Repairing the dyke.

Repairing the dyke. Walcheren, the lake of Wieringen, the Betuwe: they are all sad names to the Dutch ears, Holland is a country which was gained on the sea. Sea and water are the bitter enemies of its existance. When as a last resource the Germans blew up the dyke of the Zuiderzee and the waters ran through the four holes in the big dyke at Walcheren, chasing away the farmers with their children, their cattle and all that they could save of their possessions. The water followed them, it flooded the villages, slowly the houses disappear. The water eats away the mortar from the brick walls, the waves some-times quiet, often stormy destroy the resistance of the strongest house and every day the view changes. Now their mood is changed: They know that the war is over but that Holland must grow its own food. There were enough men to work on the dykes at Walcheren but it took some time before the work could start: the dredgers were in Germany, the most elementary materials were lacking, but the Allies of Holland saw that a national interest was at stake and the Dutch authorities experienced all the co-operation and help they needed. Filling up a hole in a dyke while the sea is waiting to prevent the work, is a slow process. The Dutch knew what was at stake, their papers told them every day about the slow progress. Two weeks later the hole in the dyke no longer existed, the pumpingstations are working and the farmer knows that he will cultivate his land next year. Walcheren is saved. Slowly the dyke is being rebuilt. It is a long story. First there is a layer of sand, then a layer of straw and at last stones cover everything. In this way dykes have been made for centuries and experience has shown that it is the right way.