THE DUTCH UNIFORM

In 1939, the Dutch army grew from 30,000 to 280,000 soldiers, the vast majority of whom were ‘ordinary conscripts’. There were insufficient uniforms and many older soldiers could no longer fit into the clothes they had kept from their training period. As long as supplies lasted, soldiers and corporals were given the ‘coarse wool’ uniform (M1931). Officers wore uniforms of nicer fabric, but had to pay for this themselves.

Top display plate

At the top of the display plate is an ‘M16’ helmet, developed by the Netherlands during the First World War. Not much later the army came to the conclusion that there should be a better helmet with a different shape that offers more protection. Due to a shortage of helmets, artillerymen and some infantrymen were still issued with old helmet. The specimen shown was found in Amersfoort during the excavation of a section of line dike.

Remaining part of the display case

The two uniform jackets in this display case come from the estate of artilleryman Aart Takken, who served with the 4th Artillery Regiment. However, the jackets belong to the cavalry (left) and the infantry (right, with the blue trim). Gunner Takken was a tailor by profession and practiced that craft in Renswoude Castle. At the time of the German invasion, these jackets had not yet been collected. And it would remain that way.