DUTCH NAVY ESCAPES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 142, 16 May 1940, Page 9

DUTCH NAVY ESCAPES.

QUARTER OF ARMY DEAD. j "FIFTH COLUMN" REVELATIONS. I Received Mav 16, 10.25 a.m. I LONDON. May 15. It is authoritatively stated that the hulk of the Dutch navy escaped last night and is now in the North Sea or British ports. Certain contingents have been thrown back in Belgium and will be re-formed as the nucleus of a new force. The Dutch Foreign Minister (Divan Kleffens) stated in Pans that one-quarter of Holland's army ol 400,000 had been killed. He added that some Dutch regiments had lost j S per cent, of their effectives. HolI land's bombing force had been wiped out, but Dutch 'planes and anti-air-craft guns .had brought down at least 150 German machines. Both Dr van Kleffens and the Havas News Agency correspondent, who has just returned from Holland, emj -Masise that the lesson that can be I learned from Holland's fate is the danger of "fifth column" activities, lest other neutral States and the Allies he paralysed from within (states a Paris message). Dr van Kleffens said parachute troops disguised as Dutch soldiers came in thousands. A group of members of the "fifth column" thus dressed took possession of the bridge connecting North Brabant with Zeeland, enabling the advance to Rotterdam. A supposedly Swedish ship at Rotterdam on Friday last suddenly opened her hatches and disgorged German soldiers and artillery. The Havas Agency says the number of Germans hidden throughout Holland who attacked the country from within was far larger than was thought possible. These hidden Germans',, Nazi parachute troops, and Dutch Nazis had created undeniable confusion, "': be- ~ hind the front lines. The High Command was compelled to withdraw thousands of troops to guard the key points in the rear and root out members of the "fifth column." Firing was audible throughout the day at The Hague, Amsterdam. Lcyden and Utrecht. Nobody could be" certain who was loyal and who was a traitor. A message from "Willemstad (Cur'a- • Icao) says the Germans' interned in the concentration camp are reported to have rebelled. Troops have been sent • to quell the outbreak. The "black- ; out" has temporarily ceased.