ATTACKS ON V-2
INSTALLATIONS AT LEIDEN, DECEMBER
10-11, 1944
Special thanks: Ed
Straten, Henk Koopman, and A.G. Koopman
On the
evening of September 8, 1944, Leiden was
quiet until a loud roar disrupted the
peace. Around 6:35 PM, two rockets were
launched simultaneously from nearby
Wassenaar, marking the residents' first
sighting of the new German V-2 rocket.
Henk Sickens recalled, “I rushed outside
and saw two rockets shooting up, trailing
flames. They ascended like stars and
rumbled in the sky for several minutes. It
was an impressive sight.”
"Initially, I spotted one, then
another—two ascending together." From the
third-floor window of his family's home at
no. 9 Heerengracht in Leiden, Fred Vos
recounted witnessing the first V-2s launch
from Wassenaar. "I saw the first one rise
with a thundering noise, trailing fire, a
black dot ahead, followed by a white
condensation line. Soon, they both
disappeared. It was a beautiful summer day,
with clear blue skies and lovely weather,"
recalled Vos, who was 16 in 1944.
The
sound of the launches from
Wassenaar, 3 miles southwest,
reached residents 15 seconds after
the rocket engines ignited. By the
time most rushed to their windows,
the two rockets were already high in
the evening sky, leaving two white
trails in the west. No one knew what
to think; they had just witnessed
the first two V-2s fired at London
from Wassenaar. It was an
unprecedented experience of sights
and sounds.
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LEIDEN V-2 TRANSPORT ROUTES INTO THE
HAGUE
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On December 10-11, 1944, RAF aircraft bombed the
railway stations in Leiden, Netherlands,
targeting facilities supporting the German
transport of V-2 rockets at Station Heerensingel
and Leiden Centraal Station. However, the bombs
missed their targets and struck nearby densely
populated areas, resulting in over fifty
civilian deaths and hundreds of injuries. Many
families were left homeless and lost their
possessions. Were these attacks justified? The
RAF aimed to conduct the airstrikes as
effectively and safely as possible,
acknowledging the risk of error. However, they
believed the threat posed by the V-2s warranted
action. Given the poor outcomes, surviving Dutch
citizens likely question the necessity of the
attacks, as they suffered due to their proximity
to the V-2 installations.
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PERIOD MAP OF
LEIDEN
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In London on
September 6, 1944, during an
announcement about the diminishing V-1
flying bomb attacks on London, British
Home Secretary Herbert Morrison said,
“Adolf Hitler has lost the battle of
London as surely as he has lost the
battle for France.” The next day,
British MP and War Cabinet Committee
chairman Duncan Sandys proclaimed,
“Except for possibly a few final shots,
the attacks on London are over.”
Ironically, the first V-2 rockets were
launched at London that same day.
In
early September 1944, the Sonderkommando
rocket troop was ordered to the Dutch
coast. On Wednesday, September 6, the
2./485 (2nd Battery of Artillerie
Abteilung 485) moved into The Hague to
prepare for operations against London,
accompanied by technical troops from
2./91. The suburb of Wassenaar was
selected as the first launch site, with
Castle Duivenvoorde in Voorschoten
serving as headquarters.
Wassenaar's
railway connections to Germany, proximity to
the Dutch coast, and abundance of wooded
areas with existing roads and shelters made
it a strategic location for V-2 operations.
Advance parties had already scouted the area
for potential rocket sites as early as 1943,
leaving small survey stakes along
Rijksstraatweg, the main road between The
Hague and Leiden, to facilitate future
identification of these locations.
The first
rockets from Wassenaar launched on September
8, 1944, from the intersections of
Lijsterlaan/Konijnenlaan/Koekoekslaan and
Lijsterlaan/Schouwweg. Five minutes later,
one rocket hit Chiswick, London, killing
three and injuring seven. The other fell on
Parndon Wood near Epping, Essex, damaging
some cottages. On September 9, British air
forces began reconnaissance flights over
southwest Netherlands to identify V-2 launch
positions. By September 11, reports from the
Dutch Resistance revealed the locations of
the first three launch sites in Wassenaar.
In the first ten days, 32 rockets were
launched from there.
