Flames of War: Paratroopers at Arnhem

It’s important to take a look at why this war was being fought and since the book had some specific details for Arnhem and the Netherlands I thought I’d share it.

I understand it’s a bit heavy for Tabletop Wargaming but it’s History.

When the Germans invaded the Netherlands in 1940 the Government did not destroy their records and so the names, addresses and business details of all 140,000 Dutch Jews fell into the hands of the German Administrators.

Of these 140,000 People;

Six Thousand Managed to Survive in Hiding until the end of the war, almost all of these were very young Children taken in by Dutch Families.

Thirty Four Thousand Managed to be smuggled out of the Country or we killed other than by termination, eg. They joined the Dutch Resistance and were killed, their village was targeted for reprisals or something like that.

One Hundred and Ten Thousand Dutch Jews were taken to Concentration Camps and executed.

In Arnhem alone there were 1700 Jews pre-War and by the time of the British Paratroopers entering the Town less than 200 were still alive.

The Allies aren’t just fighting to take a few Bridges they’re fighting to Liberate a Nation. Half a Million Dutch men had been taken to work in Slave labor Camps where the book claims they suffered worse than anyone else since they went from a very high fat diet of Dairy to an almost fat free diet of a Camp Slave which was extremely hard to adjust to.

The Regular German forces managed to retreat without overly damaging the local population, there’s even stories of German Soldiers selling their loot as they fled.

On the other hand the SS were incredibly brutal. Scorched Earth was the norm and everything with wheels was stolen at gunpoint (including a wood fire powered truck) although since there was no rubber they were either driving on steel or wood. When the residents of a small Dutch town heard the German’s would be retreating through their town they took chairs out onto the street and watched the Regular Army fall back but when the SS came into the town they fired indiscriminately into the crowd.

So back to tiny fighting men but I just thought I’d add these details here to remind everyone just how vital the Liberation of Europe was and even though speed might not be the best Military Strategy, for the people living under German Occupation it seemed like the best thing that could happen