The Battle for The Hague was the first opposed paratroop assault in history. (Unopposed assaults took place on April 9, 1940 against Masnedøfortet and Aalborg airport, Denmark.) It took place on 10 May 1940 as part of the Battle of the Netherlands between the Royal Netherlands Army and Luftwaffe Fallschirmjäger (paratroops). German paratroopers dropped in and around The Hague in order to capture Dutch airfields and the city. After taking the city, the plan was to force the Dutch queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands to surrender and to thus defeat the Kingdom of the Netherlands within a single day. The operation failed to capture the Queen, and the German forces failed to hold on to the airfields after Dutch counter attacks. The main body of surviving troops under Von Sponeck retreated towar