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Records triple the number of wounded soldiers in May 1940


Tags: Excerpts from the Windmill

THE HAGUE – A new book by Dutch historian Peter Kruit has forced war historians to take another look at the Dutch resistance against the German invasion of May 1940. In his book ”Een mythe aan scherven” Kruit reveals that in the places where Dutch troops did not pull back as quickly, they frequently fought against the invaders in hand-to-hand combat. Kruit goes on to state that the total number of soldiers wounded in action numbered over 7,000, far more than the estimates of 2680, which have been used up to now. The number of Dutch soldiers killed remains at about 2,200. The historian consulted Red Cross records, which survived the Allied aerial bombing raid of the Bezuidenhout district in The Hague, in early 1945. Unfortunately, these records were never used for research before, since everyone assumed that these had been destroyed by fire. ”Een mythe aan scherven” is available from Vanderheide or at GoDutch.com.