Westkapelle

Westkapelle is a small city in the municipality of Veere on the island Walcheren, in the province Zeeland of the Netherlands. On 1 January 2021, it had a population of 2,632. Westkapelle is on the westernmost tip of Walcheren and is surrounded by the sea on three sides.On 3 October 1944, the dyke to the south of town was destroyed by British bombers – an event still known in Westkapelle simply as "'t Bombardement"  – to flood the German occupation troops in Walcheren and so make liberation easier. 180 inhabitants were killed in the bombing and the village was all but wiped off the face of the earth by the bombs and the incoming sea. On 1 November 1944, during the Battle of the Scheldt British and Norwegian commandos performed an amphibious landing on the northern and southern edges of the gap made in the dyke. During these landings, only six people remained in the village; the rest of the survivors had been evacuated to other villages nearby. It took until 12 October 1945, more than a year later, to finally close the gap in the dyke.

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