The number
of rockets launched steadily increased over
the next several days. However, following
the start of the Allied invasion Operation
Market Garden on September 18-19, the V-2
troops withdrew from the Dutch coast to
avoid being overrun. SS-Obergruppenführer
Hans Kammler retreated from his headquarters
in Berg en Dal to Darfeld, Germany, and the
battery was abruptly ordered to leave.
Rocket troops at Duindigt, Beukenhorst, and
Ter Horst were evacuated, and the command
group departed from the castle Duivenvoorde.
After the failure of Operation Market
Garden, the V-2 units returned, establishing
new headquarters at the flats in Marlot,
opposite Duindigt. Launches resumed on
October 3 from new positions at Ockenburgh
and Bloemendaal.
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The Dutch railways in were vital to the
Germans, serving as the quickest route for
transporting troops, weapons, and supplies, as well
as for moving forced laborers and Jews eastward. By
1944, the dense Dutch railway network remained
largely intact and was essential for deploying
German V-weapons. The railways were fully integrated
into the German supply lines from the east to
facilitate weapon transport. On September 13, 1944,
a British reconnaissance aircraft captured images
over central Leiden, which later revealed a
potential unloading site for German weaponry.
British officials recognized the need
for countermeasures, but faced the challenge of how
to implement them. Unlike the V-1 flying bombs, the
V-2 could not be intercepted. The only viable option
was to destroy the launch sites or assembly and
storage locations. RAF Fighter Command, based in
England, was tasked with targeting V-2 sites, with
support from the 2nd Tactical Air Force in Belgium.
Heavy bombers from Bomber Command were not deployed
due to concerns about the nature of the targets and
the potential for civilian casualties, as the
Germans exploited populated areas as a shield
against Allied attacks.
Fighter Command's operations against
the V-2, known as “Operation Big Ben,” involved only
four squadrons: 229, 303, 453, and 602. In contrast,
the 2nd Tactical Air Force had more aircraft and
shorter travel distances to targets. While Fighter
Command utilized the Supermarine Spitfire XVI for
ground attacks, the 2nd TAF employed the heavily
armed Hawker Typhoon IB and the Spitfire. The
Typhoon, equipped with bombs, RP-3 rockets, and four
20mm Hispano auto-cannons, was the most effective
ground-attack aircraft of its time, larger than the
Spitfire and capable of carrying twice the bomb
load.
The 2nd Tactical Air Force targeted railroad
lines in eastern Netherlands where V-2 materials
entered from Germany, frequently striking the
station yards of Utrecht and Amersfoort. An
increasing number of aircraft were deployed against
these railway targets. When weather permitted,
Fighter Command (12 Group) pilots conducted armed
reconnaissance in The Hague area. Spitfires launched
from England, attacked targets, refueled at Brabant
and Belgian airfields, and continued their assaults
before returning home. Initially, these attacks
yielded little success. However, after bombing key
routes in Enschede, Almelo, Amersfoort, Utrecht, and
various river crossing bridges, the RAF managed to
disrupt transport to some extent. Despite this, the
Germans quickly repaired the damaged lines, even
when the destruction was significant.
The goal for these operations was not
only about V-weapons interdiction, but also general
purpose denial to the enemy of all connections—road,
rail, and water—throughout occupied territory.
However, civilian workers were killed when Dutch
railway stations came under attack. Trains carrying
rockets, warheads, and fuels were important targets,
but most of these only moved during the night under
the cover of darkness.
As the German supply routes were under
attack, the RAF was heavily engaged in targeting
suspected launch sites. However, these efforts had
little effect on the rocket assaults due to the
mobile nature of the launchers and their extensive
use of camouflage. German crews operated out of
sight, and although many Dutch civilians had been
evacuated from the launch areas, the population in
The Hague suffered more from malfunctioning rockets
than from Allied airstrikes, leading to significant
civilian casualties and property damage.
After October 26, 1944, the number of
daily V-2 launches and the resulting increase in the
number of victims in London increased significantly.
The seemingly unstoppable activity of the V-2 caused
immense concern among the Allies. The weather
conditions made it difficult for the operational
flights and offered the German rocket troops
protection. The rockets were launched day and night,
while the Spitfires could only fly during the day.
