HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-05-23, Page 22,t
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10 war broike out be-
tween'England and HO1 and,
a conflict. is known as.. they
.Senond-1aglo-Dutch war; Al -
MOO . a decade and a half
earlier, fr Orn 1652 until 1654,
the :two nations had fought
each other in the First Anglo -
Dutch Eonflict. By the bature
Of j things "these . wars Were
naval cgntests. They were
mainly fought at sea because
in those days large scale
landing operations of major
military forces would have
met with several logistical
problems and great risks.
The Anglo -Dutch naval
wars of the 17th century
were not ideological wars or
inspired by religious ani-
mosities or enmities. They
can only be characterized as
bare -faced armed -commer-
cial conflicts. The results
were, however, the same as
in any other war. Misery,
death and destruction on a
large scale were the lot of the
combatants, while the indus-
trial -military complex of the
day counted its gains or
mourned its losses.
In England there was
much resentment against
the Dutch, who in the first
half of the 17th century had
cornered almost all of the
West European seaborne
transit trade.
England in Elizabethan
times. was awakening and
flexing its muscles. During
the early part of the 17th cen-
tury the world was an excit-
ing place. Half the geo-
graphical discoveries had
yet to be made. Men of ad-
venture and seekers of for-
tune sailed into the sunset or
to the Orient to satisfy their
thirst for adventure and
gold.
Everywhere the English
sailors went they found the
Dutch a step or two ahead of
therm. ' "Fisnplis"' (ants),
the British disparagingly
called the Dutch.
The war with Split had
driven the Dutch to the sea,
there to fight the Spaniard,
inflict damage on him and
break his stranglehold on the
trade in fhe products of East
and West which it was neces-
sary for the Dutch to obtain
in order to survive in their
overwhelmingly trade -
oriented economy.
Oliver Cromwell-, Lord
Protector of England, de-
creed in 1652 by his Act of
Navigation that foreign
goods could be imported into
Britain in English vessels
only. This measure was a
severe blow to Dutch ship-
ping and the country's'
economy in generale
When Cromwell insisted
that in the English Channel
and later in the seas sur-
rounding .the British Isles,
the British flag must be
saluted and the Dutch flag
lowered when meeting
English vessels, difficulties
arose.
The two Protestant nations
went to war over these issues
in the First Anglo -Dutch
naval conflict. After clobber-
ing each other in a series of
engagements in which the
English seemed to have the
edge, peace was formally re-
stored. The underlying com-
mercial rivalry remained,
however, and the question of
who was to salute whose flag
was not satisfactorily re-
solved.
In 1667 the pain of the
wounds, both physical and
commercial, was sufficient-
ly forgotten and for the
second time the two peoples
so similar in outlook, demo-
cratic tradition, religion and
race, reached for the sword
for exactly the same reasons
as before. It was not long be-
fore the North Sea again cast
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up the vietilrns of strife • in
their thousands upon the
shores of England and Hol-
land.
Fouls Days
In the annals of haval war-
' fare theSecond Anglo -Dutch
war is known for the Four
Days' Naval Battle (Dutch:
Vierdaagse Zeeslag), a run-
ning battle fought in the
North Sea by diverse English
and Dutch squadrons,
maneuvering with alternat-
ing success to gain the ad-
vantage over the adversary.
For four days ,the roar of
naval guns was heard in the
English Channel and along
the coast of Holland. After
these days both sides were
exhausted and battle -weary.
and limped back to their
home ports.
Each side had suffered
great losses in ships and
men, the English even more
so than the Dutch. Nothing
had been resolved however,
and the world was waiting
for the next move by the
belligerents.
The Dutch suffered some
sharp reverses in the follow-
ing months. An English raid
on the island of Terschelling
— one of the West Frisian is-
lands — caused much dam-
age. The village of West
Terschelling was burned
down and the inhabitants left
homeless. A rich Dutch mer-
chant fleet anchored in Het
Vlie, the main anchorage for
merchantmen bound for the
East Indies, was destroyed
in the sudden English de-
scent. Nearly 200 ships, with
a their precious cargo, were
burned and in Amsterdam,
only 25 miles distant, a near
panic ensued.
It was, however, not so
much the commercial loss as
the atrocities against civilr
ians on Terschelling, which
caused an outcry among the
people.
As England subsided into a
sense of false security and
retired a large part of the
fleet at berths in its naval
bases, Holland embarked on
a crash program of naval
construction.
