Declaration of War on Germany by France and the United Kingdom

Schnellbomber Junker Ju-88 escorted by Jäger Messerschmitt Me-109's

Gen.Maj. Erwin Rommel's troops crossing the River Meuse in Belgium

Dutch civilians cheer arrival of SS troops at Dam Square in Amsterdam

Volunteers of SS-Standarte Der Führer in front of the Haarlem Stadhuis

September 3 of 1939 was a lovely Sunday. It was the day that France and Britain declared war on the German Reich. They created world tension from a central European quarrel into which they drew forces from their colonies. On September 7 1939, France began the Saar Offensive with an advance from the Maginot Line 5 km into the Saar. France had mobilised 98 divisions and 2,500 tanks against a German force consisting of 43 divisions and no tanks. The French advanced until they met the then thin and undermanned Siegfried Line. Following the Saar Offensive, a period of inaction called the Phoney War, or the German Sitzkrieg, sitting war set in between the belligerents. Holland fought for their official neutrality, in hope of being spared this war, and at the same time played with fire. The Dutch General Staff sought military contact with the Allies and foreign Secret Service agents romped around Holland. This did not escape Germany's notice and they objected. They declared that France and Britain intended a military thrust to the Ruhr, using reconnoitered positions, not only in “neutral” Belgium, but in Holland as well. Not only that, French regiments had already received provisional operation orders, in April 1940, for their advance through Belgium and Holland. The open flank at the Siegfried Line offered itself as the area of concentration for the Allied Armed Forces. It was Duff Cooper, later Minister for information in Winston Churchill's cabinet, who said: We take any step necessary, and without consideration of the neutrality of the land. Neville Chamberlain declared: We British can distribute our attacks as and when we wish. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler decided not to give his enemies the chance of any initiative. Top image: Luftwaffe's Junker Ju-88 heading towards its target escorted by fighter aircraft Messerschmitt Me-109's. The twin-engined multirole combat aircraft Ju 88 was the most modern of Germany's bombers in 1940. Credit: Alan Lathan. Propaganda-Postkarte of Carl Werner Reichenbach. Second image: Generalmajor and commander of the 7.Panzer-Division Erwin Rommel paddles across the river Meuse in Belgium on May 13 1940. The 7th Panzer Division would become known as the Ghost Division because its whereabouts sometimes remained unknown to friend and foe alike during the Western campaign. Credit: Rui Manuel Candeias. c. Bundesarchiv. Third image: Waffen-SS troops have arrived in the Netherlands as the result of the French and British war declarations against the German Reich. Hitler's personal photog. Hugo Jäger photographed the first German troops arriving in Amsterdam in May 1940. The people of Amsterdam poured out into the streets to welcome the victors. The troops belongs to the German-Austrian SS-Standarte Der Führer. Tens of thousands of men from the Low Countries would soon volunteer to become Waffen-SS soldiers themselves, while many more of its citizens would support the occupation and volunteer to serve the Nazi cause. c. Bundesarchiv. Bottom image: units of Der Führer in front of the Haarlem Stadhuis after the capitulation of Dutch forces on May 15 1940. Photo by the Amsterdamer Adrianus Peperkamp. Credit: Richard James Molloy. Noord-Hollands Archief.