The Air Ministry issued a report on
November 17, 1944, about the operations of Fighter
Command against the V-2s. It wasn’t encouraging. The
weather, which was getting worse, was hampering
ground attacks. When not grounding aircraft, it
hindered target identification. The heavy presence
of German anti-aircraft artillery around the targets
made operations highly dangerous. The requirement of
not risking Dutch civilian casualties was also
preventing operations. In the meantime, Londoners
were suffering from the rocket attacks. The report
requested this restriction to be reconsidered.
The Dutch “bombing commission” was founded
in London and met regularly during the war.
The commission was an official Dutch
government entity, which tried to coordinate
and control bombardments on Dutch soil. The
government officials had given authority to
this commission for the approval of
potential Dutch targets. Royal Dutch Navy
Commander Cornelis Moolenburgh was a key
figure in the relationship among the British
Air Ministry, RAF, USSTAF, and the Dutch
government.
Moolenburgh
had extensive geographical knowledge of the
Netherlands, the government appointed him as
permanent liaison to the Air Ministry, and
secretary to the Dutch government’s bombing
commission. When a request came in for a
potential bombardment on Dutch soil,
Moolenburgh had to assess the risks.
Moolenburgh had gained the Air Ministry’s
confidence because of his cooperation in the
detailed planning of numerous attacks on
Dutch soil. On the other hand, he strongly
advised against any bombing missions or air
attacks he considered pointless.
Back in London the bombing
commission was, in reality, ignorant of the
actual logistical situations of the enemy on
the ground in The Netherlands. For difficult
cases, Moolenburgh often consulted the
reports from the Dutch Resistance. In
previous reports received from the
Resistance there had been several requests
to stop future air attacks on the V-2
launching sites. Damage to civilian property
was an unfortunate and unavoidable
consequence of the situation, and the V-2
launch sites themselves were designed in
such a way that they could be quickly and
easily replaced or repaired as needed. It
was decided to attack the enemy supply
routes.
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V-2 INSTALLATIONS LEIDEN WAR DIARIES
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In a meeting on November 21, 1944,
Commander Moolenburgh, along with other
representatives of the Dutch government, met with
Fighter Command’s Air Marshal Hill and other Air
Ministry figures. It was determined that any
forthcoming air attacks against the V-2
installations could be of considerable moral value
to the British people, who so far had not received
any news about reprisals against the Germans.
Something had to be done and this meant action
needed to be taken in the German operational areas
near The Hague, but all were aware of the risks for
the Dutch citizens.
The result of the meeting was a general
agreement for increased efforts against the V-2,
along with the loosening of the severe attack
standards for the allied air forces over the
Netherlands. Fighter Command would now be allowed to
attack V-2 targets in the middle of densely
populated areas provided these targets could be
distinguished reasonably well. This decision was
made solely for Fighter Command regarding V-2
targets.
The
neighborhoods surrounding Leiden
Centraal Station originated from the
second half of the nineteenth century.
Built in 1842, the city’s first station,
was then located on the outskirts of
town with a beautiful view of meadows
and gardens. Extending northwest from
the heart of the old city was the avenue
of Stationsweg. It wasn’t long before
new houses and businesses were growing
up around the railway hub. Around 1880
the area was cleared for new rail yards
and port facilities. In 1885 more than
one hundred houses were built in the
vicinity of Haverzaklaan. The area was a
cozy working-class neighborhood with
small houses and narrow streets. At the
turn of the century the residential
development nearby put increasing
pressure on Stationsweg and
Rijnsburgerweg. The university campus of
Ziekenhuis added to the increasing
crowds in the 1930s and soon a
pedestrian bridge was added over the
rail lines north of the station.
The sights and
sounds of the airwar were common over
Leiden. People saw the large formations of
Allied bombers heading to Germany almost
every day. The air activity was especially
increased in The Hague after September 1944.
From Leiden, people could see V-2s rising in
the distance. This was followed by
fast-moving formations of fighter-bombers
diving on their targets, the noise echoing
from the chatter of their cannons. After
releasing their bombs they disappeared just
as quickly.
Many of these air attacks had
been directed at the new V-2 launching sites
in Wassenaar, south of Leiden. Most of the
Dutch people had a positive view of the RAF
activities. They were fully aware of the
significant danger posed to innocent
civilians as a result of the ongoing bombing
campaigns; however, the presence of Allied
aircraft flying overhead instilled in them a
sense of hope and a belief that, with time,
Germany would soon be brought to heel and
ultimately defeated in the conflict.
