Bombing of the Bezuidenhout

{{Infobox military conflict

| conflict = Bombing of the Bezuidenhout

| partof = World War II Operation Crossbow

| image = Bombardement Bezuidenhout, 1945-03-03.jpg

| image_size = 300

| caption = Bezuidenhout burning, shortly after the bombing, photographed from the tower of the Church of James the Greater, at Parkstraat in The Hague

| date = March 3, 1945

| place = The Hague, Netherlands

| map_type = Netherlands South Holland

| coordinates = {{Coord|52|05|17|N|04|20|41|E|type:event_region:NL|display=inline,title}}

| result =

| combatant1 = {{flag|United Kingdom}}

| combatant2 = {{flag|Nazi Germany}}

| commander1 = Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham{{cnl|date=March 2023}}

| commander2 =

| strength1 = 56 Boston & Mitchell bombers

| strength2 =

| casualties1 =

| casualties2 =

| casualties3 = Bezuidenhout civilian casualties:

532 killed, 344 injured,
±30,000 dehoused

| units1 = {{flagicon image|Air Force Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg}} Second Tactical Air Force

| units2 = {{flagicon image|War Ensign of Germany (1938–1945).svg}} 902nd Artillery Regiment z.V. (Motorized){{cite book |last=Ordway |first=Frederick I III |author-link=Frederick I. Ordway III |author2=Sharpe, Mitchell R |year=1979 |title=The Rocket Team |url=http://www.apogeebooks.com/indices/RocketTeamindex.htm |format=hyperlink to index |series=Apogee Books Space Series 36 |location=New York |publisher=Thomas Y. Crowell |isbn=1-894959-00-0 |pages=221, 226 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304025247/http://www.apogeebooks.com/indices/RocketTeamindex.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2012}}

}}

File:V-2 Rocket On Meillerwagen.jpg artillery launched 1,027 V-2 rockets at London from The Hague – 79 failed at launch, 600 reached London{{cite book |last1=Kooy |first1=J. M. J |last2=Uytenbogaart |first2=J. W. H. |year=1946 |title=Ballistics of the Future With Special Reference to the Dynamical And Physical Theory of the Rocket Weapons}} (Kooy-Uytenbogaart launch figures are from Space Travel, Gatland & Kunesch, 1953 Second impression, p. 52-3; and Kooy-Uytenbogaart location [https://archive.org/details/gravitysrainbowc0000weis/page/62 information was used as source] for the 1973 Gravity's Rainbow.)]]

File:Bezuidenhout in 1946 (The Hague, the Netherlands).jpg

The bombing of the Bezuidenhout ({{langx|nl|bombardement op het Bezuidenhout}}) took place on March 3, 1945,{{Cite web |title=Bombardement Bezuidenhout {{!}} DenHaag.com |url=https://denhaag.com/nl/75jaarvrijheiddenhaag/bezuidenhout |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=denhaag.com |language=nl}} when the Royal Air Force mistakenly bombed the Bezuidenhout neighborhood in the Dutch city of The Hague, resulting in the death of 532 people.{{Cite web |title=Bronnen over 'Bombardement op het Bezuidenhout' |url=https://www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/bronnen?term=Bombardement%20op%20het%20Bezuidenhout |access-date=2023-05-04 |website=www.oorlogsbronnen.nl |language=nl}}

Bombing

On the morning of March 3, 1945, 51 medium and light bombers of the North American B-25 Mitchell and Douglas Boston types from No. 137 and No. 139 wings of the Second Tactical Air Force took off from Melsbroek near Brussels and Vitry in Northern France with a payload of 67,000 kg of high-explosive bombs.{{Cite book |last=Tinschert |first=Carlo |title=Boodschap aan de bevolking van Den Haag: oorzaken, gevolgen en nasleep van het mislukte bombardement op het Bezuidenhout, 3 maart 1945 |date=2005 |publisher=Sdu Uitgevers |isbn=90-12-11188-9 |location=Den Haag |language=nl |oclc=71711568}}{{Cite web |title=Het bombardement Bezuidenhout Den Haag {{!}} Bombardement Bezuidenhout '45 |url=https://www.bb45.nl/het-bombardement |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=www.bb45.nl}}{{Cite web |title=Een dodelijke vergissing |url=https://bezuidenhout.nl/3maart45/artikelen/00060603-2/ |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=3 maart '45 |language=nl}}

