page_title: Battle of the Netherlands
section_title: 13 May
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of the Netherlands / The battle / 13 May
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Luftsieg in Polen, Eine Staffel Stukas = Ju 87 = fliegt gegen den Feind. 4551-40 Information added by Wikimedia users.Français&#160;: Une formation de bombardiers en piqué Ju 87 Stuka survole la Pologne. Čeština: Formace letounů Junkers Ju 87 nad Polskem.
context_page_description: The Battle of the Netherlands was part of the German invasion of France and the Low Countries during World War II. The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until the main Dutch forces surrendered on the 14th. Dutch troops in the province of Zealand continued to fight the until 17 May, when Germany occupied the whole nation.
  The Battle of the Netherlands was one of the first major uses of paratroopers to land near important targets before ground troops reached the area. The German Luftwaffe used paratroopers to capture several major airfields in the Netherlands.
  The battle ended soon after the terrible bombing of Rotterdam by the German Luftwaffe. The Germans threatened to bomb other large Dutch cities if Dutch forces refused to surrender. The Dutch surrendered to prevent other cities from being destroyed. The Netherlands was occupied by Germany until 1945, when Dutch territory was freed.
context_section_description: In the early morning of 13 May General Winkelman told the Dutch government that there were serious problems. On land the Dutch had been cut off from the Allied front and no major Allied landings were planned by sea. Without support, there was no hope of successful resistance.
  German tanks might quickly pass through Rotterdam; Winkelman had already ordered all antitank-guns to be placed around The Hague, to protect the government. However, a collapse of the Dutch defences might still be prevented if attacks could seal off the southern front near Dordrecht and restore the eastern line at the Grebbeberg. Therefore, the cabinet decided to continue the fight, giving the general the power to surrender the Army when he thought he had to.
  Queen Wilhelmina was brought to safety; she departed around noon from Hoek van Holland, where a British Irish Guards battalion was present, on HMS Hereward, a British destroyer, and went to England.
  The previous evening, the Queen's only child and Princess Juliana, together with her husband and their children, had departed from IJmuiden on HMS Codrington  for Harwich.
  As the Queen was part of the government, when she left, the cabinet had to whether to follow her or remain. After many discussions it was decided to leave also: the ministers sailed at 19:20 from Hoek van Holland on HMS Windsor to form a government in exile in London.
  Three Dutch merchant ships, escorted by British warships, transferred government gold and diamonds to the United Kingdom.
  While two tank companies of 9. Panzerdivision remained to pursue the French, the other four began to cross the Moerdijk bridge at 05:20. Two staff companies with tanks also went to the northern side. The Dutch attempted to block the German armour.
  At around 06:00 the last medium bomber, a Fokker T. V,  dropped two bombs on the bridge. The one bomb that hit the bridge did not explode. The bomber was shot down. The Dutch tried to destroy the bridge by artillery fire, but the bridge was only slightly damaged. Attempts to flood the Island of Dordrecht failed.
  The Light Division tried to advance to the west. However, two of the four battalions could not recapture the suburbs of Dordrecht. When the other two battalions approached the main road, they were met by a few dozen German tanks.
  The battalions were hit by a Stuka bombing and they fled to the east. 47mm and 75 mm batteries halted the attack of the German tanks. The left part of the Light Division then withdrew to the Alblasserwaard at around 13:00.
  A tank company also tried to capture the Dordrecht, but it was ordered to retreat after heavy street fighting. in At least two Panzerkampfwagen IIs were destroyed and three tanks heavily damaged. All Dutch troops were withdrawn from the island in the night.
  German armoured forces advanced north over the Dordrecht bridge into IJsselmonde island. Three tanks, two PzKpfw. IIs and a Panzerkampfwagen III attacked the Barendrecht bridge into the Hoekse Waard. All of them were destroyed by a single 47 mm antitank-gun. Though the Germans did not make another attack, this area was abandoned by the Dutch troops.
  In Rotterdam a last attempt was made to blow up the Willemsbrug. Two Dutch companies attacked the bridge. The bridge was reached and the fifty German almost surrendered. However, the attack was stopped because of heavy fire from the other side of the river.
  In the North, the commander of 1. Kavalleriedivision, Major General Kurt Feldt, had to go over the Enclosure Dike because of a lack of ships. The main fortifications contained 47 mm antitank-guns. There was no cover for any attacker.
  On 13 May the position was reinforced by a 20 mm anti aircraft battery. It had been Feldt's intention to destroy the position by mortars, but the train transporting it had been blocked on 10 May by a blown railway bridge at Winschoten.
  Several air attacks on 13 May had little effect. In the late afternoon five sections tried to attack under cover of an artillery bombing, but soon fled after being fired upon.
  In the East the Germans tried to attack the Grebbe Line by using
caption: Junkers Ju 87 Bs.
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