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

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At the same time, the Commander decided that troops would be assigned to postal trains,
while the locomotives travelled through the "state of siege", another indication that postal
censorship actually increased. 214
In direct contrast to mail censorship, military control over telegram and telephone
communications did not cause undue public concern, probably because few people owned a
telephone or sent telegrams. In the end, the telephone censorship affected businesses more
than individuals. As with control over mail, officers listening in to telephone conversations
had to do so with extreme discretion, and without divulging any details to others.
Surveillance of telephone communications became a useful way for the armed forces to
monitor potential smugglers and suspected spies?15 The right to monitor telephone
conversations also enabled the military to supervise the movements and actions of
journalists. For example, in March 1918, a cOlTespondent of the Telegraafin Amsterdam
had all his telephone conversations from home monitored as well as those he made from a
local caf6?16 By this stage, the potential damage of the activities of Telegracifjournalists,
given their reputed links with the Allies, was widely appreciated. In March 1918, a time
when the country was on the verge of war due to German pressure over the sand and gravel
issue, the government believed it essential to know what the newspaper intended to publish
and, if possible, persuade them to temper anti-German comments.
Another role of the military was to uncover leaks of militarily sensitive
infonnation. Early on in the July crisis of 1914, newspapers were forbidden to publish on
the movement and location of Dutch troopS.217 Private telegraph and radio transmitters were
also declared illegal, and the armed forces forcibly shut them down or took them over,218 to
ensure that none of the combatants used the transmitters, and thereby violated the neutrality
214 Commander of the Field Army to Director-General of the Post and Telegraph Service, 25 September 1917, in
ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Staf' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 682.
215 Garrison Commander in Venlo, "Bepalingen voor de uitoefening van de censuur op a) telegrammen b)
telefonische gesprekken" [Regulations regarding the censorship of a) telegrams b) telephone conversations] 1
September 1915, in ARA, "Archiefvan het Hoofdkwartier Veldleger" entry no. 2.13.16, inventory no. 172;
Commander ofthe Field Army to Commander-in-Chief, 19 June 1916, in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Star'
entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 228; Kleijngeld, Gemobiliseerde militairen in Tilbllrg pp. 39 - 40.
216 Officer in Charge of Censorship, "Order voor de Censoren" [Order for the censors] 16 March 1918, in ARA,
"Archieven van de Generale Staf' entry no. 2.13.70, inventory no. 682.
217 Bosboom, In Moeilijke Omstandigheden p. 7.
218 Commander of the Coastal Battery in Neuzen to Commander-in-Chief, 2 August 1914; Territorial Commander in
Zeeland to Commander-in-Chief, 7 August 1914, both in ARA, "Archieven van de Generale Star' entry no. 2.13.70,
inventory no. 89.