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22.02.

1944: Americans Bomb the Netherlands and Kill more than a Thousand Innocent Civilians by Mistake

1944: Americans Bomb the Netherlands and Kill more than a Thousand Innocent Civilians by Mistake
Photo Credit To https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Market-Garden_-_Nijmegen_and_the_bridge.jpg/925px-Market-Garden_-_Nijmegen_and_the_bridge.jpg

On this day U.S. bombers flew from England to Germany and on their way, allegedly by mistake, dropped bombs on the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede, and Deventer. The Netherlands were at that time occupied by the Germans and not themselves at war with the United States.



During the bombing of Nijmegen the American pilots apparently thought that they were bombing the German city of Kleve. Only in Nijmegen more than 750 innocent victims were killed. In Arnhem, Enschede, and Deventer number was reportedly about 250 victims, so it total about 1,000 people were killed.

The Germans claimed that it was a deliberate U.S. attack on the Netherlands. However, Dutch historical research in 2005 came to the conclusion that it really was a mistake, caused by chaos in the airspace and poor communications.

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