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131-654: The Netherlands Belgium France Britain 1941–1943 1944–1945 Germany Strategic campaigns Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups Operation Cockade was a series of deception operations designed to alleviate German pressure on Allied operations in Sicily and on the Soviets on the Eastern Front by feinting various attacks into Western Europe during World War II . The Allies hoped to use Cockade to force
262-510: A Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Southern California in 1934. Eaker remained with the 64th Infantry until March 1918, when he was placed on detached service to receive flying instruction at Austin and Kelly Fields in Texas . Upon graduation the following October, he was rated a pilot and assigned to Rockwell Field , California . In July 1919, he transferred to
393-636: A B-17 called Yankee Doodle II and landing at a Soviet base at Poltava in Ukraine. On April 30, 1945, General Eaker was named deputy commander of the Army Air Forces and Chief of the Air Staff . He retired on August 31, 1947, and was promoted to lieutenant general in the newly established United States Air Force on the retired list June 29, 1948. Almost 40 years after his retirement, Congress attempted to pass special legislation awarding four-star status in
524-544: A Dutch capitulation, because a defeat might well bring less hostile governments to power in Britain and France. A swift defeat would also free troops for other front sectors. Though it was thus on 17 January 1940 decided to conquer the whole of the Netherlands, few units could be made available for this task. The main effort of Fall Gelb would be made in the centre, between Namur and Sedan, France . The attack on central Belgium
655-475: A German advance into Belgium through the southern part of their territory, both possibilities discussed as part of the hypothèse Hollande . The Dutch government never officially formulated a policy on how to act in case of either contingency; the majority of ministers preferred to resist an attack, while a minority and Queen Wilhelmina refused to become a German ally whatever the circumstances. The Dutch tried on several occasions to act as an intermediary to reach
786-633: A German armoured division would try to attack Fortress Holland from North Brabant and that there was a plan to capture the Queen, Dutch defensive strategy was not adapted and it was not understood these were elements of a larger scheme. On 4 May Sas again warned that an attack was imminent; this time it coincided with a warning from Pope Pius XII . When on the evening of 9 May Oster again phoned his friend saying just "Tomorrow, at dawn", Dutch troops were put on alert. Ira C. Eaker General (Honorary) Ira Clarence Eaker (April 13, 1896 – August 6, 1987)
917-403: A fleet of 155 aircraft: 28 Fokker G.1 twin-engine destroyers; 31 Fokker D.XXI and seven Fokker D.XVII fighters; ten twin-engined Fokker T.V , fifteen Fokker C.X and 35 Fokker C.V light bombers, twelve Douglas DB-8 dive bombers (used as fighters) and seventeen Koolhoven FK-51 reconnaissance aircraft—thus 74 of the 155 aircraft were biplanes. Of these aircraft 125 were operational. Of
1048-549: A large body of professional military personnel. In 1940, there were only 1206 professional officers present. It had been hoped that when war threatened, these deficiencies could be quickly remedied, but following the mobilisation of all Dutch forces on 28 August 1939 (bringing Army strength to about 280,000 men) readiness only slowly improved: most available time for improving training was spent constructing defences. During this period, munition shortages limited live fire training, while unit cohesion remained low. By its own standards
1179-460: A manner. Because of that opposition, Starkey's planners had to make several amendments to the deception plan. Despite those issues, Starkey provided a useful practical lesson in the complexity and the scale of the logistical supply chain that are needed to maintain flexible support to an invading force. Starkey also contributed to the perception that the Pas-de-Calais was the primary candidate for
1310-675: A negotiated peace settlement between the Entente and Germany. After the German invasion of Norway and Denmark , followed by a warning by the new Japanese naval attaché Captain Tadashi Maeda that a German attack on the Netherlands was certain, it became clear to the Dutch military that staying out of the conflict might prove impossible. They started to fully prepare for war, both mentally and physically. Dutch border troops were put on greater alert. Reports of
1441-474: A nominal strength of 17,807 men, were fifty percent larger than their Dutch counterparts and possessed twice their effective firepower, but even so the necessary numerical superiority for a successful offensive was simply lacking. To remedy this, assorted odds and ends were used to reinforce 18th Army. The first of these was the only German cavalry division, the aptly named 1st Kavalleriedivision . These mounted troops, accompanied by some infantry, were to occupy
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#17330853806081572-517: A policy of strict budgetary limits with which the conservative Dutch governments tried in vain to fight the Great Depression , which hit Dutch society particularly hard. Hendrikus Colijn , Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1933 and 1939, was personally convinced that Germany would not violate Dutch neutrality; senior officers made no effort to mobilise public opinion in favour of improving military defence. International tensions grew in
1703-432: A smaller and more aged male population, fielded 22 full divisions and the equivalent of 30 divisions when smaller units were included. After September 1939, desperate efforts were made to improve the situation, but with very little result. Germany, for obvious reasons, delayed its deliveries; France was hesitant to equip an army that would not unequivocally take its side. The one abundant source of readily available weaponry,
1834-586: A state of denial. The Dutch hoped that the restrained policy of the Entente and Central Powers during the First World War might be repeated and tried to avoid the attention of the Great Powers and a war in which they feared a loss of human life comparable to that of the previous conflict. On 10 April, Britain and France repeated their request that the Dutch enter the war on their side, but were again refused. In
1965-412: A swift expansion of Dutch forces. There was just enough artillery to equip the larger units: eight infantry divisions (combined in four Army Corps), one Light (i.e. motorised) Division and two independent brigades (Brigade A and Brigade B), each with the strength of half a division or five battalions. All other infantry combat unit troops were raised as light infantry battalions that were dispersed all over
2096-511: A third of the planned strength; another three hundred antiquated 6 Veld (57 mm) and 8 cm staal (84 mm) field guns performed the same role for the covering forces. Only eight of the 120 modern 105 mm pieces ordered from Germany had been delivered at the time of the invasion . Most artillery was horse-drawn. The Dutch Infantry used about 2,200 7.92 mm Schwarzlose M.08 machine guns, partly licence produced, and eight hundred Vickers machine guns . Many of these were fitted in