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LEIDEN CENTRAAL STATION 1940
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Leiden
Centraal Station
The Dutch Resistance informed London about the
locations of several V-2 related installations
in Leiden. Leiden Centraal Station was the
city's larger main passenger station, while
Station Heerensingel (Herenpoort) was located to
the east of the city near the canals. Residents
reported that rockets arrived at night, roughly
every other day, via the
Hengelo-Deventer-Utrecht railway line. A V-2
train took about thirty-five hours to travel
from Friedrichshafen to Leiden. Key entry points
from Germany included Enschede, Oldenzaal, and
Winschoten to the north, passing through major
transit stations like Deventer, Zutphen, Zwolle,
Apeldoorn, Amersfoort, and Utrecht, with the
main line coming from the west.
The rockets were parked
under the large canvas awning at Leiden Centraal
Station during the day, concealed from view. Two V-2
rockets, covered with tarpaulin and simple
camouflage, rested on three open flat wagons.
Typically, twenty V-2s were transported
simultaneously. A special detachment of German
guards monitored the V-2 railcars at all times. The
trains were also sheltered under the station to
protect them from potential RAF attacks, as the
Germans believed the nearby Academic Hospital would
deter strikes. Dr. Maas, the physician-director,
along with the Leiden stationmaster, complained
about the situation to the German commanding
officer, who refused to relocate the rocket trains.
https://www.erfgoedleiden.nl/collecties/beeldmateriaal
Heerensingel/Herenpoort
Station
Rockets were spotted behind Ambachtstraat on
Haagweg and in the shunting yard directly in
front of the station. Nearby, there were V-2
warehouses close to Leiden Centraal Station. To
the southeast of the station were the lines and
sheds occupied by the Germans, which had been
taken over from the Dutch postal and
transportation company Van Gend & Loos.
Depending on the arrival time, the
flat cars with rockets were either shunted that
night or the following night from Leiden
Centraal Station to Heerensingel/Herenpoort,
also known as 't Spoortje. The old Herenpoort
station building was located at the current
intersection of Kooilaan Street and was part of
the former Haarlemmermeer line. Train service to
Haarlemmermeer began in 1912 but was
discontinued in the early 1930s as buses
replaced it. Station Heerensingel remained
active for goods transport within the city,
mainly for coal.
Pionierspark, located
in the yards of Station Heerensingel, housed the V-2
technical troops. The area was filled with rockets
and rocket components, as wreckage from crashed V-2s
was also returned there. Rocket warheads were
transported on the same train but were unloaded
separately and trucked to a nearby field store for
assembly before launching. At Pionierspark, the
large Strabokran (mobile gantry crane) towered over
the rail track, where the Krantrupp (crane troops)
lifted rockets from flat wagons onto Vidalwagen road
transport trailers. Dutch Resistance observations
indicated that the unloading process took between 20
to 60 minutes.
The rockets arrived at night and left Pionierspark
before dawn. Kraftfahr-Abteilung 900 transported the
Vidalwagen trailers to Wassenaar via
Haarlemmerstraat, Breestraat, and Noordeinde, then
down Rijksstraatweg to the interim storage at
Raaphorst and ter Horst. From there, the rockets
were dispersed to the launch sites. Residents of
Leiden could hear and see the German transport
operations from their homes. By turning off their
lights and peeking through blackout curtains, they
caught glimpses of the uncovered trailers carrying
large rockets. This routine occurred almost every
evening after dark.
The fuel supplies of A-stoff (liquid
oxygen), B-stoff (alcohol) and T-stoff
(hydrogen-peroxide) remained hidden
temporarily under canopy of Leiden Centraal
Station after which the railway tankers
would continue on into The Hague to be
unloaded. This unloading took place at the
Staatspoor Station near Emmakliniek
(Schenkweg) and on a siding of the
Hollandsch Spoor Station behind Zwetstraat.
Specialized German surveillance
units were deployed to ensure the safety and
security of the railway line, as well as to
monitor and protect the various
transportation routes associated with it.
Their primary objective was to maintain
order and prevent any potential disruptions
to the movement of goods and people along
these crucial pathways. Troops were
stationed in Zwammerdam, Alphen aan den
Rijn, Zoeterwoude, and Leiden to guard the
railway. Other German troops monitored the
roads near Leiden. Traffic completely came
to a standstill when the V-2 shipments made
their arrival at the designated location,
and it did not resume until every last
railcar had successfully passed through the
station and continued on its way.
