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

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Counts two hundred thousand men,
Then there is the Navy
And others who help;
Also our national character is widely known,
Persevering by nature,
It will not yield to any foreigner,
And when necessary, will not spare anyeffort. 47
At some commemorations, Great War soldiers and sailors were even turned into heroes, not
because of their military prowess, but because they provided a tangible entity to thank.
When on 31 July 1924, the tenth anniversary of the mobilisation was remembered in
Maassluis, it was with gratitude that the mayor of the town proclaimed that conscripts had
been responsible for keeping the country out of the war. 48
There were other ways by which the Dutch observed the mobilisation, their
neutrality and those who died. Among these can be counted the issue of commemorative
medals, including the "bronze mobilisation cross" and its civilian partner, the "white
mobilisation cross", which were awarded during the 1920s by the Nationale Bond "Het
Mobilisatie Kruis " in a typically Dutch manner, because eligible soldiers were required to
pay for the honour of receiving the decoration. 49 While all ex-servicemen, including
Snijders, were eligible to receive the bronze accolade, civilians received the white medal in
recognition of extraordinary acts in aid of the armed forces. Its first recipient was Queen
Wilhelmina, patron of the Koninklijke Nationale Steuncomite (Royal National Support
47 '''t Is hier land van Recht en Vrijheid
't Land van vrede steeds geweest;
Met dien vree wordt slechts gebroken
Als men's Lands onzijdhigheid
Wederrechtelijk aan mocht randen ....
Onze landmacht tegenwoordig
Telt twee honderdduizend man,
Daarbij komt dan den Marine
En wie helpen wil en kan;
Ook kent men ons volkskarakter,
Dat volhardend is van aard,
Voor geen vreemdeling zich zal buigen,
En als 't moet, geen offer spami." (Captijn, Vlag en Vaandel pp. 23 - 24).
48 C. P. I. Dommisse, HerdenJdng Mobilisatie 1914 te Maasslllis. [Remembering the mobilisation of 1914 in
Maassluis] Maassluis: J. van Endt & Zoon, 1924, p. 8.
49 Neeve et. a1. (eds.), Nationale Bond "Het Mobilisatiekrllis" pp. 76 - 83, 111, (the cover has a pictorial
representation of the bronze mobilisation cross). Photographs ofthe crosses can also be found in Ritter, De Donkere
Poort Volume 1, pp. 60 - 61. The MarinemuseUi11 (Naval Museum) in Den Helder has a bronze mobilisation cross on
display (May 1999), as does the Museum Schietkamp Harskamp (Rifle Camp Harskamp Museum) pinned on one of
their mannequins (June 1999).