Between the devil and the deep blue sea - University of Canterbury

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mid-1918, Belgians sought entry into the Netherlands for reasons other than those of
August and October 1914: some wanted to join the Allied annies; others fled fearing
expatriation to forced labour camps in Gennany; many hoped for better living conditions in
the Netherlands; and around 6,500 of them wanted to live near interned family members. 190
Crossings into the Netherlands were greatly hindered when Gennany closed the Dutch­
Belgian border in November 1914, and became even more perilous after Gennany built an
electric fence along the frontier in 1915. 191
Dutch border guards did show an interest in a particular group of "refugees",
namely those Belgian men travelling through the Netherlands to get to Britain. Neutral
territory could not be used as a base for recruiting belligerent troops, nor could it be used to
transit such troops. 192 Gennan diplomats raised this issue with their Dutch counterparts on a
number of occasions, each time claiming that Belgian consulates in the Netherlands were
targeting male refugees and paying for their passage to Britain. Newspapers reported similar
transgressions. 193 It was difficult for the Netherlands to police the breach of neutrality. In
October 1914, refugees had boarded ships to Britain completely unopposed and few
controls existed at ports to ensure everybody departing the country was eligible to do SO.194
In November, the government asked municipal councils to keep an eye out for groups of
men leaving the country. 195 Two months later, Snij del's ordered his subordinates to
investigate all male refugees and foreigners leaving for Britain. This was done in co­
operation with civilian authorities (mainly customs police). 196 However, only if it could be
190 Charpentier, "De leniging van de nood del' Belgische vluchtelingen" pp. 9 - 11; Nagelhout, "De toelating en
internering van belligerente troepen" p. 23; KHmers, "Internering in Nederland 1914 - 1918" p. 26.
191 Telegram Divisional Commander of Koninklijke Marechaussee in's Hertogenbosch to Commander-in-Chief, 8
November 1914, in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Staf' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 74; Zanten, "De zorg
voor vluchtelingen" p. 348. For more information, see: Chapter 8, pp. 275 - 283.
192 Castren, The Present Law of War and Neutrality p. 482.
193 For example: German Minister in The Hague to Minister of Foreign Affairs, 4 October 1914; Commander-in­
Chief to all military authorities, 2 November 1914; Minister ofInternal Affairs to Commander-in-Chief, 26
November 1914, all in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Staf' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 75. See also: ARA,
"Archieven van de Generale Staf' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 74; Commander-in-Chiefto Commander of the
Navy in Willemsoord, 22 December 1914, in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Star' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory
no. 37; Charpentier, "De leniging van de nood del' Belgische vluchtelingen" p. 54.
194 Heuvel-Strasser, "Vluchtelingenzorg of vreemdelingenbeleid" p. 194.
195 Utrecht en de Oorlogstoestand p. 137.
196 Commander-in-Chiefto all military authorities, 15 January 1915, in ARA, "Archiefvan het Hoofdkwartier
Veldleger" entry no. 2.13.16, inventory no. 279.