2227-805: A weekly column, carried by many newspapers, on military affairs. Eaker was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame , in Dayton, Ohio , in 1970. Over his 30 years of flying, General Eaker accumulated 12,000 flying hours as pilot. On September 26, 1978, the U.S. Congress passed, and on October 10, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed, Public Law 95-438, which awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to General Eaker, "in recognition of his distinguished career as an aviation pioneer and Air Force leader". Eaker died August 6, 1987, at Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base , Maryland , and
2358-586: Is buried in Arlington National Cemetery . Blytheville Air Force Base , Strategic Air Command (SAC) installation, was renamed Eaker Air Force Base on May 26, 1988. Eaker AFB was closed on March 6, 1992, due to Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action. Military to civilian conversion began, and public aircraft began using the decommissioned base. The military still uses the renamed Arkansas International Airport . The airport in Durant , Oklahoma
2489-531: Is presented to cadets who have completed the requirements of the final phase of the cadet program. The award is accompanied by promotion to the grade of Cadet Lieutenant Colonel , the second highest grade in the program. In 1970, Eaker was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. In 1993 he was inducted into the Airlift/Tanker Association Hall of Fame. In 1981, Eaker
2620-507: The Westwall when the Entente launched its planned 1941 offensive. But he did not dare to stretch his supply lines that far unless the Belgians and Dutch would take the allied side before the German attack. When both nations refused, Gamelin made it clear that he would occupy a connecting position near Breda . The Dutch did not fortify this area. In secret, Winkelman decided on 30 March to abandon
2751-471: The Betuwe , again with pillboxes and lightly occupied by a screen of fourteen "border battalions". Late in 1939 General Van Voorst tot Voorst, reviving plans he had already worked out in 1937, proposed to make use of the excellent defensive opportunities these rivers offered. He proposed a shift to a more mobile strategy by fighting a delaying battle at the plausible crossing sites near Arnhem and Gennep to force
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#17330853806082882-498: The Frisian Islands . Hermann Göring insisted on a full conquest, for he needed the Dutch airfields against Britain; also, he was afraid that the Entente might reinforce Fortress Holland after a partial defeat and use the airfields to bomb German cities and troops. Another rationale for complete conquest was that, as the fall of France itself could hardly be taken for granted, it was for political reasons seen as desirable to obtain
3013-769: The Grebbelinie ( Grebbe line ), located at the foothills of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug , an Ice Age moraine between Lake IJssel and the Lower Rhine. It was dug on instigation of the commander of the Field Army Lieutenant-General Jan Joseph Godfried baron van Voorst tot Voorst . This line was extended by a southern part: the Peel-Raamstelling (Peel-Raam Position), located between the Maas and
3144-748: The Loening OA-1 float planes of the Pan American Goodwill Flight that made a 22,000 mile (35,200 km) trip around South America and, with the others, was awarded the Mackay Trophy . He then became executive officer in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War at Washington, D.C. In September 1926, he was named operations and line maintenance officer at Bolling Field , Washington, D.C. While on that duty, he participated as chief pilot on
3275-493: The London Controlling Section (LCS), a Whitehall department that had been established in 1941 and was then run by Colonel John Bevan . Bevan convinced Morgan to establish a specialist deception section on his staff, but Morgan's hierarchy was unable to accommodate it and so a department, Ops (B) , was set up within the "G-3" operations division. A deception also required at least one notional amphibious invasion of
3406-606: The Luftwaffe into a massive air battle with the Royal Air Force and U.S. Eighth Air Force to give the Allies air superiority over Western Europe . Cockade involved three deception operations: Operation Starkey , Operation Wadham , and Operation Tindall . Operation Starkey was set to occur in early September, Operation Tindall in mid-September, and Operation Wadham in late September 1943. In March 1943, General Frederick E. Morgan
3537-603: The Philippine Islands , where he served with the 2d Aero Squadron at Fort Mills until September 1919; with the 3d Aero Squadron at Camp Stotsenburg until September 1920, and as executive officer of the Department Air Office, Department and Assistant Department Air Officer, Philippine Department, and in command of the Philippine Air Depot at Manila until September 1921. Meanwhile, on July 1, 1920, he
3668-524: The Soviet Union , was inaccessible because the Dutch, contrary to most other nations, did not recognise the communist regime. An attempt in 1940 to procure Soviet armour captured by Finland failed. On 10 May, the most conspicuous deficiency of the Dutch Army lay in its shortage of armour . Whereas the other major participants all had a considerable armoured force, the Netherlands had not been able to obtain
3799-733: The Thames estuary, so their capture would pose a special menace to the safety of England. Rapid forces, whether for an offensive or defensive purpose, were needed to deny vital locations to the enemy. Long before the Germans did, the French had contemplated using airborne troops to achieve speedy attacks. As early as 1936 the French had commissioned the design of light airborne tanks, but these plans had been abandoned in 1940, as they possessed no cargo planes large enough to carry them. A naval division and an infantry division were earmarked to depart for Zealand to block
3930-650: The Western Scheldt against a German crossing. These would send forward forces over the Scheldt estuary into the Isles, supplied by overseas shipping. French Commander in Chief General Maurice Gamelin feared the Dutch would be tempted into a quick capitulation or even an acceptance of German protection. He therefore reassigned the former French strategic reserve, the 7th Army, to operate in front of Antwerp to cover
4061-655: The 17th century, the Dutch Republic had devised a defensive system called the Hollandic Water Line , which during the Franco-Dutch War protected all major cities in the west, by flooding part of the countryside. In the early 19th century this line was shifted somewhat to the east, beyond Utrecht , and later modernised with fortresses. This new position was called the New Hollandic Water Line . The line
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4192-630: The 21st Infantry Division. This army was later reinforced by the 1st Mechanised Light Division, an armoured division of the French Cavalry and a first-class powerful unit. Together with the two divisions in Zealand, seven French divisions were dedicated to the operation. Although the French troops would have a higher proportion of motorised units than their German adversaries, in view of the respective distances to be covered, they could not hope to reach their assigned sector advancing in battle deployment before
