The Netherlands, informally known as Holland, is a West European country at the
North Sea, that borders Germany (east) and Belgium (south).
It also has a maritime border (west) with the United Kingdom (UK).
It consists of 12 provinces, and has several former colonies in the Caribian [1].
During WWII, The Netherlands was an occupied country under Nazi-Germany.
After the war – during the Cold War – it had a
Stay-Behind Organisation
and became part of the NATO alliance.
During World War II (WWII), the Netherlands was an
occupied country under Nazi-Germany. The Dutch Government – and
Queen Wilhelmina – were relocated to London (UK), from where they controlled
resistance operations and intelligence gathering,
by dropping agents over occupied territory and maintaining radio contact
via an international network of clandestine radio stations.
During the war, three major clandestine resistance organisations
were active in the Netherlands:
The first two, OD and RVV, maintained contact between occupied
Netherlands and the Dutch Government in exile in London, using a variety
of spy radio sets, mainly supplied by the UK.
In addition, the OD built a national radio network that would be used
in the final stages of the war, in case the existing infrastructure
(e.g. telephone lines) were destroyed by retreating Germans.
For this national radio network, the OD developed and built its
own radio sets.
For the operation of their clandestine radio networks,
the OD and RVV heavily relied on licenced radio amateurs.
In addition to the three major resistance organisations,
there were many smaller national and local initiatives,
some of which were eventually integrated with one of the larger
ones. A few examples:
•
GDN
Geheime Dienst Nederland
Secret Service Netherlands
•
NC
Nationaal Comité
National committee
•
LO
Landelijke Organisatie voor Hulp aan Onderduikers
National Organisation for Assistance to people in Hiding
•
NSF
Nationaal Steunfonds
National Support Fund
•
PB
Persoonsbewijzenclub
ID club
•
GH
Groep Harry
Group Harry
•
GW
Groep Wim
Group Wim
•
GFL
Groep Fiat Libertas
Group Fiat Libertas
Radio Oranje
During the war, the Dutch Government in exile in London operated
Radio Oranje (Radio Orange),
which was a daily 15-minute radio program
broadcast by the BBC World Service. Radio Oranje provided information for
the citizens in occupied Netherlands, and tried to counter the German
propaganda. It also regularly broadcasted coded messages for resistance
organisations.
After the liberation of the southern part of The Netherlands, the broadcasts
of Radio Oranje
were gradually taken over by
Radio Herrijzend Nederland
(The Netherlands Revived) in Eindhoven.
After WWII — during the Cold War — the Netherlands
had a Stay-Behind Organisation (SBO),
named O&I (later (A en B). It was part of a large
pan-European network of secretly trained agents,
that would be activated in case of an invasion by
the Soviet Union (USSR).
For O&I, the country developed its own spy radio set
— ZO-47 —
but later adopted radio sets from its American, British and German
partners. The Netherlands also took part in the development of the
pan-European stay-behind radio FS-5000 (HARPOON),
which became operational in 1990, just two years before O&I
was dismantled.
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Crypto Museum. Created: Friday 20 May 2016. Last changed: Thursday, 20 August 2026 - 08:48 CET.
