Originally posted by Holden McGroin
I worked with a guy who was from Scheveningen, close to the Hague. He says that just before the invasion, German spys were sent into the Nederlands to stir up trouble and gather intell for the approching invasion.
Dutch police had a card with "Scheveningen" written on it, and when they suspected someone was a German, they pulled out the card and asked that the suspect pronounce the name. Germans could not get it right, but a born Dutchman could, so those who mispronounced were put in jail.
That's a nice story, but probably an urban myth. The Netherlands were a neutral country before WWII and hoped to remain so. Alas, it was not to be, we were overrun in a mere 4 days

We had a grand total of one armoured car and a handful of half decent Fokkers, but most of these were destroyed on the ground.
There probably were German spies, but I doubt if they 'stirred up trouble'. I'd be happy to learn more though. The spies who were required to speak fluent Dutch were probably from mixed German/Dutch decent or had ties to German families (which is quite common here).
However, if you're not Dutch, 'Scheveningen' is a ***** to pronounce, that's true.