4323-535: The 24 operational armoured cars. These specially directed measures were accompanied by more general ones: the Dutch had posted no less than 32 hospital ships throughout the country and fifteen trains to help make troop movements easier. In addition to the Dutch Army and the German 18th Army , a third force, not all that much smaller than either, would operate on Dutch soil: the French 7th Army . It had its own objectives within
4454-851: The 34th Pursuit Squadron and later the 17th Pursuit Squadron. In the summer of 1935, he was detached for duty with the Navy and participated aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lexington , on maneuvers in Hawaii and Guam . Eaker entered the Air Corps Tactical School at Maxwell Field , Alabama , in August 1935, and upon graduation the following June entered the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , from which he graduated in June 1937. During his time at Ft Leavenworth from June 3–7, 1936, Eaker made
4585-473: The Allies did not work hard enough to make the deception look real. The Royal Navy would not risk its battleships, and Eaker did not want to divert resources from the strategic bombing offensive. Cockade had one success since the Germans believed the story that the Allies had 51 divisions in the British Isles although there were only 17 divisions. That became important in deception operations in 1944 . Cockade
4716-681: The American fighter groups to hunt down enemy fighters. Eaker was reassigned as Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces , previous commander Tedder having been selected by Eisenhower to plan the air operations for the Normandy invasion. Eaker had under his command the Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces and the British Desert and Balkan Air Forces . He did not approve of
4847-898: The Belgian border along the Peel Marshes and the Raam River , as ordered by the Dutch Commander in Chief, General Izaak H. Reijnders . In the south the intention was to delay the Germans as much as possible to cover a French advance. Fourth and Second Army Corps were positioned at the Grebbe Line; Third Army Corps were stationed at the Peel-Raam Position with the Light Division behind it to cover its southern flank. Brigade A and B were positioned between
4978-559: The Belgians decided to withdraw, in the event of an invasion, all their troops to their main defence line, the Albert Canal . This created a dangerous gap forty kilometres wide. The French were invited to fill it. The French Commander in Chief General Maurice Gamelin was more than interested in including the Dutch in his continuous front as—like Major-General Bernard Montgomery four years later—he hoped to circle around
5109-624: The Doolittle promotion was enlarged to include Eaker. Goldwater first proposed a bill of relief that waived both officers' ineligibility for promotion. However, the legislation stalled in the House, which prompted Goldwater to only seek confirmation via the Senate, which was arguably unlawful because of statutory restrictions on general officers that required them to be in active service. On April 26, 1985, Chief of Staff General Charles A. Gabriel and Ruth Eaker,
5240-446: The Dutch Army in May 1940 was unfit for battle. It was incapable of staging an offensive, even at division level, while executing manoeuvre warfare was far beyond its capacities. German generals and tacticians (along with Hitler himself) had an equally low opinion of the Dutch military and expected that the core region of Holland proper could be conquered in about three to five days. In
5371-468: The Dutch High Command and Queen Wilhelmina. German officers actually took lessons on how to address royalty on such occasions. The plan, Fall Festung , had been developed by Hitler personally, embellishing an earlier idea to let an envoy offer "armed protection of the Dutch neutrality", that is, to become a German protectorate . In the event this did not bring forth the desired immediate collapse,
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5502-403: The Dutch fortified positions. Still this added only 1 1 ⁄ 3 division to the equation. To ensure a victory the Germans resorted to unconventional means. The Germans had trained two airborne/airlanding assault divisions. The first of these, the 7. Flieger-Division , consisted of paratroopers; the second, the 22nd Luftlande-Infanteriedivision , of airborne infantry. Initially the plan
5633-410: The Dutch had begun to re-arm, but more slowly than France or Belgium; only in 1936 did the defence budget start to be gradually increased. Successive Dutch governments tended to avoid openly identifying Germany as an acute military threat. Partly this was caused by a wish not to antagonise a vital trade partner, even to the point of repressing criticism of Nazi policies; partly it was made inevitable by
5764-518: The Dutch had ordered some of their new equipment from Germany, which deliberately delayed deliveries. Moreover, a considerable part of the funds were intended for the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia ), much of it related to a plan to build three battlecruisers . The strategic position of the Low Countries, located between France and Germany on the flanks of their fortification lines, made
5895-485: The Dutch military attaché in Paris, Lieutenant-Colonel David van Voorst Evekink to co-ordinate a common defence to a German invasion. This failed because of insurmountable differences of opinion about the question of which strategy to follow. Given its obvious strategic importance, Belgium, though in principle neutral, had already made quite detailed arrangements for co-ordination with Entente troops. This made it difficult for
6026-524: The Dutch to have these plans changed again to suit their wishes. The Dutch desired the Belgians to connect their defences to the Peel-Raam Position, that Reijnders refused to abandon without a fight. He did not approve of a plan by Van Voorst tot Voorst to occupy a so-called "Orange Position" on the much shorter line 's-Hertogenbosch– Tilburg , to form a continuous front with the Belgian lines near Turnhout as proposed by Belgian General Raoul Van Overstraeten . When Winkelman took over command, he intensified
6157-528: The French coast. The real cross-channel invasion had already been postponed until 1944 and the main Allied push that year was toward Southern Europe . Morgan's task was to help pin the enemy down in the west. Allied military deception then revolved around constructing a story to sell to the enemy. For 1943 Ops (B) and the LCS, under the direction from Morgan, created three plans (Tindall, Starkey and Wadham), which received
6288-559: The German divisions to spend much of their offensive power before they had reached the MDL, and ideally even defeat them. This was deemed too risky by the Dutch government and General Reijnders. The latter wanted the army to first offer heavy resistance at the Grebbe Line and Peel-Raam Position, and then fall back to the Fortress Holland. This also was considered too dangerous by the government, especially in light of German air supremacy, and had
