[David_Hayward (RIP)]

Nuyt, you might like to ponder on the legitimitacy of prize seizures in international waters by the Royal Navy of legitimate deliveries of vehicles intended for Danmark, albeit under German subjugation, that themselves were intended for Norge [again under subjugation] and neutral Sverige. The vehicles being owned at the time by neutral USA. This legitimacy point was discussed at length it seems on both sides of the Atlantic, but the ultimate point was that they had been lawfully seized and the value went into the coffers of the Trading With The Enemy Act trustees.

I would be interested to know what arrangements were made about assignment of Low Countries' contracts, if there were any outstanding. Clearly those GM vehicles that were assembled in Antwerpen/Anvers that were destined for the NEI either arrived in Batavia or were seized by the Wehrmacht. The domestic vehicles were a nice present for the Germans...Bart Vanderveen recalled how his father's Chevrolet sedan was seized. On reflection the illegal confiscation of thousands of vehicles from the occupied countries in 1940 by the Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, SS, was indeed pure piracy.

Final thought: I really am interested to establish whether the Spanish did indeed acquire ex-French vehicles in N Africa. Is there any possibility that any vehicles were driven over the border by French forces to escape the German onslaught? I know that the French did 'invade' Switzerland for a short time in June 1940 because a section of the Army erroneously thought that the plan to cross the border had been put into effect. However they retreated back across the frontier.