Zeeland capital commemorates bombing of May 1940

MIDDELBURG – The provincial capital of Zeeland was severely damaged by the aerial bombing on May 17, 1940, after the Dutch government for strategic reasons kept the southwestern province outside of its national capitulation. Unlike Rotterdam, which was heavily bombed three days earlier, Middelburg had no strategic value to the combatants and was attacked simply to force it to surrender. The bombing killed 22 people but destroyed as many as 600 buildings. It took weeks to extinguish the fires. The city is commemorating the 70th anniversary of the tragedy with an extensive series of events.