6419-424: The Germans used large numbers of airborne troops , the Dutch command became worried about the possibility they too could become the victim of such a strategic assault. To repulse an attack, five infantry battalions were positioned at the main ports and airbases, such as The Hague airfield of Ypenburg and the Rotterdam airfield of Waalhaven . These were reinforced by additional AA-guns, two tankettes and twelve of
6550-400: The Lower Rhine and the Maas. First Army Corps was a strategic reserve in the Fortress Holland, the southern perimeter of which was manned by another ten battalions and the eastern by six battalions. All these lines were reinforced by pillboxes. In front of this Main Defence Line was the IJssel-Maaslinie , a covering line along the rivers IJssel and Meuse ( Maas ), connected by positions in
6681-411: The Netherlands ( Dutch : Duitse aanval op Nederland ), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands ( Dutch : Slag om Nederland ), was a military campaign, part of Case Yellow ( German : Fall Gelb ), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries ( Belgium , Luxembourg , and the Netherlands ) and France during World War II . The battle lasted from 10 May 1940 until the surrender of
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#17330853806086812-399: The Netherlands were liberated in 1945. The United Kingdom and France declared war on Germany in 1939, following the German invasion of Poland , but no major land operations occurred in Western Europe during the period known as the Phoney War in the winter of 1939–1940. During this time, the British and French built up their forces in expectation of a long war, and the Germans together with
6943-426: The Netherlands, all the objective conditions were present for a successful defence: a dense population, wealthy, young, disciplined and well-educated; a geography favouring the defender; and a strong technological and industrial base including an armaments industry. However, these had not been exploited: while the Wehrmacht at the time still had many shortcomings in equipment and training, the Dutch army, by comparison,
7074-411: The Peel-Raam Position immediately at the onset of a German attack and withdraw his Third Army Corps to the Linge to cover the southern flank of the Grebbe Line, leaving only a covering force behind. This Waal-Linge Position was to be reinforced with pillboxes; the budget for such structures was increased with a hundred million guilders. After the German attack on Denmark and Norway in April 1940, when
7205-477: The Soviets completed their conquest of Poland. On 9 October, Adolf Hitler ordered plans to be made for an invasion of the Low Countries, to use them as a base against Great Britain and to pre-empt a similar attack by the Allied forces , which could threaten the vital Ruhr Area . A joint Dutch-Belgian peace offer between the two sides was rejected on 7 November. The Netherlands Armed Forces were ill-prepared to resist such an invasion. When Hitler came to power,
7336-403: The U.S. Air Force to General Eaker, prompted by retired Air Force Reserve major general and Senator Barry Goldwater (R-AZ). Goldwater had originally wanted to simply promote Jimmy Doolittle to four star rank, but was told by Air Force Secretary Verne Orr that this would put Eaker in an awkward position because he "had greater responsibilities during World War II." In order to cure this defect
7467-466: The air battle the Allies desired. The main exception to German High Command was Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) Gerd von Rundstedt , the commander-in-chief of Western Command, who believed the Allies were going to invade at Boulogne and was angry at the German High Command for removing ten divisions from France. The invasion stories, particularly Starkey and Wadham, were implausible and so were not believed. There were no significant German reactions to
7598-469: The area a logical route for an offensive by either side. In a 20 January 1940 radio speech, Winston Churchill tried to convince them not to wait for an inevitable German attack, but to join the Anglo-French Entente. Both the Belgians and Dutch refused, even though the German attack plans had fallen into Belgian hands after a German aircraft crash in January 1940, in what became known as the Mechelen Incident . The French supreme command considered violating
7729-408: The attack date of Fall Gelb . Sas informed the Allies via other military attachés. However, several postponements while the Germans waited for favourable weather conditions led to a series of false alarms, which left the Dutch government and others somewhat sceptical of the information. Sas' correct prediction of the date of the attack on Denmark and Norway went largely unheeded. Though he indicated
7860-403: The bridges at Rotterdam , Dordrecht and Moerdijk would simultaneously be secured to allow a mechanised force to relieve the airborne troops from the south. This force was to be the German 9th Panzer Division . This was the only German armoured division having just two tank battalions, one understrength, in its single tank regiment; the total number of tanks in the unit was 141. The intention
7991-453: The clock and the devil shall get no rest." He personally participated in the first US B-17 Flying Fortress bomber strike against German occupation forces in France, bombing Rouen on August 17, 1942. Eaker was promoted to major general in September 1943. However, as American bomber losses mounted from German defensive fighter aircraft attacks on deep penetration missions beyond the range of available fighter cover, Eaker may have lost some of
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#17330853806088122-491: The command structure was that the airborne attack was solely a Luftwaffe operation; the airborne forces would initially not be under operational command of the German Army. The attack on Rotterdam was ultimately to be an Army operation and considered by it as the Schwerpunkt (focal point) of the campaign in the Netherlands; 18th Army saw the air landings as primarily subservient to the XXVI. Armeekorps advance. Of all operations of Fall Gelb this one most strongly embodied
8253-413: The concept of a Blitzkrieg as the term was then understood: a Strategischer Überfall or strategic assault. Also, like Fall Gelb as a whole, it involved a high risk strategy. The German population and troops generally disliked the idea of violating Dutch neutrality. German propaganda therefore justified the invasion as a reaction to a supposed Entente attempt to occupy the Low Countries, similar to
8384-432: The confidence of USAAF Commanding General Henry Arnold . To reduce losses to fighters, Eaker was a strong advocate of the Boeing YB-40 Flying Fortress , a B-17 Flying Fortress which carried additional gun turrets and gunners instead of a bomb load and was intended to act as a long-range, "gunship" escort for conventional bombers. However the YB-40 was not a success in combat. Eaker also strongly advocated work on improving
8515-467: The deception operations. The most notable of the nonreactions was the lack of air reconnaissance and naval or Luftwaffe response to the Starkey amphibious feint. Germans moved ten divisions out of northern France to other theaters, which indicated that Starkey and Wadham were complete failures. In Norway, the Germans retained the twelve divisions, which indicates the Germans assessed a higher threat there. Besides being implausible, Cockade also failed because
