Battle of the Afsluitdijk
Kornwerderzand, on the Afsluitdijk causeway, Friesland, Netherlands
What happened
Dutch troops in the casemates of Fort Kornwerderzand under Captain Christiaan Boers fought German forces under General Kurt Feldt. When Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940, German troops tried to cross the 32 km Afsluitdijk causeway toward the western Netherlands. At its fortified end at Kornwerderzand, Dutch machine guns stopped their attacks. On 14 May a Dutch gunboat silenced the German artillery.
Why it matters
Why it matters: Kornwerderzand was the only Dutch defensive line to hold against the German attack. It stopped the Germans from using the causeway to reach the heart of the country.
What came next
The Netherlands surrendered after the bombing of Rotterdam, and the garrison capitulated without being defeated.
Did you know?
The Afsluitdijk, finished in 1932, turned the saltwater Zuiderzee into the freshwater IJsselmeer lake.
Timeline
- 1932The Afsluitdijk is completed.
- 10 May 1940Germany invades the Netherlands.
- 12 May 1940The first German assault on Kornwerderzand fails.
- 14 May 1940A Dutch gunboat silences the German guns.
- 14-15 May 1940The Netherlands surrenders.