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Gasproof Baby Buggy

From the Dutch Royal Collection, The Hague / On permanent loan to Het Loo Palace

h 110 cm x w 110 cm
1940

As the threat of war increased in Europe in August 1939, the Dutch army was placed at a heightened state of alertness. In early 1940, as a precautionary measure, the firm of Kiekens built two gasproof baby buggies as protection against the possibility of a poisonous attack. This one for the then two-year-old Dutch Princess Beatrix and another for her younger sister Princess Irene.

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The day after arriving in London, Princess Beatrix gazed upwards at the Zeppelins, large balloons used as defence against low-flying enemy bombers (Source: Getty Images / Time & Life Pictures / Hugo Jaeger).
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Secretly distributed photos of the Dutch Royal Family, like this one of a young Princess Beatrix, helped to keep up people’s spirits: ‘I’ll be back before you know it’. (Source: Image Bank WW2 – NIOD).
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On 12 May, two days after the German invasion, Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard fled with their two baby daughters to the harbour town of IJmuiden in a bulletproof auto. An English warship was waiting there to take them to safety. A day later, Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch government also arrived safely ashore in Great Britain. The gasproof buggies remained behind in the Netherlands.