8646-421: The deception plan plausible. The only shortfall that the Allies had with Tindall was their lack of military gliders . The Allies hoped that Tindall would induce the Germans to retain the 12 divisions that had been assigned to Norway. Operation Cockade failed to achieve its objectives, mostly because German leadership did not believe the Allies were going to invade Western Europe in 1943 and Cockade did not trigger
8777-420: The disadvantage of having to fully prepare two lines. Reijnders had already been denied full military authority in the defence zones; the conflict about strategy further undermined his political position. On 5 February 1940 he was forced to offer his resignation because of these disagreements with his superiors. He was replaced by General Henry G. Winkelman who decided that in the north the Grebbe Line would be
8908-403: The eastern flank of which was also covered by Lake IJssel and the southern flank protected by the lower course of three broad parallel rivers: the Meuse ( Maas ) and two branches of the Rhine . It functioned as a National Redoubt , which was expected to hold out a prolonged period of time, in the most optimistic predictions as much as three months without any allied assistance, even though
9039-420: The end of World War II had been named Deputy Commander of the U.S. Army Air Forces. He worked in the aerospace industry following his retirement from the military, then became a newspaper columnist . Eaker was born in Field Creek , Texas , in 1896, the son of a Dutch tenant farmer . He attended Southeastern State Teachers College in Durant, Oklahoma , and then joined the United States Army in 1917. He
9170-433: The endurance flight of the Army plane, Question Mark , from 1 to January 7, 1929, establishing a new world flight endurance record. For this achievement the entire crew of five, including Eaker and mission commander Major Carl Spaatz , were awarded the DFC . In 1930, he made the first transcontinental flight entirely with instruments. In October 1934, Eaker was ordered to duty at March Field , Calif., where he commanded
9301-424: The enemy did. Their only prospect of beating the Germans to it lay in employing rail transport. This implied they would be vulnerable in the concentration phase, building up their forces near Breda. They needed the Dutch troops in the Peel-Raam Position to delay the Germans for a few extra days to allow a French deployment and entrenchment, but French rapid forces also would provide a security screen. These consisted of
9432-532: The enemy's ability to wage war while minimizing civilian casualties. The British considered daylight bombing too risky and wanted the Americans to join them in night raids that would target wider areas, but Eaker persuaded a skeptical Winston Churchill that the American and British approaches complemented each other in a one-page memo that concluded, "If the RAF continues night bombing and we bomb by day, we shall bomb them round
9563-513: The fighting performance of the Dutch infantry. Despite the Netherlands being the seat of Philips , one of Europe's largest producers of radio equipment, the Dutch army mostly used telephone connections; only the Artillery had been equipped with the modest number of 225 radio sets. The Dutch air force , which was not an independent arm of the Dutch armed forces, but part of the Army, on 10 May operated
9694-443: The fighting. Six of these divisions were "Third Wave" units only raised in August 1939 from territorial Landwehr units. They had few professional officers and little fighting experience apart from those who were World War I veterans. Like the Dutch Army, most soldiers (88%) were insufficiently trained. The seventh division was the 526th Infantry Division, a pure security unit without serious combat training. The German divisions, with
9825-529: The first blind (instruments only) transcontinental flight from New York to Los Angeles. He then became assistant chief of the Information Division in the Office of the Chief of Air Corps (OCAC) at Washington, D.C., during which he helped plan and publicize the interception of the Italian liner Rex at sea . In November 1940, Eaker was given command of the 20th Pursuit Group at Hamilton Field , California. He
9956-628: The general's wife, pinned on his fourth star. Later, in 1986, the Comptroller General ruled that the promotion was unlawful for pay or benefit purposes due to the lack of implementing legislation. Ten days before the Democratic Party primary runoff election of the 1948 United States Senate election in Texas on Saturday, August 28, 1948, Eaker spoke in support of candidate Lyndon B. Johnson . Coke R. Stevenson 's campaign attacked Eaker, and Eaker
10087-407: The individual soldier lacked many necessary skills. Before the war only a minority of young men eligible to serve in the military had actually been conscripted. Until 1938, those who were enlisted only served for 24 weeks, just enough to receive basic infantry training. That same year, service time was increased to eleven months. The low quality of conscripts was not compensated for by the presence of
10218-563: The invasion. Planners for Operation Wadham wanted the Germans to believe that the Americans were going to invade in the area of Brest, a seaport on the Breton Peninsula. The hoax involved minimal "real" forces, with a notional amphibious group sailing directly from the United States and another force from Britain with ten divisions in all, to conduct an invasion at Brest. The premise was that the Americans were planning to invade Brest after
10349-668: The justification used by the German Empire to invade Belgium in World War I. Some German officers were averse to the Nazi regime and were also uneasy about the invasion. One of them, Colonel Hans Oster , an Abwehr (German military intelligence) officer, began in March 1939 to pass along information to his friend, the Dutch military attaché in Berlin, Major Gijsbertus J. Sas . This information included
10480-562: The larger French strategy, and French planning had long considered the possibility of operations in Dutch territory. The coastal regions of Zealand and Holland were difficult to negotiate because of their many waterways. However, both the French and the Germans saw the possibility of a surprise flanking attack in this region. For the Germans this would have the advantage of bypassing the Antwerp- Namur line. The Zealand Isles were considered to be strategically critical, as they are just opposite
10611-552: The late 1930s. Crises were caused by the German occupation of the Rhineland in 1936; the Anschluss and Sudeten crisis of 1938; and the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia and the Italian invasion of Albania in the spring of 1939. These events forced the Dutch government to exercise greater vigilance, but they limited their reaction as much as they could. The most important measure
10742-465: The main Dutch forces on 14 May. Dutch troops in the province of Zealand continued to resist the Wehrmacht until 17 May, when Germany completed its occupation of the whole country. The invasion of the Netherlands saw some of the earliest mass paratroop drops, to occupy tactical points and assist the advance of ground troops. The German Luftwaffe used paratroopers in the capture of several airfields in
