Balance

Introduction

In this section we present a balance of the battle of Zeeland, including the French losses in Noord-Brabant. Some parts may have been published elsewhere on this site too, but on this balance sheet all figures are summarized for an easy overview.

The French losses

The French 60th and 68th Infantry Divisions had each lost approximately 25–30 percent of their manpower and virtually all of the heavy equipment belonging to the regiments that had fought on Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland. Most artillery pieces, anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, horse-drawn transport, and motor vehicles had been abandoned during the evacuation. Walcheren and Zuid-Beveland had effectively become a vast military graveyard of discarded equipment.

The exact casualty figures for the French forces in Zeeland remain uncertain. However, 154 French servicemen are recorded as having been killed in action in Zeeland. Most of these casualties have been identified by name, rank, unit, date of death, and place of burial.

According to some sources, a total of 229 French servicemen were killed in Noord-Brabant and Zeeland during the campaign. Our research has identified 154 fatalities in Zeeland and 62 in Noord-Brabant, giving a documented total of 216 killed in action.

The 154 French servicemen killed in Zeeland include one member of the French Navy and three aircrew. Among the 150 Army fatalities were 17 officers: one Général de brigade (Marcel Deslaurens, commander of the 60th Infantry Division), two Majors, three Captains, and eleven Lieutenants. Of these Army casualties, 83 served with the 271st Infantry Regiment, 30 with the 224th Infantry Regiment, and 8 with the 68th Reconnaissance Group (68e GRDI). The remaining 29 belonged to other units or could not be assigned with certainty.

The 62 French servicemen killed in Noord-Brabant include four airmen, three of whom were officers (two Captains and one Lieutenant). The remaining 58 Army fatalities included two officers, both Lieutenants. Among these casualties were 13 men from the 2nd, 5th, 12th, and 27th Reconnaissance Groups (GRDI), 12 from the 4th Regiment Dragoon Porté (4e RDP, 1.DLM), 9 from the 92nd Infantry Regiment (25.DIM), and 7 from the 38th Infantry Regiment (25.DIM). The remaining seventeen belonged to various other units or remain unidentified.

The number of French wounded is unknown. A commonly used benchmark for twentieth-century combat is a ratio of approximately four wounded for every soldier killed. Applying this ratio to the 216 documented French fatalities in the Netherlands would suggest roughly 850 wounded. This figure should be regarded as no more than a tentative estimate.

German sources indicate that approximately 3,000 French soldiers were taken prisoner during the fighting in Zeeland and Noord-Brabant. The accuracy of this figure cannot be verified with certainty, but it does not appear to be unrealistic given the scale of the French commitment and the number of troops who were unable to escape during the withdrawal, both in Brabant and Zeeland.

Dutch losses

The Dutch forces - tasked with defending their own territory - performed poorly during the campaign in Zeeland. During eight days of fighting they suffered only 38 fatalities, including five officers, two of whom belonged to the Air Force.

A closer examination of these figures reveals that not all of these losses were caused by enemy action either. At least 5 men were killed as a result of accidents or incidents related to Fifth Column panic. One senior non-commissioned officer, for example, was shot by retreating troops from Noord-Brabant on suspicion of collaborating with the enemy. Another 5 soldiers were killed when a French unit mistakenly opened fire on a Dutch column near Middelburg. Consequently, only 28 Dutch servicemen were actually killed as a result of enemy action.

The figures become even more striking when analysed in greater detail. Most of these combat fatalities resulted from air attacks and naval incidents rather than ground combat. In the principal defensive actions on land, Dutch losses were extremely limited. Only 7 soldiers were killed along the Zanddijk Line and 2 at the Bath Line. Elsewhere, local engagements claimed only a handful of lives: one at Zierikzee, two at Tholen, and one at Bruinisse. In total, only 13 Dutch soldiers were killed in ground combat during the entire campaign in Zeeland.

A total of 38 fatalities was an exceptionally low figure, particularly considering that between 7,500 and 10,000 Dutch troops were deployed in the province during the course of the campaign. Dutch losses amounted to only about one-fifth of the French fatalities suffered in the same theatre, illustrating the markedly different level of sacrifice borne by the two Allied forces.

Three additional Dutch soldiers belonging to the Zeeland forces were killed in the days following the campaign.

The naval forces suffered further losses. Including naval personnel and naval volunteers, a total of 40 men lost their lives. The most severe single naval loss occurred aboard BV 34, a militarised tug, where 20 crew members were killed. The brown-water gunboat Hr.Ms. Bulgia lost 13 men. The hospital ship Luctor et Emergo, sunk during an air raid in the harbour of Flushing, claimed 4 lives. Finally, 3 crew members of the gunboat Hr.Ms. Hydra were killed.

In total, 87 Dutch servicemen lost their lives during the Battle of Zeeland, with 3 additional fatalities occurring in the weeks that followed.

Their names and units are listed below (courtesy of Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) E.H. Brongers, who compiled the original register):

Note 1: Most KIA in Kapelle and Yerseke were in fact men that fell in the trenches of the Zanddike Line.

Note 2: KIA that fell in Rilland were in fact of a patrol that moved in front of the Bath Line.

