If you speak in terms of victims the bombing of Nijmegen was one of the biggest bombardments on a Dutch city. The bombardment was carried out by U.S. pilots who mistakenly thought that they were flying above the German city Kleve. 880 people were killed plus an unknown number of persons in hiding.
How could this all happen?
Hundreds of American and British planes departed on 22 February 1944 at 08.00 hours to Germany. Their target was a carriage factory in the German city Gotha. The attack was part of a major offensive named "Plan Argument" which was directed against the German Air Force.
When they arrived in Gotha, the weather was so bad that many of the planes had to turn around. Given the numbers of planes it wasn't easy and it became a chaos. Eventually they split in smaller groups and went for new targets. When it appeared that it even was cloudy on these targets, the pilots were given the task to attack an objective on German territory by themselves. But the pilots didn't bombed any place before they crossed the border but just after they crossed the border, on Dutch territory.
On February 22 several Dutch city's were bombed, besides Nijmegen there were Arnhem (57 deaths), Enschede (40 deaths) and Deventer (1 Death). All city's where not far from the German border. Nijmegen was hit the hardest of all. The pilots wanted to bomb the bridge over the Maas river but were hampered by other US airplanes. Because of this their bombs fell in the middle of the centre of Nijmegen.
Thinking that their mission was successful they flew home back to England satisfied. While they turned home safe and unharmed Nijmegen was burning.
At first the low flying planes didn't cause any panic to the people of Nijmegen because the sky was often used by German planes. But soon the air raid went off and many people ran for the shelters. After the first bombardments many people thought that it was safe again and came out of the shelters to look at the damage.
However the bombers came back and more bombs were dropped. One of the buildings hit was a Kindergarten. But also the Saint-Stevenschurch was hit.
Because the main water-supply was hit too it was very difficult to extinguish the fire. The city kept burning for 3 days.
For the German propaganda machine the bombing was a real windfall. They told it was a deliberate attack authorized by the Dutch government in Exile. The German propaganda machine tried everything to set up the Dutch people against the Allies but it was in vein. The people of Nijmegen saw the bombing as an accident and with the liberation the American liberators were welcomed as heroes.
Although the bombing, in terms of civilian casualties, was about as heavy as those in Rotterdam, the event was rather hushed. The event is often mentioned as "the forgotten bombing". Probably there was less talk about it because it was a mistake of a friendly nation. Only twenty years after the bombing it was commemorated for the first time.
Next is a link to a book in PDF format about this tragedy. I am sorry to say that it is in Dutch.
De Fatale Aanval
Thanks for reading
Photos: Historiek.net
How could this all happen?
Hundreds of American and British planes departed on 22 February 1944 at 08.00 hours to Germany. Their target was a carriage factory in the German city Gotha. The attack was part of a major offensive named "Plan Argument" which was directed against the German Air Force.
When they arrived in Gotha, the weather was so bad that many of the planes had to turn around. Given the numbers of planes it wasn't easy and it became a chaos. Eventually they split in smaller groups and went for new targets. When it appeared that it even was cloudy on these targets, the pilots were given the task to attack an objective on German territory by themselves. But the pilots didn't bombed any place before they crossed the border but just after they crossed the border, on Dutch territory.
On February 22 several Dutch city's were bombed, besides Nijmegen there were Arnhem (57 deaths), Enschede (40 deaths) and Deventer (1 Death). All city's where not far from the German border. Nijmegen was hit the hardest of all. The pilots wanted to bomb the bridge over the Maas river but were hampered by other US airplanes. Because of this their bombs fell in the middle of the centre of Nijmegen.
Thinking that their mission was successful they flew home back to England satisfied. While they turned home safe and unharmed Nijmegen was burning.
 |
| Nijmegen burning |
However the bombers came back and more bombs were dropped. One of the buildings hit was a Kindergarten. But also the Saint-Stevenschurch was hit.
Because the main water-supply was hit too it was very difficult to extinguish the fire. The city kept burning for 3 days.
For the German propaganda machine the bombing was a real windfall. They told it was a deliberate attack authorized by the Dutch government in Exile. The German propaganda machine tried everything to set up the Dutch people against the Allies but it was in vein. The people of Nijmegen saw the bombing as an accident and with the liberation the American liberators were welcomed as heroes.
 |
| German propaganda posters |
Although the bombing, in terms of civilian casualties, was about as heavy as those in Rotterdam, the event was rather hushed. The event is often mentioned as "the forgotten bombing". Probably there was less talk about it because it was a mistake of a friendly nation. Only twenty years after the bombing it was commemorated for the first time.
Next is a link to a book in PDF format about this tragedy. I am sorry to say that it is in Dutch.
De Fatale Aanval
Thanks for reading
Photos: Historiek.net