10873-517: The main defence line where the decisive battle was to be waged, partly because it would there be easier to break out with a counteroffensive if the conditions were favourable. However, he took no comparable decision regarding the Peel-Raam Position. During the Phoney War the Netherlands officially adhered to a policy of strict neutrality. In secret, the Dutch military command, partly acting on its own accord, negotiated with both Belgium and France via
11004-445: The minimum of 146 modern tanks (110 light, 36 medium) they had already considered necessary in 1937. A single Renault FT tank, for which just one driver had been trained and which had the sole task of testing antitank obstacles, had remained the only example of its kind and was no longer in service by 1940. There were two squadrons of armoured cars, each with a dozen Landsverk M36 or M38 vehicles. Another dozen DAF M39 cars were in
11135-586: The negotiations, proposing on 21 February that Belgium would man a connecting line with the Peel-Raam Position along the Belgian part of the Zuid-Willemsvaart . The Belgians refused to do this unless the Dutch reinforced their presence in Limburg ; the Dutch had no forces available with which to fulfill this request. Repeated Belgian requests to reconsider the Orange Position were refused by Winkelman. Therefore,
11266-531: The neutrality of the Low Countries if they had not joined the Anglo-French coalition before the planned large Entente offensive in the summer of 1941, but the French Cabinet, fearing a negative public reaction, vetoed the idea. Kept in consideration was a plan to invade if Germany attacked the Netherlands alone, necessitating an Entente advance through Belgium, or if the Netherlands assisted the enemy by tolerating
11397-520: The overall codename Cockade. The plans were submitted for approval by the Chiefs of Staff on June 3 and approved twenty days later. Cockade began with Tindall, a threat against Norway from units based in Scotland. That invasion would then be called off to allow a dual amphibious attack on France (Starkey and Wadham) from early September. The French assault would be similarly called off and Tindall reinstated until
11528-444: The past 8 months." Although Eaker convinced SHAEF to lower the American commitment to three hundred heavy-bomber sorties, he promised to provide as many bomber sorties as possible from new bomber units undergoing training. When it was over, Eighth Air Force had flown a total of 1,841 bomber sorties. Other problems were encountered as well. Headquarters, VIII Air Support Command, noted that Starkey's planners had difficulty in agreeing on
11659-456: The pillboxes; each battalion had a heavy machine gun company of twelve. The Dutch infantry squads were equipped with an organic light machine gun, the M.20 Lewis machine gun , of which about eight thousand were available. Most Dutch infantry were equipped with the Geweer M.95 rifle, adopted in 1895. There were but six 80 mm mortars for each regiment. This lack of firepower seriously impaired
11790-513: The plan to bomb Monte Cassino in February 1944, considering it a dubious military target, but ultimately signed off the mission and gave in to pressure from ground commanders. Historians of the era now generally believe Eaker's skepticism was correct and that the ancient abbey at Monte Cassino could have been preserved without jeopardizing the allied advance through Italy. He personally led the first raid of Operation Frantic on 2 July 1944, flying in
11921-483: The presumed actions of a fifth column in Scandinavia caused widespread fears that the Netherlands too had been infiltrated by German agents assisted by traitors. Countermeasures were taken against a possible assault on airfields and ports. A state of emergency was declared on 19 April. However, most civilians still cherished the illusion that their country might be spared, an attitude that has since been described as
12052-699: The process of being taken into service, some still having to be fitted with their main armament. A single platoon of five Carden-Loyd Mark VI tankettes used by the Artillery completed the list of Dutch armour . The Dutch Artillery had available a total of 676 howitzers and field guns : 310 Krupp 75 mm field guns, partly produced in licence; 52 105 mm Bofors howitzers, the only really modern pieces; 144 obsolete Krupp 125 mm guns; 40 150 mm sFH13's; 72 Krupp 150 mm L/24 howitzers and 28 Vickers 152 mm L/15 howitzers. As antitank-guns 386 Böhler 47 mm L/39s were available, which were effective weapons but too few in number, being only at
12183-434: The range of escort fighters using drop tanks , so that his Republic P-47 Thunderbolts could stay with the bomber formations for longer periods. Eaker strictly followed the prevailing American doctrine of requiring fighters to stay near the bombers, but this stricture was proving frustrating to the fighter groups, who advocated for free rein in clearing the skies of enemy aircraft ahead of the bomber paths. Eaker's air force
12314-524: The reconnaissance units of the armoured and motorised divisions, equipped with the relatively well-armed Panhard 178 armoured car. These would be concentrated into two task forces named after their commander: the Groupe Beauchesne and the Groupe Lestoquoi . During the many changes in the operational plans for Fall Gelb the idea of leaving the Fortress Holland alone, just as the Dutch hoped for,
12445-513: The remainder the air force school used three Fokker D.XXI, six Fokker D.XVII, a single Fokker G.I , a single Fokker T.V and seven Fokker C.V, along with several training aeroplanes. Another forty operational aircraft served with the Marineluchtvaartdienst (naval air service) along with about an equal number of reserve and training craft. The production potential of the Dutch military aircraft industry, consisting of Fokker and Koolhoven ,
12576-483: The river's eastern approaches in order to maintain a connection with the Fortress Holland further to the north and preserve an allied left flank beyond the Rhine. The force assigned to this task consisted of the 16th Army Corps, comprising the 9th Motorised Infantry Division (also possessing some tracked armoured vehicles) and the 4th Infantry Division; and the 1st Army Corps, consisting of the 25th Motorised Infantry Division and
12707-593: The rules of engagement for targets in Occupied France. The British and Americans unknowingly duplicated efforts on several occasions by flying the same missions within a few days of each other. The Royal Navy did not fully endorse the deception plan either since the Starkey planners had wanted two battleships for the amphibious force to act as bait for the Luftwaffe, but the navy was unwilling to risk its battleships in such
12838-493: The size of the attacking German force was strongly overestimated. Before the war the intention was to fall back to this position almost immediately, after a concentration phase (the so-called Case Blue ) in the Gelderse Valley [ fy ; li ; nds-nl ; nl ; zea ] , inspired by the hope that Germany would only travel through the southern provinces on its way to Belgium and leave Holland proper untouched. In 1939 it
12969-465: The start. Major General Ira C. Eaker , the commander of the Eighth Air Force, criticized the Starkey plan by saying that it would force the Americans to abandon their strategic bombing offensive. In a letter to Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), Eaker stated that Starkey called for 2,300 heavy-bomber sorties over 14 days "when the command had only flown 5,356 combat sorties in
