Dutchmen Fight for the Dikes
eyewitness account of Holland's heroic struggle
to hold off the stormswept north sea flood tides
8
"There is nothing exciting about a fight
against the water . . . and seldom anything spec
tacular.
"Sometimes one can watch a dike break: first
the water flows over the top, then pavement is
slowly scratched away, The underlying material
follows, and finally, with a waterfall-like effect,
the dike breaks and the hole is widened and
deepened by the water itself.
"But most the time the water rises imper
ceptibly, everywhere. And while you fight it,
you curse the wind, the lack of organization, the
cold hands and the wet feet—but never the
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water. There is nothing to curse in water. It
follows only one law-gravity. It has only one
way to attack—against everything, always seek
ing out your weak points. You can only try to
change your own weaknesses, and there is noth
ing exciting about that."
This is the story of a few frantic hours in
the history of Western Europe. It's one man's
account of Holland's fight against storm-driven
water from the Atlantic ocean.
You read the newspaper accounts, the hun
dreds dead and the millions of dollars in dam
ages. You probably had a mental picture of
dikes popping like overripe melons ahd flood
water cascading into fields, sweeping away
farms and inundating whole villages. Perhaps
you wondered what it was like.
Dirk Schepers, now back in Holland after a
three-year stint here at the University, was there.
We gather he was out on Putten Island, fighting
to hold the dikes. It must be a small chunk of
land; we couldn't find it on a map. And naturally,
it was only a small part of a very big battle.
• But we imagine that wherever men gathered
to fight for their land and country on the night
of February 1-2, the description given by Schep
ers would have applied.
By Dirk Schepers
At 5 o'clock the student club was
full of boys, most of them dressed
.In warm overcoats and rubber
bo is, some with spades in their
h nds. When a bus arrived the
student body president would ring
!< bell and call out the names of
-tin e who were to go. Group lead
ens were appointed and destina
tion given, mostly places that
'-nobody had ever heard of before.
T! . re were far more volunteers
' thri ■ i could be used and it was not
I'untd 7:G0 p.m., when three busses
arrived, that a larg>. group could
' leave. They drove south in a
| sweeping rainstorm, the same one
H. it was blowing the water of the
. North Sea down into the mouths of
th Rhine, Thames and th Schelde
rivers.
I A Huge Funnel
1 The North Sea is a large funnel,
carrying the water into the estuar
1 ies of the thj-ee great rivers. This
I wind, plus the fact that this was
a le. ;> tide and the water rose a
| met. i higher than ever before, ex
■j plains the situation.
tV he re the heavy protecting sea
! dikes had been broken, little could
4 be done, for the land behind it was
lower than sea level. the in
land dikes, those that had once
been on the sea, had been neglected
- in the- centuries of safety. Farm
er- Irul plowed up the sides of
< them and trucks, far heavier than
" the horsecarts the (likes were built
to i ai ry, had simply pushed them
down into the mud.
The sea dike on the island of
’Futten was broken on the south
"side, but there was hope that the
■hole could be filled before the
■ whole island was overrun with salt
water. The three bus loads of stu
dents were sent here to reinforce
;i company of soldiers there who
were strengthening the inland
dikes behind the breach.
The Men Dug Clay
Strong military’ lights illumi
nated the scene where the men
were digging clay and filling jute
bags to be piled at the base of
the dike at it3 weak points, two
rows deep.
The storm wind blew straight
across the flat land, carrying hor
izontal gusts of rain, and city
clothes proved of little value. The
only way to keep warm was to
keep your back to the wind and
work hard.
The clay stuck to boots and
spades, but nobody complained it
would stick together equally well
against the water that was to
come in the morning.
A farmer came by and told us,
almost incoherently, that his farm
was under water. Groups of men
walked over to see.
Far away, in the direction of the
•sea, we could see a faint light
signal, an SOS. In a row boat
with improvised oars and inexper
ienced men, an attempt was made
to get to it. A farm family there
had had just enough time to go
upstairs when the water broke
through, and now the outgoing tide
was carrying the house away with
it
A House Disappeared
The people of one farm got safe
ly into the boat, but another farm
house crashed into the water be
fore it could be reached. One fel
low was found clinging to a piece
of wood, but no more . . .
The victims were brought to the
village cafe where a continuous
stream of men came in to drink
hot coffee, dry their feet in front
of a blazing stove and pass out
again to the dike. Girl volunteers
were distributing food. Children
lay asleep on bags of hay.
Close to te cafe was te village
hall where the mayor was direct
ing the fight. He had a map show
ing where the dikes were, but not
how high they were. Who in ordin
ary days would have cared about
a difference of a few feet in height
anyway?
.-A.
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Most of the farm.s in the vicinity
had no telephone, or if they had
the lines had been washed out, and
the mayor had no contact with
the men working on the dike. He
had Rotterdam on the line con
stantly, though, and worked won
ders getting food, clothing, trucks
and material. About his only con
nection with the workers was a
student who had brought along
his motorcycle.
Deceptive Tranquility
During the middle of the night,
when the tide was low, the water
quiet and the wind steady, an
early morning moon came out.
