Fingers in the dikes

“While the Dutch had little more than a ceremonial military presence (and the royal retinue), they did have Les Gueux (the Beggars), a secret society that had, since the 16th century, stealthily battled its country’s various oppressors. Les Gueux was responsible for poisoning Nazi soldiers in restaurants, drowning isolated Nazis in the canals, and other acts of patriotic terrorism. Dutch resistance was stubborn and courageous, and in the end, the Netherlands suffered enormously under the occupation, including thousands who starved during the severe winter of 1944-45 as the Allied invasion of Germany stalled on the Dutch border.” – The World War II Desk Reference, Douglas Brinkley and Michael E. Haskew, eds.