Forgotten Bombardment

During the German occupation of the Netherlands between 1940 and 1945 during the Second World War, Allied air forces carried out a number of operations over Rotterdam and the surrounding region. These included bombing strategic installations, leaflet dropping, and during the last week of the war, the dropping of emergency food supplies.

In one incident, during a raid on the shipyards and dock area, the United States Army Air Forces accidentally bombed a residential area, killing hundreds. Until the 1990s, the raid that took place on 31 March 1943 was not mentioned in local school history lessons about the region's war time experiences. In the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the raid, newspaper articles and a television documentary by Mr. van der Wel broke the taboo and the raid is now acknowledged with a memorial in a local park to the "Forgotten Bombardment".