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1940

May

10
- Key eventGermany attacks in the WestOn 10 May 1940 the Wehrmacht struck the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The Allies advanced into Belgium as Kleist's tanks entered the Ardennes.
- The Battle for The HagueOn 10 May 1940 German airborne troops landed near The Hague to seize the Dutch Queen and government. By nightfall the Dutch had retaken three airfields.
13
- Queen Wilhelmina in LondonOn 13 May 1940 Queen Wilhelmina left the Netherlands aboard HMS Hereward and reached England. The de Geer government followed her the same day.
- The battles of the Grebbeberg and the AfsluitdijkOn 13 May 1940 the Germans broke the Dutch Grebbe Line on the Grebbeberg. In the north the Kornwerderzand works on the Afsluitdijk held out to the end.
14
- Key eventThe bombing of RotterdamOn 14 May 1940 the Luftwaffe bombed Rotterdam during talks on its surrender. That evening the Netherlands laid down its arms, except Zeeland, which fought on.

August

31
- Disaster off TexelOn the night of 31 August/1 September 1940 a British flotilla ran into a German minefield off Texel. The destroyers Esk and Ivanhoe sank; some 300 men died.

1941

June

04
- The death of Wilhelm IIOn 4 June 1941 the last German Emperor died at Doorn in occupied Holland. Hitler wanted a state funeral, but Wilhelm II had asked to be buried in exile.

November

23
- The Americans in SurinameIn November 1941 the USA and the Dutch government-in-exile agreed to send American troops to Suriname to protect its bauxite mines.

December

16
- The Japanese invasion of BorneoOn 16 December 1941 the Japanese landed at Miri and Seria, where the British had already wrecked the oil wells. On Christmas Eve they entered Kuching.

1942

January

11
- The Japanese invasion of the Dutch East IndiesOn 11 January 1942 the Japanese landed on Tarakan and near Manado, where they first used paratroops. The fight for the oil of the Dutch East Indies began.

February

March

April

02
- The Japanese on the north coast of New GuineaFrom 1 April 1942 the Japanese took the ports of Dutch New Guinea unopposed, from Fakfak and Babo to Hollandia. On 8 April they landed on Manus.

July

04
- The first USAAF missions in EuropeOn 4 July 1942 six American crews in British Bostons joined the RAF in raiding Dutch airfields. Two did not return. A symbolic start for the Eighth Air Force.

December

06
- The raid on the Philips works at EindhovenOn 6 December 1942 nearly a hundred RAF bombers struck the Philips works at Eindhoven at low level. Production stopped, but some 140–150 residents died.

1944

September

October

05
- The Canadians in the NetherlandsOn 5 October 1944 the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division took Putte and entered the Netherlands, as the battle to open the port of Antwerp on the Scheldt went on.

November

1945

January

14
- Operation BlackcockIn mid-January 1945 the British XII Corps attacked the Roer Triangle between the Meuse and the Roer. By 26 January it had cleared almost all of it.

March

April

29
- Operations Manna and ChowhoundOn 29 April 1945 RAF Lancasters began dropping food to the starving people of the occupied western Netherlands. American B-17s joined them on 1 May.

May

June

July

01
- The landing at BalikpapanOn 1 July 1945 the Australian 7th Division landed at Balikpapan on Borneo – the last great landing of the Western Allies. The fighting lasted until 21 July.

August

17
- The proclamation of Indonesian independenceOn 17 August 1945 in Jakarta Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed Indonesia’s independence, forestalling the return of Dutch colonial rule.