13100-505: The successful invasion at Boulogne. However, the air commitment for the plan was considerably less than Starkey's, Eaker also criticized Wadham by saying that the combined bomber offensive would more effectively destroy the Luftwaffe than the diverted bomber resources could provide in support of Wadham. Other than aircraft, the Americans had to provide only 75 dummy landing craft to aid in the deception effort. The primary weakness in Wadham's story
13231-507: The territory to delay enemy movement. About two thousand pillboxes had been constructed, but in lines without any depth. Modern large fortresses like the Belgian stronghold of Eben Emael were nonexistent; the only modern fortification complex was that at Kornwerderzand , guarding the Afsluitdijk . Total Dutch forces equalled 48 regiments of infantry as well as 22 infantry battalions for strategic border defence. In comparison, Belgium, despite
13362-493: The vicinity of Rotterdam and The Hague , helping to quickly overrun the country and immobilise Dutch forces. After the devastating Nazi bombing of Rotterdam by the Luftwaffe on 14 May, the Germans threatened to bomb other Dutch cities if the Dutch forces refused to surrender. The General Staff knew it could not stop the bombers, and ordered the Royal Netherlands Army to cease hostilities. The last occupied parts of
13493-685: The weakly defended provinces east of the river IJssel and then try to cross the Afsluitdijk (Enclosure Dike). A simultaneous landing in Holland near Enkhuizen was to be attempted, using barges to be captured in the small port of Stavoren . As both efforts were unlikely to succeed, the mass of regular divisions was reinforced by the SS-Verfügungsdivision (including SS-Standarten Der Führer , Deutschland and Germania ) and Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler , which would serve as assault infantry to breach
13624-585: The winner of the election by a small margin. Eaker was a vice president of Hughes Tool Company and Hughes Aircraft (1947–1957) and of Douglas Aircraft (1957–1961). While stationed in New York in the early 1920s, Eaker studied law at Columbia University . Eaker went back to school in the early 1930s at the University of Southern California and received a degree in journalism. With Henry Arnold , Eaker co-authored This Flying Game (1936), Winged Warfare (1937), and Army Flyer (1942). Starting in 1962, he wrote
13755-557: The winter. The deceptions would be carried out via double agents ; decoy signals, fake troop concentrations; commando raids ; and increased reconnaissance and bombing missions into the areas of Boulogne , Brest and Norway . Operation Starkey was a sham British and Canadian amphibious invasion into the Boulogne area, in northern France. For the United States, the original plan involved 2,300 heavy bomber , 3,700 fighter and 400 medium bomber sorties against targets near Boulogne. The goal
13886-522: Was a general of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II . Eaker, as second-in-command of the prospective Eighth Air Force , was sent to England to form and organize its bomber command. While he struggled to build up airpower in England, the organization of the Army Air Forces evolved and he was named commander of the Eighth Air Force on December 1, 1942. Although his background
14017-660: Was a partial mobilisation of 100,000 men in April 1939. After the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and the ensuing outbreak of the Second World War, the Netherlands hoped to remain neutral, as it had done during World War I 25 years earlier. To ensure this neutrality, the Dutch army was mobilised from 24 August and entrenched. Large sums (almost 900 million guilders ) were spent on defence. It proved very difficult to obtain new matériel in wartime, however, especially as
14148-469: Was appointed a second lieutenant of Infantry, Officer's Reserve Corps , and assigned to active duty with the 64th Infantry Regiment at Camp Bliss , El Paso, Texas . The 64th Infantry was assigned to the 14th Infantry Brigade on December 20, 1917, to be part of the 7th Infantry Division when it deployed to France. On November 15, 1917, Eaker received a commission in the Regular Army . He later received
14279-543: Was appointed as chief of staff to the Supreme Allied Commander (COSSAC), and he was tasked with operational planning in Northwestern Europe . Morgan's operational orders from Allied high command were received in April, and they referred to "an elaborate camouflage and deception" with the dual aims of keeping German forces in the west and drawing the Luftwaffe into an air battle. Deception strategy fell to
14410-478: Was at times considered. The first version of 19 October 1939 suggested the possibility of a full occupation if conditions were favourable. In the version of 29 October it was proposed to limit the transgression to a line south of Venlo . In the Holland-Weisung (Holland Directive) of 15 November it was decided to conquer the entire south, but in the north to advance no further than the Grebbe Line, and to occupy
14541-485: Was best summarized by Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris , the commander of RAF Bomber Command , when he said that the deception plan had been "at best a piece of harmless play acting." German invasion of the Netherlands German victory Luxembourg The Netherlands Belgium France Britain 1941–1943 1944–1945 Germany Strategic campaigns The German invasion of
14672-520: Was bleeding men; from July through November 1943, the 8th lost 64% of its aircrew. When General Dwight D. Eisenhower was named Supreme Allied Commander in December 1943, he proposed to use his existing team of subordinate commanders, including Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle , in key positions. Doolittle was named Eighth Air Force Commander, and Arnold concurred with the change. After a rocky start, Doolittle greatly improved on Eaker's record by releasing
14803-418: Was capturing Stavanger and its airfield, which were critical to the story. That was because once again, the Allies were planning a deception operation beyond the range of tactical air support and so they needed to increase the plan's plausibility. The five divisions that were to be used in the sham invasion were real divisions camped in Scotland, and the Allies had adequate aircraft and ships in Scotland to make
14934-570: Was commissioned into the Regular Army as a captain in the Air Service and returned to the United States in January 1922, for duty at Mitchel Field , New York, where he commanded the 5th Aero Squadron and later was post adjutant. In June 1924, Eaker was named executive assistant in the Office of Air Service at Washington, D.C. , and from December 21, 1926, to May 2, 1927, he served as a pilot of one of
15065-521: Was composed of reserve rather than career military officers, and the group became known as "Eaker's Amateurs". Eaker's position as commander of the Eighth Air Force led to his becoming the model for the fictional Major General Pat Pritchard in the 1949 movie Twelve O'Clock High . Throughout the war, Eaker was an advocate for daylight "precision" bombing of military and industrial targets in German-occupied territory and ultimately Germany—of striking at