Opulent Life
England after the end of
Cromwell's reign was ruled
again by a Stuart. Charles II
occupied the English throne,
but whatever had changed
since the days .of Cromwell,
war with Holland, England's
competitor and archrival,
remained a constant feature
of British foreign policy.
Charles was no friend of
the Dutch, although he had
spent considerable time in
exile in Holland. The future
King of England actually de-
spised the Dutch and their
thrifty and industrious ways.
In England Charles II was
not known for a sober life-
style. He had seen enough of
that during his years as an
exile overseas.
Charles' interest in women
was well-known and his
rather opulent • mode of life
and expensive pastimes at-
tracted like-minded cour-
tiers and sycophants who
made the king believe what
he wanted to hear.
It is incredible that the
English fleet was allowed to
fall into disrepair and ob-
livion in the midst of an as
yet undecided war and yet
that's exactly what happen-
ed. The Four Days' Naval
Battle was interpreted to His
Majesty by his advisers as a
decided victory 'for the
English side. The Dutch, so it
was said, were severely
mauled and would never
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Dutch were fever#ahiv hiring:
ing their navy ac Usk„ o
strength after tte.,5,overe
losses- suffered, Ac the hands
of the Engli in the Four
Days' Nava.' Battle. The
amazing thing ie, that the
English Mpg and his govern
ment disregarded all intelli-
gence coming out of Holland.
And that was plenty, for
there were many channels
by which news reached Eng-
land of an unprecedented
activity in the Dutch ship-
yards.
Through indolence and
corruption in the ruling
circles the government pre-
tended not to notice the
threatening clouds gathering
over the nation.
In contrast to England,
Holland was at that time
ruled by man of genius and
great stature. His name was
Johan De Wit, an individual
of single-minded purpose
and immovable tenacity.
Corruption and sloth found
no place or protection under
his regime. De Wit was
enraged at the burning of the
dwellings of peaceful non-
combatants on Terschelling
and vowed to pay in kind. His
nearly unrestricted power as
"Raad Pensionaris"
(English: Grand Pension-
ary) of Holland allowed him
to push through an enormous
shipbuilding program in
record time.
De Wit was a man who
favored bold actions. He pro-
posed to descendTon the coast
of England somewhere in the
East. So, in the early days of
the month of June of the year
1667 a large Dutch fleet
headed for the mouth of the
Thames.
On June 7 reports reached
the English government that
Dutch ships had been sighted
off North Foreland. Still the
government took no decisive
action, believing that the
movements of the Dutch
fleet were a feint and peace
was as good as concluded.
Indeed peace negotiations
were in progress in Breda,
but in the words of de Wit, "A
strong fleet is the best pleni-
potentiary for peace." He
deliberately procrastinated
until some show of force had
been made on British soil.
Some thousands of landing
troops were on board the
Dutch vessels and the fa-
mous- admiral Michiel
Adriaenszoon De Ruyter was
in charge. John de Wit's
brother Cornelis, an equally
intrepid man, was also with
the fleet. He was an ardent
sailor and town administra-
tor in Dordrecht. Anxious to
savor firsthand the danger-
ous adventure on which the
Dutch were about to embark,
Cornelis was also to repre-
sent civilian authority and to
see to it that his brother's
command to harass the.
English and their retired
men-of-war was carried out.
Aboard the Dutch fleet
were numerous English
sailors and pilots. They had
chosen to enter Dutch serv-
ice in order to survive, for
the Dutch paid regularly. In
the Dutch navy conditions
were generally better and
food and medical care -good
— at least for those times.
Finally the British govern-
ment realized the danger,
but it was too late to stop the
Dutch advance up the
Thames. It was thought for a
moment the goal of the
enemy fleet was London, the
capital. Near Gravesend
however, the Dutch retraced
to try to deal England a
devastating blow.
The fort at Sheerness at
the Medway entrance was
captured effortlessly and the
luteli poured into the Med-
way, burning or capturing a
large number of English war
vessels.
The Medway is not a wide
river. Some distance up-
stream at Gillingham Reach
an enqrmous chain spanned
the river; shore batteries at
either end and obstacles in
front of the chain in the
riverbed, protected the bar-
rier, To no avail. TheDutch
sailed right through the
chain, to continue their ad-
vance and destructive work
upriver.
At Upnor English resist-
ance began to stiffen. The
river was narrowing here
and maneuvering became
more difficult for the Dutch.
They were operating right
under the guns of Upnor
Castle and all kind of impro-
vised shore batteries. The
Dutch, however, sailed on
and their demolition teams
operated with great effec-
tiveness until they began to
run out of fireships.