Additionally, a platoon of Flakvierling quad
20 mm anti-aircraft guns was positioned near
De Vink to safeguard the road and railway
from Leiden to The Hague.
On November 21, residents of
Leiden observed numerous RAF Spitfires
flying over the city for hours. Fighter
Command deployed 36 aircraft to target V-2
launch sites in Wassenaar and Leiden.
Intermittent air raid sirens sounded as
anti-aircraft batteries fired shells from
both sides of the city, but none hit the
aircraft. Following the execution of several
coordinated dive attacks targeting enemy
transports that were situated just outside
the city, the group of Spitfires completed
their mission and departed the area at
approximately 4:00 PM.
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V-2 TRANSPORT ROUTES FROM LEIDEN TO THE
HAGUE
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HEERENSINGEL STATION LEIDEN
1945
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On
November 26, many Spitfires were
active again, flying from The
Hague over Wassenaar to Leiden
and back, circling and strafing
throughout the afternoon.
However, the Germans in Leiden
kept the V-2 materials well
concealed. As the fighters
approached the launch sites
southwest of the city, the
Germans occasionally launched
V-2s directly in front of them,
seemingly to taunt them.
Residents of Leiden watched from
the Hoge Rijndijk, the city's
former exit road, as the
Spitfires flew through the
rocket exhaust lingering in the
air. Between Wassenaar and
Leiden lay Voorschoten, where
German heavy anti-aircraft
defenses were positioned at the
Noordman Company on the Hoge
Rijndijk and behind the
Zuidbuurt. When pilots ventured
in that direction, they faced
heavy fire from all sides.
The Spitfire pilots seemed to provoke
the defensive artillery. As the
anti-aircraft guns fired, the planes
dove down, unleashing bullets on the
German batteries, which occasionally
fell silent. During brief lulls in the
fighting, people might cautiously step
outside, but it was dangerous. The RAF
fighters could return at any moment,
prompting the German guns to fire again,
leaving little warning or protection.
After the failure of Operation
Market Garden in September 1944, most of the
Netherlands remained under German
occupation. Allied aircraft incessantly flew
over the occupied territory, targeting any
movement to disrupt German transport. This
led to unfortunate collateral damage, as the
Dutch civilian population now became exposed
to these attacks. Throughout the course of
the war, the Netherlands had managed to
largely avoid the relentless bombardments
carried out by the Allied forces, which
spared it from the devastation experienced
by many neighboring regions. However, the
conflict gradually made its way closer to
their doorstep, impacting the country in
ways that had previously seemed unlikely.
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On September 13,
1944, British intelligence identified potential
unloading sites in Leiden, specifically at
Station Heerensingel and Leiden Centraal
Station, after reviewing reconnaissance
photographs. City officials recognized that
these German transport points would likely be
targets for Allied airstrikes. By mid-November,
rail stations in Utrecht, Arnhem, Amersfoort,
Apeldoorn, and Gouda had already been bombed,
yet Leiden remained unscathed. The previous
year, the city officials had faced incidents
with damaged aircraft crashing, prompting
officials to establish a disaster committee. The committee officially
delegated various emergency responsibilities to
several key entities, which include the fire
department, air protection services, essential
city services, dedicated medical teams, and local
police.
On October 16, Fighter Command
requested the 2nd Tactical Air Force to attack two
stations in Leiden. The 2nd TAF declined due to more
pressing assignments supporting Allied ground
forces. The request was included in a target list
developed through consultations among Air
Intelligence, the Air Ministry, and Fighter Command,
with Leiden being one of eleven targets on that
list.
December
10, 9:00 AM
As
information emerged, the Allies realized
that the center of rocket activities in The
Hague stemmed from shipments to Leiden. On
Sunday, December 10, 1944, Fighter Command
ordered an attack on rocket targets in The
Hague and Leiden, with the first strike
targeting Station Heerensingel in Leiden.