The British bombers were intended to bomb the Haagse Bos ("Forest of the Hague") district where the Germans had installed V-2 launching facilities that had been used to attack English cities.{{Cite web |title=75 jaar bevrijding - Britse verklaring uitgestrooid boven getroffen Den Haag |url=https://nos.nl/75j/2328010 |access-date=2023-05-04 |website=nos.nl |date=March 23, 1945 |language=nl}}{{Cite web |title=Ontdek de historische 2e wereldoorlog wandelroute in Den Haag met kidszone! |url=https://www.bb45.nl/ |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=Stichting 3 maart '45 / wandelroute BB45}} However, the pilots were issued with the wrong coordinates (vertical and horizontal interchanged), so the navigational instruments of the bombers had been set incorrectly, and combined with low fog and clouds which obscured their vision, the bombs were instead dropped on the Bezuidenhout residential neighborhood. Eventually, a wind force of 9 instead of the expected 5 added to the catastrophe. All bombs missed the rocket installations in the {{cvt|2.4|km|adj=on}} x {{cvt|0.8|km|adj=on}} forest target (Haagse Bos){{cite web |url=http://www.thehagueonline.com/headlines/2011-03-04/bezuidenhout-bombing-remembered |title=Bezuidenhout Bombing Remembered |date=March 4, 2011 |access-date=March 13, 2012 |publisher=The Hague Online |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304145414/http://www.thehagueonline.com/headlines/2011-03-04/bezuidenhout-bombing-remembered |archive-date=March 4, 2012}} by {{cvt|1.2|km|yd}} ("incorrect allowance for the wind"{{cite book |last=Collier |first=Basil |year=1976 |orig-date=1964 |title=The Battle of the V-Weapons, 1944–1945 |location=Yorkshire |publisher=The Emfield Press |isbn=0-7057-0070-4 |page=133}}/"map-reading error"),{{cite book |last=Garliński |first=Józef |author-link=Józef Garliński |year=1978 |title=Hitler's Last Weapons: The Underground War against the V1 and V2 |location=New York |publisher=Times Books |page=184}} and hit the Bezuidenhout neighborhood instead.{{Cite web |date=2013-12-15 |title=Historische Kranten - actualiteiten uit het verleden |url=http://kranten.kb.nl/view/article/id/ddd:010462560:mpeg21:p008:a0146 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215185333/http://kranten.kb.nl/view/article/id/ddd:010462560:mpeg21:p008:a0146 |archive-date=2013-12-15 |access-date=2023-05-04 }}{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.vpro.nl/programma/marathoninterview/afleveringen/17714408/items/18540187/ Geschiedenis van 747. Afl.4: Bombardement Bezuidenhout] {{webarchive |url=https://archive.today/20150507024915/http://www.vpro.nl/programma/marathoninterview/afleveringen/17714408/items/18540187/ |date=May 7, 2015 }}, VPRO, July 25, 2004{{in lang|nl}} [http://nos.nl/archief/2005/nieuws/achtergronden/60jaarbevrijding/achtergronden_bezuidenhout.html Bommen op Den Haag] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313003240/http://nos.nl/archief/2005/nieuws/achtergronden/60jaarbevrijding/achtergronden_bezuidenhout.html |date=March 13, 2012 }}, NOS, March 3, 2005

At 9:08 a.m. the 51 bombers dropped 67 tons of high-explosive bombs on the Bezuidenhout, wreaking widespread destruction.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_vQfUQxCjtMC&q=razed |title=The Low Countries: arts and society in Flanders and the Netherlands, a yearbook |volume=9 |author=Stichting Ons Erfdeel |year=1998 |publisher=Flemish-Netherlands Foundation |page=113 |isbn=978-90-75862-28-7 |access-date=April 22, 2021 |archive-date=March 3, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230303170149/https://books.google.com/books?id=_vQfUQxCjtMC&q=razed |url-status=live }}

{{Quote|text="Everyone went out and into the street. You saw people running, running, running everywhere. But whichever way you ran, there was fire everywhere."|author=Survivor|source=}}

At the time, the neighborhood was more densely populated than usual with evacuees from The Hague and Wassenaar; tens of thousands were left homeless and had to be quartered in the Eastern and Central Netherlands.

Response

Due to insufficient fire engines and firefighters (as many of them had been either called up for forced labor in German industry or had gone into hiding to prevent being signed up) the resulting fire was largely unchecked,{{cite web |title=Bombardement op Bezuidenhout maart 1945 |trans-title=Bombing of the Bezuidenhout March 1945 |url=http://www.kb.nl/themas/geschiedenis-en-cultuur/tweede-wereldoorlog/bombardement-op-bezuidenhout |access-date=December 5, 2013 |publisher=Koninklijke Bibliotheek |language=nl }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} killing 511 people, including ten firefighters at the Schenkkade. In total 532 people were killed by the bombing.{{Cite web |title=3 maart 1945 |url=https://www.wo2sporen.eu/3-maart-1945 |access-date=2023-05-04 |website=WO2 Sporen |language=nl}}