During the last phase of
the operation Admiral
Michiel Adriaenszoon de
Ruyter boarded one of the
boats carrying Dutch
soldiers and criss-crossing
the river in search of prey.
Cornelis de Wit, the states --
man, joined the admiral,
braving cannonballs and
musket fire. Where there
was action, there the ad-
miral and his civilian deputy
were to be found.
The crews of the English
warships moored in the river
were astonished not only at
the audacity of the enemy
but also at their discovery
that many Englishmen
fought for the adversary.
The latter were seen to lean
over the railings of the
'enemy ships, admonishing
the starved English sailors
to surrender — and their ex-
hortations were not always
in vain.
It was not the intention of
the Dutch to land troops en
masse or to permanently oc-
cupy territory. It would have
been necessary to land
100,000 or more troops; but
along the shores,of'Southeast
England wild.rumors told of
an impending Dutch occupa-
tion. Even in London a near
panic ensued and plans were
made — but not executed —
for evacuating the Tower.
The clique at the Royal
Court which was responsible
for the debacle in the Med-
way and the misery of the
Chatham workers fell over
itself to escape the despised
Dutch whom they imagined
to be right at their heels. As
it was, the Dutch soon with-
drew from the Medway, for
English morale recovered
and casualties started to
rise.
The Hollanders - took the
British flagship "The Royal
Charles" with them, al-
though this proved a difficult
undertaking. Only by turning
the vessel on its side to effect
less draught did they
manage to maneuver it past
and over the numerous med
flats and sandbars in the
Medway.
In ' `Het Ryksmuseum" in
Amsterdam the visitor can
still find the stem piece of
"The Royal Charles" on dis-
play.
Epilogue
In 1967, three centuries af-
ter these tumultuous events
which saw foreign enemies
set foot on English soil for
the first time since William
the Conqueror subjugated
England in 1066, the tercen-
tenary of the Medway raid
wars, commemorated in the
towns along the Medway
amid great interest from the
Dutch as well as the English.
The Dutch navy sent over
three vessels. They sailed up
the Medway from Sheerness
escorted by yachts and other
small craft, en route passing
through a curtain of colored
water put up by fire -fighting
tugs symbolizing the chain
which had stretched across
the river.
A band of the Royal
Netherlands Marines led a
naval march through the
streets of Chatham and Gill-
ingham, later giving a con-
cert before an admiring
crowd at Upnor Castle.
Several thousand people at-
tended. Historical exhibi-
tions, balls and other social
events connected with the
commemoration drew addi-
tional crowds and everybody
had a real good time. The
days of enmity between Bri-
tain and Holland are long a
thing of the past.
England soon overshadow -
Please turn to -Page '7
dare to come out to fight their course and headed for
again. the Medway where Britain's
The King believed or want- war fleet, its pride and glory,
ed to believe it. Life at court was tied up in the vicinity of
was one merry round of balls Chatham. In the past it had
and pleasures, while at Chat -taught the Dutch some pain
ham in Kent, Britain's main ful lesons, but now it seemed
naval base up the Medway, a as if England, in the face of
tributary of the Thames, the Dutch onslaught, was
hundreds and thousands of totally paralysed.
naval yard workers and sol -What Happened?
diers went without' pay for The English proverbial
over a year. courage and willingness to
Many of Britain s men -of -fight were hardly in evi
war, ships with illustrious Bence. What was the cause of
names like the Royal Oak, this untypical behavior?
the Royal James or the Was it the outcome of the
Loyal London were tied up shameful official neglect of
near Chatham in the Med-the country's naval de
way River. They were not fences? Was it due to the ter -
needed., now, for the Dutch ror and despair engendered
were thoroughly cowed, so it by the great fire of London in
was believed, and would 1666? A year before in 1665
soon come suing for peace. the plague broke out in Lon
Caught Napping don, carrying off thousands
Unbelievable as it may of victims. Was the English
seem, work at the naval nation as it were, stunned by
dockyards in Chatham al the unbroken string of na
most came to a standstill; tional calamities? A decisive
workers remained unpaid, government might have
the most basic materials shown the way to firmness
were in short supply or not and unity. As it was, the
available at all and the ruinous state of the defences
workers' wives demonstrat along the Medway River, the
ed for at least some hack pay access road to Chatham's
in order to stave off starve -naval dock yards and the
tion. The British Lion was pysical and moral exhaus
caught napping for once. tion of the defenders were an
Across the North Sea the open invitation for the Dutch
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