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

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helped augment stocks of weapons and ammunition, although, as we will see in Chapter 3,
only part of the material requirements of the mobilised anny were met by August 1914.
On paper, the weaponry available to the Dutch Army compared reasonably well
with that used in the annies of the major European powers in 1914. There were enough
rifles available for each mobilised soldier (234,000 MCinnlicher models in total); although
revolvers were far from standard issue for every officer. 131 Ammunition stocks were
initially low for both weapons, but this was one of the few areas in which the local
annaments industry was able to keep up with demand. 132 In 1914 at least, the Netherlands
matched the belligerents in machine-gun numbers (a total of 780 mainly Schwarzlose guns),
although more than two-thirds of these were older models pennanently stationed in the
fortified positions. 133 Only 32 machine-guns were mobile and deployed with the Field
Anny, equating to nearly two guns per battalion. While it may not seem like many, the
potential of the machine-gun had not yet been fully realised, and this ratio was COlmnon
across the combatant annies at the time. 134 Of course, once it became a dominant weapon
on the Westem Front, the warring states out-produced the Netherlands many times over and
the neutral had no chance of attaining any degree of parity, since the local production of
most weaponry, notably artillery pieces, machine-guns, and their ammunition, would prove
disastrous. 135
As many in the High Command realised, in tenns of artillery might, a discemable
difference between the Netherlands and its neighbours was clearly distinguishable in
1914. 136 As noted above, in the fortified positions, especially in the New Holland
Waterline, the quality of artillery was well below par. Although 2,000 pieces were made
operational during the mobilisation, only 600 were new 6 cm quick-fire guns with limited
range. 137 At least two-thirds of the new guns operated outside the fortifications. The Field
Anny deployed nearly 200 somewhat heavier 7.4 cm calibre field artillery pieces, but it only
131 Staatscommissie, ingesteld bij Koninklijk Besluit van 12 December 1910, no. 56 - Legercommissie, Verslag
Betreffende de Voorziening in de Behoeften aan Geschllt, Mitraillellrs, Geweren, MlIllitie ell Vliegtlligen. [Report
regarding supplying the needs of artillery, machine-guns, guns, munitions and aeroplanes] The Hague: Algemeene
Landsdrukkerij, 1918, p. 31.
132 Bosboom, In Moeilijke Omstalldigheden p. 131.
133 Ibid. p. 32; Schulten, "The Netherlands and its Army" p. 77.
134 Hew Strachan, "Economic Mobilization: Money, Munitions, and Machines" in Strachan (ed.), The Oxford
Illustrated History of the First World War p. 145.
135 See: Chapter 9, pp. 299 - 310.
136 Klinkert, Het Vaderland Verdedigdp. 385.
137 Bosboom, In Moeilijke Omstandigheden p.32.