15196-495: Was defended by other prominent military officers and Johnson. Criticizing a prominent military leader so soon after World War II likely had a negative effect on Stevenson's turnout in the election, and in Howard County in particular (which had quartered an Army Air Force Bombardier School during World War II) returned an abnormally high net gain for Johnson as compared to his gains in other areas. Johnson would go on to be declared
15327-660: Was far less prepared for war. The myth of the general German equipment advantage over the opposing armies in the Battle of France was in fact a reality in the case of the Battle of the Netherlands. Germany had a modern army with tanks and dive bombers (such as the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka ), while the Netherlands had an army whose armoured forces comprised only 39 armoured cars and five tankettes , and an air force in large part consisting of biplanes . The Dutch government's attitude towards war
15458-491: Was in single-engine fighter aircraft , Eaker became the architect of a strategic bombing force that ultimately numbered forty groups of 60 heavy bombers each, supported by a subordinate fighter command of 1,500 aircraft, most of which was in place by the time he relinquished command at the start of 1944. Eaker then took overall command of four Allied air forces based in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations , and by
15589-399: Was not fully exploited due to budget limitations. Not only was the Royal Netherlands Army poorly equipped, it was also poorly trained. A particular problem was the absence of experience gained in the handling of larger units above the battalion level. From 1932 until 1936, the Dutch Army did not hold summer field manoeuvres in order to conserve military funding. Adding to this shortcoming,
15720-617: Was only a feint—and the attack on Fortress Holland only a sideshow of this feint. Although both the 6th and 18th Army were deployed on the Dutch border, the first, much larger, force would move south of Venlo to Belgium, leaving just the 18th Army under General Georg von Küchler to defeat the Dutch main force. Of all German armies to take part in the operation, this was by far the weakest. It contained only four regular infantry divisions (the 207th , 227th, 254th and 256th Infantry Division ), assisted by three reserve divisions ( 208th , 225th, and 526th Infantry Division) that would not take part in
15851-979: Was promoted in 1941 to colonel while at Hamilton Field. Promoted to brigadier general in January 1942, he was assigned to organize the VIII Bomber Command (which became the Eighth Air Force ) in England and to understudy the British system of bomber operations. Then, in December 1942, he assumed command of the Eighth Air Force. In a speech he gave to the British that won him favorable publicity, he said, "We won't do much talking until we've done more fighting. After we've gone, we hope you'll be glad we came." Much of Eaker's initial staff, including Captain Frederick W. Castle , Captain Beirne Lay, Jr. , and Lieutenant Harris Hull ,
15982-408: Was reflected in the state of the country's armed forces, which had not significantly expanded their equipment since before the First World War, and were inadequately armed even by the standards of 1918. An economic recession lasting from 1920 until 1927 and the general détente in international relations caused a limitation of the defence budget. In that decade, only 1.5 million guilders per annum
16113-546: Was reinforced with new pillboxes in 1940 as the fortifications were outdated. The line was located at the extreme eastern edge of the area lying below sea level. This allowed the ground before the fortifications to be easily inundated with a few feet of water, too shallow for boats, but deep enough to turn the soil into an impassable quagmire. The area west of the New Hollandic Water Line was called Fortress Holland (Dutch: Vesting Holland ; German: Festung Holland ),
16244-542: Was renamed Eaker Field to honor Eaker, a graduate of Southeastern State College in Durant. Now known as Southeastern Oklahoma State University, the student aviation majors use the airport as the home of the flight school. Source: [REDACTED] Command pilot The General Ira C. Eaker Award is given by the Civil Air Patrol in honor of the former Deputy Commander U.S. Army Air Forces and aviation pioneer. It
16375-446: Was spent on equipment. Both in 1931 and 1933, commissions appointed to economise even further failed, because they concluded that the acceptable minimum had been reached and advised that a spending increase was urgently needed. Only in February 1936 was a bill passed creating a special 53.4 million guilder defence fund. The lack of a trained manpower base, a large professional organisation, or sufficient matériel reserves precluded
16506-544: Was that in spite of the lack of numerical superiority, they would force the Dutch back to the east front of the Fortress Holland or beyond. If the Dutch did not capitulate on the first day, the Eighteenth Army expected to enter the Fortress Holland on the third day from the south over the Moerdijk bridges and thereby ensure victory; there was no strict timetable for the total destruction of the Dutch forces. A peculiar aspect of
16637-577: Was that it should exploit a breach in the Dutch lines created by the 254th and 256th Infantry Division, and join up with them, forming the XXVI. Armeekorps , on the Gennep – 's-Hertogenbosch axis. At the same time an offensive would be staged against the Grebbe Line in the east by the 207th and 227th Infantry Division, united to form X. Armeekorps , to engage the main bulk of the Dutch Field Army. The expectation
16768-553: Was that the US forces were going to land outside of Allied tactical air support range. Prior to the operation, the Army Operations Branch called Wadham a "very weak plan" but stated that it was "essential as a part of Cockade to reinforce Starkey." The notional order of battle for Operation Wadham included the following: Operation Tindall was a deception that the British and Americans were going to attack Norway. The hypothetical goal
16899-504: Was that the main German assault was to take place in Flanders , and it was expected these troops would be used for a crossing attempt over the river Scheldt near Ghent . This operation was cancelled, so it was decided to use them to obtain an easy victory in the Netherlands. The airborne troops would on the first day attempt to secure the airfields around the Dutch seat of government , The Hague, and then capture that government, together with
17030-461: Was to convince the Germans that the British and Canadian invasion preparations were authentic. The British were to provide another 3,000 heavy bomber sorties into the Boulogne area. Starkey was to culminate with a large feint involving an amphibious force aboard 30 ships, operating off the Boulogne coast, in the hope of luring the Luftwaffe. The army part of the exercise was named Exercise or Operation Harlequin . Starkey encountered difficulties from
17161-463: Was understood such an attitude posed an invitation to invade and made it impossible to negotiate with the Entente about a common defence. Proposals by German diplomats that the Dutch government would secretly assent to an advance into the country were rejected. From September 1939 a more easterly Main Defence Line (MDL) was constructed. This second main defensive position had a northern part formed by
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