on Wieringen in North Holland province, to the village of Zurich (mun. ... The German Army (German: [1], [IPA: heɐ]  ) is the land component of the Bundeswehr (Federal Defence Forces) of the Federal Republic of Germany. ... For other uses, see May (disambiguation). ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is becoming very long. ...

Fortifications and Preperations

The German 1st Cavalry Division [later reformed to the 24th Tank Division] had taken the last Dutch defences in front of the Afsluitdijk on the 12th, and was now prepared for an assault to try and overtake the series of casemates that was Fort Kornwerderzand(named after a hamlet nearby the dike). These complex defenses were made up of two lines of casemates. The eastern line was meant for defences eastwards, the western line [just behind the first] for enemy threats from the rear. Altogether 17 casemates had been built. The casemates were designed such that they were able to withstand considerable impact of 21 cm rounds (indirect fire), and some 28 cm rounds (indirect fire). The three main casmates were made up of 3 meter reinforced concrete. The casemates provided shelter for 230 men, 21 heavy machine guns Schwarzlose (7.9 mm), three casemate guns of 5 cm and a naval gun of 5 cm. The same exact defenses had been built at the other end of the dike. Kornwerderzand, or the Kornwerderzandstelling were a number of heavily fortified pillboxes/bunkers located at the eastern side of the Afsluitdijk in the Dutch province of Friesland. ... A Casemate is a heavy duty structure originally a valuted chamber in a fortress. ...

The Battle

Earlier in May 1940 two infantry sections (70 men), were sent to the end of the dike to prevent German landings on the dike beyond the direct vision of both the fortresses. The Germans soon found out about these units and sent in 7 fighters who strafed the Dutch positions. 1 soldier and two civilians were killed, and 10 more civilians wounded. After this they were recalled to Kornwerderzand. Until May 12th, the Germans had not made any attempt to take Fort Kornwerderzand. However on the evening of that day, a small German patrol of 3 soldiers, were sent to see if the fort had been abandoned. The soldiers were quickly spotted, and pinned down by machine gun fire. Two were killed. The third one manged to escape the fire and return to safety. The Germans then decided it was time to take the fortress. Their plan was simple; They would launch a number of Luftwaffe strikes against the fort, then an extended artillery bombardment by howitzers. After that they would send in about 500 soldiers to take out whatever remained. However, unknown to the Germans was that during the night three 2 cm anti-air guns and 4 heavy anti-aircraft machine guns arrived at Kornwerderzand. The next day the surprised pilots, who had flown over unchallenged the past few days, were suddenly under fire. The German Planes launched a massive attack on the Fortress. 62 planes were sent to bomb it. The planes launched 5 waves of bombs onto the fortresses. For other uses, see May (disambiguation). ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fighter has a number of meanings: A fighter aircraft is a warplane designed to destroy other warplanes in combat. ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ...   (German IPA: ) is a generic German term for an air force. ... Loading a WW1 British 15 in (381 mm) howitzer 155 mm M198 Howitzer A howitzer or hauwitzer is a type of field artillery. ...

One of the Dutch 2 cm anti-air guns

During the bombing, 4 German Planes were shot down and crashed into the nearby sea. The Luftwaffe bombardment was followed by another hour of heavy bombardment from the German Howitzers. Unfortunately for the Germans, the bombing had little to no effect on the heavily protected Dutch soldiers. As soon as the bombing stopped the Germans advanced down the narrow dike. Captain Boers waited until the German soldiers approaching were within 800 meters, then ordered machine gun fire. By doing this it made it more difficult for the Germans to withdraw. For the next hour and twenty minutes the German soldiers were under constant machine gun fire.

Aerial view of Kornwerderzand

Most of the soldiers just tried to find objects to hide behind. Few, if any soldiers, managed to advance any further. During that time, the German soldiers were under constant machine gun fire. After the hour and twenty minutes of virtually non-stop machine-gun fire, Captain Boers ordered for their fire to cease. The remaining German soldiers, who were not dead or wounded, withdrew. The assault had been a complete failure. During the night Captain Boers ordered that the dike was light by flares and by search lights every so often, so the Fortress could not be attacked without the Dutch soldiers knowing they were under attack.

Casualties

It would be said by local civilians that hundreds of German soldiers had been killed, and the entire dike was filled with dead bodies. The official German report states that 2 were killed on the 12th and 5 on the 13th. The German wounded is officially around 25. The Dutch suffered their one killed during the first attack by the Luftwaffe, and their two wounded during the bombing by the Luftwaffe, when two of the soldiers manning the anti-aircraft guns were hit.

Aftermath

The fortress would remain in Dutch hands until the surrender of all Dutch forces on May 15th. It is said, that when the troops were told to surrender they were flabbergasted and mistrusted the news. Captain Boers told the men that they had fought like Lions, but in other parts of the country their armies had been defeated. Captain Boers himself led the surrender.

References

• Dutch history site