The incident was caused by an error by the German aviator Major Erich Hoenmanns, the fifty-two-year-old base commander of … See more

Late in the evening of 10 January news of the incident reached Berlin via press reports about a crashed German plane. In the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, the German armed forces high command, it caused general consternation, as it was soon deduced that … See more

On the morning of 12 January, Gamelin held a meeting with the highest French operational army commanders and the Chief of Military … See more

That their deception plan seemed to prove that the documents were genuine, that day further increased Belgian anxiety; the next day they became … See more

The Belgians decided to try tricking Reinberger into believing that the papers had been destroyed and give him the opportunity to pass … See more

During 10 January the Belgians still doubted the authenticity of the documents, which had been quickly translated by the Deuxième Section (military intelligence) of the general staff in See more

Although Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and her government were alarmed by the Belgian warning, Dutch supreme commander Izaak H. Reijnders was sceptical of the information. When the Belgian military attaché in The Hague, Lieutenant-Colonel … See more