Vehicles used by Dutch Prinses Irene Brigade

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

How did the evacuation unfold? My thought would be a direct evacuation by sea from Holland would have been rather risky, but overland through France as far west as practical, much less so.

David,

The Netherlands Army was expected to hold the fortress so no evacuation plans were made. But the German attack could not be repelled, even with the aid of Allied troops.

It must be noted that the will to continue fighting was broken after the Luftwaffe terror raid on Rotterdam on 14 May. (One of my great aunts witnessed the bombing but was not hit.)

So when the Allied troops withdrew, some Dutch units decided to migrate South too, to fight another day rather than surrender. During May and June 1940 some 1,200 troops of all branches ended up in the UK where they formed the nucleus of the Prinses Irene Brigade. One of the units was an AT Gun unit, which is how the PAG-trekkers (AT tractors) and other vehicles ended up in the UK.

More here in Dutch, I can translate bits of it later if an online translator doesn't help: http://www.prinsesirenebrigade.nl/vl...t-brabant.html

See http://www.prinsesirenebrigade.nl/vl...ietroepen.html for a maps displaying the varous routes.