Epic, Inspiring, Gritty
Year Released: 2020
Directed by: Matthijs van Heijningen, Jr.
Starring: Jamie Flatter, Tom Felton, Gordon Morris,Susan Radder, Ronald Kalter, Marthe Schneider, Gjis Blom, Tom Felton
(Not Rated, 123 min.)
Genre: Dutch War Drama, Action and Adventure, Suspense

“We must travel in the direction of our fear.” John Berryman

A turgid world of flooded streets, firing squads, and explosive battle. Cloaked in rampant despair, courage, betrayal, and steely resolve. It is the fall of 1944 and you are plunged into a war torn pocket of the Netherlands where beleaguered citizens await their liberation.

Don’t miss this new and moving Dutch World War II epic, what some dub the Dutch Dunkirk. Highlighted by close and personal shots of the daunting action and heartbreak on this flooded island still occupied by the Nazis, even more cruel and ruthless as they sense their impending doom.

November 1944. On the flooded island of Walcheren in Zeeland, thousands of allies fight the German army. Touching three young lives inextricably connected. A Dutch boy fighting for the Germans, an English glider pilot and a Zeeland girl who reluctantly joined the resistance become involved, and are faced with crucial choices that are not only about their own freedom, but also about the freedom of others.

So much of the heartbreak occurs because the film takes place three months after D Day, when the Allies landed in France and began to take back German strongholds in Europe. Those in the Zeeland, literally “Sea Land” in Dutch, anticipate liberation very soon. However, that final year of war in Europe was perhaps the most deadly as the Germans fought harder than expected, and knowing their fate, many Nazis ramped up their cruelty in occupied territories.

Where The Forgotten Battle excels in showing the differing human responses to that uncertainty. The Canadian glider pilot William Sinclair (Jamie Flatters) does not lose his square-jawed cockiness, even as they are shot down before they can even join the battle to wrest control of Antwerp’s deep-water route to the North Sea from the Germans. However, that cockiness becomes somewhat subdued as the five survivors slog their way toward safety. Much is lost in the fog of war, pictured literally in the muted greys that envelope the screen. The badly wounded captain (Tom Felton) tries to keep his men focused, but enemies abound, even within their own ranks.

Another focus is on the townspeople, particularly the Visser family, the respected Doctor Visser (Jan Bijvoet) and his daughter Teuntie (Susan Radder) working for collaborationist mayor because they see no other option, even while they try not to take sides. Dirk, (Ronald Kalter), the son and brother, is not so pliable and soon becomes a target of the occupying regime trying to thwart any enthusiasm among the Dutch youth. Only reluctantly, then, is Teuntie drawn in to the Dutch Resistance to complete Dirk’s mission that is disclosed to by her best friend Janna (Marthe Schnieder), a secret resistance member herself. Dirk has secretly been photographing German artillery position along the Scheldt River, and it becomes their mission now to get those photos to the Allied forces advancing on Walcheren Island.

But it is the addition of the third contingent that makes the film so well done, reminding viewers of another fine Dutch War Film Black Book, where not all Nazis are cold hearted villains. In this case, Marinus van Staveren (Gijis Blom), who had been a Dutch volunteer in the Waffen-SS, begins to see things differently after he is wounded on the Eastern Front and gets a cushy desk job for the German commandant in Zeeland. It turns out if is easier to be a fervent soldier in the front lines than to observe the casual cruelty meted out to civilians. Niggling doubts about the Nazis explode when he sees first hand that the promises of leniency the commandant gives Doctor Visser about his son Dirk are all lies. We watch his tentative struggles to do the right thing create a torturous path that illustrates the maxim “No good deed going unpunished.”

The Forgotten Battle is a must see for aficionados of war epics. It joins other films that illustrate the lonely courage of Resistance fighters throughout Europe, as well as other excellent World War II films from The Netherlands.