File:Db Theresiastraat-31.jpg

As soon as the British realized the extent of the damage, they dropped fliers over the neighborhood expressing condolences for the civilians who were killed by their error.{{cite web |url=http://www.v2platform.nl/book/bombing.html |title=Bombardment on Bezuidenhout |first=J. R. |last=Verbeek |year=2005 |access-date=March 13, 2012 |archive-date=February 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220004901/http://www.v2platform.nl/book/bombing.html |url-status=live }} Trouw, the Dutch resistance newspaper, reported:

The horrors of the war are increasing. We have seen the fires in The Hague after the terrible bombings due to the V2-launching sites. We have seen the column of smoke, drifting to the south and the ordeal of the war has descended upon us in its extended impact. We heard the screaming bombs falling on (the) Bezuidenhout, and the missiles which brought death and misery fell only a hundred metres from us. At the same time we saw the launching and the roaring, flaming V2, holding our breath to see if the launch was successful, if not falling back on the homes of innocent people. It is horrible to see the monsters take off in the middle of the night between the houses, lighting up the skies. One can imagine the terrors that came upon us now that The Hague is a frontline town, bombed continuously for more than ten days. Buildings, burning and smouldering furiously, a town choking from smoke, women and children fleeing, men hauling furniture which they tried to rescue from the chaos. What misery, what distress.

Commemoration

File:Flickr - Erfgoed in Beeld - Den Haag, Juliana van Stolberg.jpg and her five sons, which survived the bombing and now doubles as a monument for its victims]]

File:Denhaag monument menselijke vergissing.jpg

The bombing is commemorated every year on the first Sunday after 3 March. In 2011, Mayor Jozias van Aartsen{{in lang|nl}} [http://www.denhaag.nl/home/bewoners/to/Toespraak-burgemeester-bij-herdenking-bombardement-Bezuidenhout-7-maart-2010.htm Speech by Mayor Van Aartsen at the commemoration of the bombing] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309184718/http://www.denhaag.nl/home/bewoners/to/Toespraak-burgemeester-bij-herdenking-bombardement-Bezuidenhout-7-maart-2010.htm# |date=March 9, 2012 }}, Municipality of The Hague, March 7, 2010 of The Hague as well as the Mayors of Wassenaar and Leidschendam-Voorburg (residents of both towns helped with firefighting and caring for the survivors) were present at the remembrance ceremony, which consisted of a church service, the laying of a wreath at the Monument of the human mistake ({{langx|nl|Monument van de menselijke vergissing}}) and a remembrance concert in the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.{{Cite web |last=ANP |date=2011-03-06 |title=Honderden herdenken bombardement Bezuidenhout |url=https://www.nu.nl/binnenland/2461852/honderden-herdenken-bombardement-bezuidenhout.html |access-date=2023-05-04 |website=NU |language=nl}} A similar church service and concert were held in 2012.{{cite web |url=http://www.thehagueonline.com/headlines/2012-03-05/bezuidenhout-bombing-commemorated |title=Bezuidenhout Bombing Commemorated |date=March 5, 2012 |access-date=March 13, 2012 |publisher=The Hague Online |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314202229/http://www.thehagueonline.com/headlines/2012-03-05/bezuidenhout-bombing-commemorated |archive-date=March 14, 2012}}

Casualties, losses, and damage

532 fatalities
344 wounded
30,000 people left homeless{{Cite web |title=75 jaar bevrijding - RAF-bombardement verwoest Haagse woonwijk, honderden doden|url=https://nos.nl/75j/2325540 |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=nos.nl |date=March 3, 1945 |language=nl}}
3,300 completely destroyed residences
3,250 burned out residences
3,241 damaged residences
391 irreparably damaged residences
290 completely destroyed businesses
5 completely destroyed churches
9 completely destroyed schools
10 completely destroyed public buildings

Gallery

Gevolgen van het bombardement op het Bezuidenhout.jpg|Unknown street in Bezuidenhout, after the bombing

Bezuidenhout, June 1945, Juliana van Stolberg monument and the ruins of the Wilhelmina Church.jpg|Juliana van Stolberg monument and ruins of the Wilhelmina Church

Bezuidenhout after the bombing, June1945.jpg|Unknown street in Bezuidenhout, after the bombing

Bezuidenhout after the bombing, October 1945, Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indië.jpg|Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indië (street)

Bezuidenhout after the bombing, June 1945 img002.jpg|The intense fire caused numerous buildings to collapse entirely

Bezuidenhout after the bombing, ruins of the church of Our Lady of the Good Council.jpg|In the background: ruins of the Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel at Bezuidenhoutseweg (street)

Ruïne na oorlogshandelingen - 's-Gravenhage - 20326976 - RCE.jpg|Korte Voorhout (street) at the old city center

Derde Van den Boschstraat, de Engelse kerk na de verwoesting van 3 maart 1945.jpg|Ruins of the Anglican Church of St. John and St. Philip in The Hague, after the bombing