Bare willow trees and farm build
ings foimed black silhouettes
against the reflected moonlight on
the water and made a black and
silver scene of indescribable beau
ty and deceptive tranquility.
Making use of the light and the
greater supply of trucks, a good
deal of work was done. The police
had formed one-way circuits on the
dikes too narrow for two lane traf
fic and a steady supply of clay
filled jute bags came in. But soon
the water began to rise again.
At 4:30 a m. it was high tide
outside and an hour later the pres
sure began building up on the in
side. The water started to flow in
to pockets of land that had al
ready been given up. It rose at
unexpected places, suddenly, and
farmers began to drive their cattle
away.
The dike was crowded with
trucks and people going one way,
screaming pigs and cattle being
driven the other.
It Was No Use
Then the water came over a part
of the strengthened dike. There
weren't enough men there at the
time to stop it and the top of
the dike was carried away. More
water poured through. The hole
got bigger. The dike was broken,
A night's work was lost in half,
an hour.
The men retreated to a tram
line built on another dike and be*
gan to fortify it with sandbags.
The tram dike was the last pro
tection in front of the highway,
and the highway connection had to
be held at all costs.
A cow was caught in the rising
water. There had been no time
to save her. The water rose
quickly to her belly while she
plowed this way and that. The.
wind took the sound away, and'
there was nothing to do but watch
her drown.
Night's Work Gone
The tram dike was built of
gravel and *soon the water was
running through it. The mayor
came to the scene ar.d directed
the feverish attempt to pile the
rest of the bags alongside the
highway. But it was no use. The
highway was too low. Now there
was nothing to do.
The rest of the dry land was
protected by a high dike that die
not seem to be in danger. A few
volunteers went back to guard ir
and a village behind-, it. The vil
lage square there was full of bel
lowing cattle that had not beer,
milked, and more were being led
in every minute.
Big plow horses, nervous from
the noise, were brought in, farm
ers holding onto their bits to keep
them down. And the traffic, un
able to use the now-submerged
road, came tooting through the
town to get to a road north of it,
The confusion was complete
when a few hundred dog-tired vol
unteers spread out over the vil
lage’s cafes and hotels to fall
asleep on chairs or wherever there
was room.
Plans Announced for Red Cross;
Students Asked to Contribute
* Final arrangements are now be
' „ng- made for the annual Red Cross
, und-raising campaign to be held
"\iarch 2 through 5, general chair
nan Rat Ruan, has announced.
All house representatives for the
und drive wfll meet Monday at
^►:30 p.m. at Delta Gamma, Miss
tuan said. Information and pro
■edures to be followed during the
hive will be given at that time.
■*'nch living organization will select
house representative this week
nd to collect money during the
our flay drive, she said.
Students will be asked to con
ribute a dollar to the campaign.
” 'nose contributing that sum will
• eceive a membership card in the
1953 Red Cross. Those promising to
donate a dollar will receive a
pledge card, to be exchanged for
the membership upon payment 'of
the dollar.
The goal set for the university
will be announced next week, Miss
Ruan said. Progress reports will be
published in the Emerald, and the
living organizations leading in the
drive will also be acknowledged.
Faculty contributions are being
handled by Karl Onthank and will
be added later to the University
total, she said.
Members of Kwama, sophomore
women’s honorary, and Skull and
Dagger, sophomore men’s honor
ary, will speak in living organiza
tions on the purpose of the drive
and the importance of contribut
ing. Flying speeches will also be
given throughout the week of
March 2.
Creative Arts Petition
Deadline Advanced
Deadline for petitions for the
general committee and sub-com
mittees of the Campus Creative
Workshop has been extended tc
next Wednesday at 5 p.m., Valerie
Cowls, general chairman, has an
nounced.
Petitions may be obtained in
rooms 201 or 310 in the Student
Union, and turned in at the same
places.
i TREAT FOR THE ARMY!
Washington to Host
Phi Beta Entertainers
| Thirteen members of Phi Beta,
national women’s honorary in mu
sic, speech and drama, will leave
Saturday by Army transport plane
to spend the weekend in Washing- !
ton, D. C., as guests of the United
States Army.
j As part of the Phi Beta Na
| tional Army Collaboration pro
i gram, the girls will present a va
I riety show in several army bases
, and hospitals in Washington, D. C,
| Directed by Jeanne Forbes, jun
i ior in speech, the show will con
j sist of specialty musical numbers
I and a college skit centered around
the theme, “Men.”
Performing in the program will
be Marilyn Patterson, junior in
speech; Judy Ellefson, sophomore
in speech; Jeanette Stone, senioL
in music; Tamson Breese, sopho
more in music; Pat Hartley, sen
ior in music, and Jackie Madiganj
senior in music.
Allison LeRoux, freshman in
journalism; Mary Sweeney, fresh
man in music; Janis Evans, senior
in music; Joyce Skinner, junior in
music; Lou Ann Wolf, junior in
music, and Sally Hayden, junior
in business. Exine Anderson, fac
ulty adviser for the group, will
accompany the women.