Battle for The Hague
The Battle for The Hague () was a battle fought on 10 May 1940 during the Battle of the Netherlands. German Fallschirmjäger units were dropped in and around The Hague to capture Dutch airfields and the city itself. After securing a bridgehead, Nazi Germany had expected the Netherlands to surrender that day. The Germans, however, failed to achieve that objective since their forces had been unable to hold onto their initial gains. That is because the Dutch regrouped and then launched effective counter-attacks. Isolated pockets of German troops, led by Hans von Sponeck, retreated to the nearby dunes, where they were continually pursued and harassed for five days, when Henri Winkelman, the Dutch commander-in-chief, was forced to surrender by major setbacks on other fronts. Background The Germans planned, under the codename Fall Festung, to catch the Dutch off guard and then to isolate the head of the Dutch Army. Their intention was to fly over the Netherlands to lull the Dutch into thinking that the United Kingdom was their target. That was to be followed by approaching the country from the direction of the North Sea; attacking the airfields at Ypenburg, Ockenburg and Valkenburg to weaken potential Dutch defenses; and