Fokker - World War II
On 9 October 1939 Hitler put the finishing touches on a lengthy political and military analysis in which he reaffirmed his intention to launch an offensive in the West. On the same day, in Directive No. 6 for the Conduct of the War, he ordered the Army to prepare an offensive on the northern flank of the Western Front with the objectives of smashing large elements of the French and allied armies and taking as much territory as possible in the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France to create favorable conditions for air and sea warfare against Great Britain and for the defense of the Ruhr. The German offensive on the Continent began on 10 May 1940, the day on which Churchill became Prime Minister. After four days of fighting, culminating in the bombing of Rotterdam, the Netherlands Government was compelled to surrender.
The German invasion in 1940 and the five-year occupation of the countrywith all its military, political, social, and moral consequences exposed the bitter weakness of neutrality. The people of Holland entered five years of occupation after afive-day war. Hitler planned to tie the Netherlands to Germany as closely as was politicallyfeasible after a German victory. Although Dutch casualties in manpower had not been heavy, the economic, military, social and moral consequences in World War II were high.
The initial years of the German occupation of Holland were characterized by the removal of Dutch Jews from their homeland and harsh economic and political measures. The Jewish population was segregated, concentrated, and later deported to Poland. The Nazis set up a puppet government at The Hague headed by Dr. Seyss-Inquart and established a Dutch National Socialist Party. Some Dutch citizens eagerly joined the new party and took positions in the government. Others, however, joined with the purpose of pretending to collaborate while remaining loyal to the government-in-exile.
In the Second World War the Fokker factory was totally destroyed and the F.24 project had to be shelved, as World War II soon put an end to commercial air transport. Fokker aircraft would see service on both sides during World War II.
Though Anton Fokker died in 1939, Fokker's director Jacobus Elisa [J.E.] van Tijen did prepare for the war by bringing 3 million guilders to the US. The company remained in business until the following May when it was confiscated by the invading armies of Nazi Germany. Friedrich Seekatz, (described as Fokker's right hand man), who had been arrested by the Dutch authorities because of his German sympathies, was reinstated by the Germans and placed in charge. The Germans occupied the Fokker factory and tried to complete a number of G.1 and T.8w planes. The Dutch employees did not co-operate in a good way, working very slowly and making many mistakes. During the German occupation of Holland, obedience to the Occupying Power was perceived as unpatriotic and disloyal to HM Queen, living in exile in London. In the eyes of the majority of the Dutch population there hardly existed a conflict of loyalty.
Because of the Netherlands' geographic proximity and cultural ties to Germany, many Dutch were sympathetic to the ideas of German nationalism, and a significant portion of the population joined the Dutch Nazi Party and even the Wehrmacht. Many who collaborated really believed that the Germans represented the future and felt that Nazi success was inevitable. For these citizens, occupation was something merely to be accepted.
Seekatz was a close friend and intermeidary of Goering (whom he knew from World War 1) in Holland. Right after the occupation of the Netherlands, Friedrich Wilhelm Seekatz, manager at Fokker, wanted to give a present to Hermann Göring : a D.VII. However, that D.VII had to be built. In World War I, when Göring flew the D.VII, he was a slim young man. His shape had changed however, so that it was impossible for him to fit in a D.VII. A wider fuselage had to be designed. Some designers worked on the project from May to July 1940. On the 30th of July the project was cancelled. It was not possible to build an original D.VII.
The Fokker-Werke factory was converted to repair German military aircraft operating from Dutch air bases. For this reason the factory was heavily bombed by the Royal Air Force. When the Allied armies liberated Belgium during the first days ofSeptember 1944, the German administration increased its hostility in the occupiedterritories. Dutch men of military age were drafted or arrested primarily for fear they mightassist the Allied forces. No longer did the Germans attempt to use Dutch factories and other productive facilities, but they transported as much machinery and equipment as possible to Germany.
On May 5, 1944, the surrender of German troops in Holland went into effect. By the end of the war the factory had been looted by the German army and almost completely destroyed by Allied bombings. However, Fokker's technical staff survived the war and within a year the factory was completely rebuilt.
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