Note 3: The 5 men KIA at Middelburg on 14.5.1940 were killed by French fire at the 'Schroebrug' (Vlissingse Jaagpad). The French had been under the impression that it were German troops approaching them, although German troops were not even in Zeeland yet.

Note 4: Zijpe and Oostgat are offshore locations or water-ways.

Note 5: All lower naval functions are uniformly addressed as Stoker, Seaman or Engineer. LTZ2 (RNLN) equalled Lieutenant-Commander (RN) in 1940.

The number of killed civilians is not known in detail.

German losses

The German forces suffered a considerable number of casualties during the three days of ground fighting in Zeeland. Nevertheless, given that they were conducting offensive operations, their losses must be regarded as relatively light.

Including the fighting on Tholen, which proved comparatively costly and resulted in approximately 20 German fatalities, the German Army lost a total of 89 men killed in action. The heaviest losses were sustained at Tholen and Oostdijk. At the latter location, the leading SS elements advanced into a carefully prepared minefield, suffering particularly severe casualties. The incident alone cost at least 10 lives and accounted for nearly half of the 22 German fatalities recorded there.

In addition to the Army losses, at least 8 Luftwaffe aircrew were killed when their aircraft were shot down or crashed during operations over Zeeland. This brings the total known German fatalities during the campaign in Zeeland to 97 men.

The recapture of Walcheren by Allied forces more than four years later would prove far more costly in terms of casualties.

The losses incurred during the fighting in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen remain largely unknown. No reliable casualty figures have been found for the French, Belgian, or German forces operating there. The numbers are unlikely to have been particularly high, as ground combat was limited to a small number of skirmishes and local engagements. Apart from these incidents, most military activity in the area consisted of air operations.

German air attacks undoubtedly caused Allied casualties, but the available sources do not permit a reliable estimate. In the absence of firm evidence, it is therefore prudent to leave the matter unresolved.

Remarkable affairs

Two losses were particularly noteworthy.

The first was the death in combat of Général de brigade Marcel Deslaurens, the courageous commander of the French 60th Infantry Division. The circumstances of his death have already been described. Most remarkable about this case is that General Deslaurens was not awarded a medal for valour, not by the French, nor the Dutch. This is a topic of interest that the author of this website is working on.

On the German side, Oberst Oskar von dem Hagen of the 225th Infantry Division also died during the campaign, on 17 May 1940. Von dem Hagen commanded Infantry Regiment 376. Born on 13 April 1883, he was a highly decorated WW1 veteran officer and 57 years old when he died. He was posthumously promoted to Generalmajor.

The exact circumstances of his death remain unclear. According to German records, he succumbed to fatal wounds at Ossendrecht on 17 May, but that may well have been in a military hospital. Other sources say he got killed (or mortally wounded) at Putte, Belgium, which is SE of Antwerp and quite a distance from Dutch soil. The 225th Infantry Division was indeed active in the Dutch and Belgian border area, although mostly to the rear of SS Regiment Germania. It is possible that Von dem Hagen was wounded during one of the Allied air attacks that were carried out in the area during those days.

Deslaurens and Von dem Hagen were the most senior Allied and German officers respectively to die on Dutch soil during the May Campaign. On the Dutch side, three Lieutenant-Colonels were killed or fatally wounded during the same period, although none of them fell in Zeeland. They were the highest-ranking Dutch officers killed during the campaign.

Air Force losses

The confirmed and identified losses of German aircraft are relatively well documented. Numerous Dutch and French military reports, however, claim additional German aircraft being shot down or crashing into the sea. Such claims are difficult to verify, as no wreckage could be recovered from these claimed incidents.

Based on the available records, the losses suffered by the German, French, Belgian, British, and Dutch Air Forces during the period from 10 - 27 May 1940 can be summarised as follows.

The Luftwaffe suffered the highest number of confirmed losses, with a total of 26 aircraft destroyed. These comprised 12 Heinkel He 111 bombers, 5 Junkers Ju 88 bombers, 3 Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters, 2 Dornier Do 17 bombers, 2 Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters, and 1 Heinkel He 115 floatplane.

The French Air Force recorded 7 confirmed losses over Zeeland: 3 Curtiss Hawk 75 fighters, 2 Potez 63.11 reconnaissance aircraft, 1 Morane-Saulnier MS.406 fighter, and 1 Chance Vought V-156-F carrier-based attack aircraft.

British and Belgian losses were limited to a single aircraft each. The Royal Air Force lost a Bristol Blenheim near Flushing, while the Belgian Air Force lost a Fairey Fox in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen.

Dutch losses included a modern Fokker T.V medium bomber (already badly damaged by blue-on-blue AAA fire) and 5 obsolete Fokker C.V reconnaissance and light ground-attack biplanes. A few floatplanes at Veere were damaged beyond immediate repair. All these planes were destroyed on the ground or moored offshore. In addition, a considerable number of training aircraft were destroyed or damaged beyond repair on Zeeland airfields during the campaign. Two Fokker C-V coming from AFB Haamstede were shot down by German fighters on a mission to Rotterdam.

While these figures represent the confirmed and identifiable losses, the actual number of aircraft lost over Zeeland may have been somewhat higher, particularly in the case of aircraft reported to have crashed into the sea and for which no physical evidence could subsequently be recovered.