THE DEFENCES OF HOLLAND

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2224, 10 August 1914, Page 7

THE DEFENCES OF HOLLAND

..NEW miiri raiwAß

INLET FOR FOOD LOST TO ; Germany: ' " ; Nwv that Holland has declared war on Qwrnony, a "most important source from whicji food, supplies cpuld )be drawn has been lost to tho Germans. . If Holland remained neiitral, it would possible for the merchants of another neutral State, 6u"ch as the United States,' to carry on a highly-profitable trade in food stuffs to be landed "in Holland ' and railed through to Germany. His trade could only havo been stopped by declaring foodstuffs ' contraband,' and" it is" only . cust(mary to declare' contraband such foodstuffs as are known 'to be deßtined for the of an enemy's forces. Now, however, all trade .in' foodstuffs between Holland and Germany will cease, and with al} Germans capable of bearing arms in the fiold, and outside food supplies cut off from every source "except Scandinayia, Switzerland, and "Italy, position is'not'a promising one, " The Netherlands (Holland) are bordered on the'south" by Belgium'aiid oh "the cast by Germany. On the forpier side the ccuntry is'quite levels on the latter more liply,. • The land frontier is open all round. The frontiers are defended by few fortresses. The scheme of defence adopted in 1874 contemplates the concentration of the defensive forces in-a restricted area, known as the "Holland fortress" This comprises the "' Provinces of North and South Holland, with' parts of Zeeland and Utrecht." ' Twothirds o'f the area is surrounded by" the fe.l. On the land side, to the east (ihd south, are lines' of more or less permanent wprks, which can'be' rendered very difficult of attack by inundation?. There are "plsp strong works oh.the, coast,' notr ably the Holder group, barripg access to the Ziiyder Zee, and the Hpllandsch Diep o'nd. Volkerak position, while the entrances to the Amsterdam and"Rotterdam ship canals are defended by powerful fcrts. " TJio citadel of tho whole is Amsterdaip, which is. well fortified. Here also inundations' would almost precludo a successful attack. Apart from the Holland Fortress aro the worka on the Wester pcheldo.' They are to be augmented by entirely'new works at Flushing. The field, army of the Netherlands con-, sists of fpu r divisions, find pn. independent cavalry brigade, A division oon T tains 3 brigades of infantry, a field ar? tillej-y'' regiment W three-gun batteries, 38 guns), "a "company of cyclists, 8 machine gunsi 'and a 'company of engineers. The cavalry. brigade has four regiments, and four 3-gun batteries of hoi'se artillery! Thoj-e 'a180'57 fortress artillery copv panies, orgspised as battfihons, of ft strength adequatb' , to the particular fortress garrisoned.' T! 1 ?, Jandwew tj-oops (militiamen having fulfilled active service), with the fortress artillery of the jictivo «vnj\y. would hold the fortresses. The total strength of the field army is approximately 125,000 men, guns. The Netherlands infantry is armed with the Mannlipjier magazine rifle, fre cavalry ond engineers with the MatinTicner carbine, the field artillery with a shielded Q.F. Krupp gun of 7.5 cm. ' ' Tho'Navy comprises ten battleships, (from 3520 tons, to 7600 tons displacement), font cruisers, a small river monitor, eight destroyers, 47 torpedo boats, 6 submarines, and & number of kunboat's. The Navy ia officered, by three vice-admirals, four Tear-admirals,' 29 eaptains, 80 commanders, 580 lieutenants and mitlshjpmen (besides engineers and surgeons), and about 8500 6eamea. The marino infantry consists of dbout 40 officers and about 2600 non-com-missioned officers and privates. 'VARSITY STUDENTS AND WAR SERVICE SENATE CONSIDERS TEE QUESTION. At a meeting of the "University Senate held on Saturday morning it wa£ decided that the examinations this year, will take placo as arranged. ■ It was resolved:— ''That the Senate is prepared to meet tho cases of students who may volunteer to join the oxpeditionary forces leaving tho Dominion, or aro called upon to perform' active military duties in the Dominion, and that students who wish to tafto advantage of the concesgioi) shall apply to the .Registrar at once."