A short while later a wave of bombers appeared over the horizon heading straight towards the city.
Wave after wave of bombers followed dropping their load on the peaceful city.
They have lost count.
Buildings and entire blocks collapse like houses of cards collapse.
Still others are starting to burn and are soon ablaze, reportedThe Telegraphthe following day.
The bombing of the Bezuidenhout area on Saturday, March 3rd, 1945.
Seen from the tower of the Church of St. James the Greater in Park Street.
Help had to be brought in from South Holland and even from Wormerveer and Zaandam.
More than three thousand buildings were destroyed, five hundred killed and twenty thousand people were rendered homeless.
Whats tragic about the devastation in Bezuidenhout was that the perpetrators were not Germans but the Allies.
The V2s were unstoppable.
No effective defense existed against the fearful V2s.
The bombing of the Haagse Bos was the only way these rocket attacks could be stopped.
The British bombers received some approximate coordinates based on information gathered by the British.
To make matter worse, a thick fog enveloped Bezuidenhout and the bombers couldnt see a thing.
Bezuidenhout, a neighborhood in the city of The Hague, after the accidental bombing by allied forces.
Photo:Wikimedia Commons
By the time the pilots realized their mistakes, it was already too late.
We have seen the fires in The Hague after the terrible bombings due to the V2-launching sites.
What misery, what distress.
Most tragically, this wasnt the first time the Dutch were hit by their own allies.
Unfortunately, most of the flyers were not sure whether Nijmegen was a Dutch or a German city.
When they unloaded their bombs, many of them believed they were over the German city of Kleve.
But the propaganda didnt work.
Seven months later, when American ground troops walked across the Dutch border they were welcomed by the inhabitants.
The bombing of Bezuidenhout is commemorated every year on the first Sunday after 3 March.
