Dutch Courage
Special Forces (SF) operations in the Netherlands and covers in general the period from September 1994 until the liberation.September 1944 saw the beginning of Allied operations in the Netherlands, initially to try and c
- Author
- Jelle Hooiveld
- Publisher
- Amberley
- Price
- £20
- ISBN
- 978 1 4456 5741 1
- Published
- 2016
Dutch Courage by Jelle Hooiveld
This detailed study of Special Forces operations in the Netherlands concentrates on the period from September 1944 to liberation. With Operation Market Garden under way, Allied SF teams dropped into the country to gather intelligence ahead of the ground advance.
Some teams worked alone, others alongside the Dutch Resistance, and many were given specific tasks. “Rats” infiltrated Germany to capture or assassinate senior officers on hunter-killer missions and to disrupt communications. Jedburgh teams cooperated with SOE and Dutch resistance groups, while OSS teams linked up with the SAS to mount operations ahead of the main armies.
Belgian SAS personnel, fluent in local languages, served with the British SAS and later helped evacuate airborne troops after Arnhem. Operating in the Low Countries was exceptionally difficult: the flat, sparsely wooded landscape offered little cover, the population density was high, and the Gestapo and SS controlled the area with ruthless efficiency.
ISBN 978 1 4456 5741 1. Amberley. £20