Films about the Resistance already reviewed by Different Drummer:

Black Book (Dutch Fish with Edam Cheese) 2006

Charlotte Gray (Soupe au Pistou) 2001

Army of Shadows (French Onion Soup) 1969

Shining Through (German Kompot Drink) 1992

Defiance (Potato Babka) 2008

Inglourious Basterds (Rote Grutze) 2009

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Potato Pell Pie) 2019

The Guns of Navarone (Greek Moussaka) 1961

The 12th Man (Blotkaka Norwegian Cream Cake) 2018

The Zookeeper’s Wife (Kielbas and Cabbage) 2017

Other great World War II Films from the Netherlands:

One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942)
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
A Bridge Too Far (1977) Also about Operation Market Garden as today’s feature
Black Book (2006)
Winter in Wartime (2008)
The Exception (2016)
the Resistance Banker (2018)

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

One of the motifs in The Forgotten Battle is the difficulty finding enough food. Janna, a member of the Dutch Resistance works at a bakery, their back room a covert meeting place. However, the shelves are far from filled; just a few loaves of bread appear.

In fact, the Dutch famine of 1944-45 occurred because a German blockage cut off food and fuel shipments from farm towns, and an estimated 22,000 deaths occurred:

The Dutch Famine ended with the liberation by the Allies of the western Netherlands in May 1945. Shortly before that, some relief had come from "Swedish bread", which was baked in the Netherlands from flour shipped in from Sweden. Shortly after these shipments, the German occupiers allowed coordinated air drops of food over German-occupied Dutch territory by the Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force from 29 April to 7 May (Operation Manna), and by the U.S. Army Air Forces from 1 to 8 May (Operation Chowhound). The Germans agreed not to shoot at the planes flying the mercy missions, and the Allies agreed not to bomb German positions. Operation Faust also trucked in food to Rhenen beginning on 2 May, utilizing 200 vehicles. Rhenen was also occupied by the Germans. –Operations Manna and Chowhound

The citizens of the Netherlands that were under Nazi occupation during World War II and recognize the brave Canadian soldiers that fought for their freedom. September 1944 to April 1945, the First Canadian Army battled German forces on the Scheldt estuary, opening the port of Antwerp for Allied use. The Canadian soldiers expelled the Germans from northwestern Netherlands, allowing food and supplies through for the desperate men, women and children of Holland, ending the Nazi oppression. –Alana of The Rustic Wife.com

The Dutch still celebrate the expulsion of the Nazi occupiers and the return of food and supplies.

We will help them celebrate early this year, even though May 5th is the official celebration day.

Different Drummer has several bread recipes, but we have chosen something else, a Dutch favorite that remains ever so popular to this day, Dutch Croquettes (Kroketten).

Here is a link for a detailed recipe with pictures and comments.

Dutch Croquettes (Kroketten)

Ingredients

¼ cup butter

6 Tbsp all-purpose flour

1 cup hot milk

2 ¼ cup cold leftover meat (roast, pork, chicken, turkey)

½ medium onion

¼ cup *optional leftover vegetables (corn for the non Dutch tastes because most Dutch consider corn chicken feed and they do not eat it; peas, carrot) (adjust meat to 2 cups if you add vegetables)

1 Tbsp Ketjap Manis (sweet soy sauce) see picture below

1 Tbsp thyme

1 Tbsp parsley

Salt and pepper, to taste

Crumb Coating

2 eggs (slightly beaten with milk)

1/3 cup milk (add to egg mixture)

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups plain bread crumbs

1 tsp. each salt and pepper

Directions

          1. Heat milk in microwave
2. In a small saucepan, melt butter.
3. Stir in flour to make a paste. ook for 3 minutes while continually stirring.
            4. Then gradually mix in hot milk.
            5. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
            6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
            7. Then pour into a bowl to cool.
8. Place all remaining filling ingredients into a food processor and pulse until smooth.
            9. Add to bowl with cool sauce. Stir well to make a thick paste. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.
         10. Prepare coating stations - flour, egg beaten with the milk and bread crumbs into dipping plates.
         11. Form paste into small logs (like large sausages).
         12. Then coat with crumb topping. Roll your logs into flour.
         13. Then dip in egg/milk mixture.
         14. Then coat with bread crumbs (make sure to thoroughly cover with each of these three steps).
         15. Preheat oil on stovetop and oven to 200 degrees and heat oil to cook for 5 to 10 minutes turning halfway through frying.
         16. Place fried croquettes on a baking sheet. Keep warm in the 200 degree oven until ready to serve.
         17.  You can eat these just as they are or if you want to try it in the Dutch style slice them lengthwise top with mustard (Dijon or brown) and place on a slice of white bread.
         18. You know you've done well if the filling is separated from the coating after frying.