The weather in Coltishall,
England, started with limited visibility and
increasing cloud cover. At 8:15 AM, four
Supermarine Spitfire LF.XVIe from 229
Squadron RAF took off towards Leiden,
crossing the Dutch coast at 9:00 AM at
11,000 feet. After flying north of The
Hague, they located Leiden without
difficulty. Due to cloud cover, the
Spitfires circled before diving through gaps
in the clouds from southeast to northwest,
pulling out at 4,000 feet. Each aircraft
carried two 250-pound bombs. Once the bombs
were released, the pilots accelerated away
as the anti-aircraft guns in Voorschoten
opened up and the air raid sirens began to
sound. The pilots observed four bombs
explode at the station, with an additional
four possibly falling nearby as they left
the area.
In fact, the bombs had missed
their targets. The misplaced bombs had
fallen approximately 1,000 feet west of
Station Heerensingel. St. Joseph Church,
located on the corner of the Heerensingel
and the Alexanderstraat, was crowded with
worshipers that Sunday morning. It was
during mass, around 9:15 AM, when the
building shook from the tremendous
explosions nearby. The aircraft had dived
past the Herenpoort station before dropping
their bombs. The bombs fell on the corner of
Alexanderstraat and Sophia Street, about 25
meters behind the church, causing heavy
damage. 6 residents were killed, 8
critically injured, with many more slightly
injured and homeless. Immediately everything
was cordoned off and the church was set up
as a shelter.
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SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE LF.XVIE
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Nearly 60 homes
in the area were partially or completely
destroyed which sent frightened and wounded
neighbors seeking shelter with their neighbors.
It is now believed that the pilots
mistook the tower of St. Joseph Church for the tower
that crowned Station Heerensingel. Both were
situated along the canal not far from each other.
The cloud cover most probably obscured the railway
tracks from Zijlpoort which would have revealed
Station Heerensingel situated further east. It was
the first time Allied bombs had fallen in Leiden.
December
11, 12:00 PM
The next day, Monday December
11, the British Air Ministry ordered an
attack on Leiden Centraal Station. The Dutch
Resistance had sent a request to Supreme
Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
headquarters asking for an attack on the
main station in Leiden when they observed 20
rail wagons loaded with rockets a few days
earlier. The Typhoons of the 2nd Tactical
Air Force in Belgium would be given the job.
Over Belgium, there was bad
weather. It wasn’t until around noon that
the weather improved. At 11.26 AM, eight
Typhoon fighter-bombers of 263 Squadron RAF
took off from Deurne near Antwerp. Moments
later, at 11.35 AM, eight more Typhoon IBs
of 257 Squadron RAF took off from the same
runway. The targets were the V-2 sidings in
Leiden; sheds containing "projectiles" which
had been observed being loaded on trucks at
Leiden Centraal Station.
In Leiden, the sun finally
shone again. Many residents were unaware of
the previous day's bombardment, going about
their routines. Around noon, the first
flight of Typhoons appeared over the city,
soon followed by a second flight, triggering
the air alarm. German anti-aircraft
batteries hastily fired back as the Typhoons
began strafing ground targets with their 20
mm cannons. Windows shattered in nearby
homes, and shells penetrated walls. Shortly
after, residents on Stationsweg stood frozen
in shock as bombs began to fall nearby. The old station quarter
behind Stationsweg suffered severe
damage as bombs, meant for the rail
station, fell on nearby houses instead.
Many people sought refuge on the porch
of the Museum for Ethnology, but moments
later it was struck directly, resulting
in the loss of those sheltering there. |
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TYPHOON FIGHTER-BOMBER OF 263 SQUADRON RAF
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While some railway lines were affected,
numerous nearby houses were in ruins or engulfed in
flames. Parts of Steenstraat, Morspoort,
Haverzaklaan, and Rijnsburgersingel were quickly
devastated. The houses on Stationsweg were ablaze,
and the blasts shattered all the windows in the
vicinity. The injured were transported to the
Academic Hospital, with some lying on the hallway
floor among many others.
Upon their return, 257 Squadron
reported successful strikes on V-2 targets, while
263 Squadron noted their bombs overshot the intended
target. Pilots from 263 Squadron encountered black
smoke at 3,000 feet and intense German flak at 6,000
feet. One Typhoon pilot from 257 Squadron was hit by
flak and, due to an oil leak, bailed out near Goirle
in the Netherlands. He rejoined his unit in Deurne
later that evening.
December
11, 4:00 PM
After their unsuccessful attack on
Leiden, the pilots of 263 Squadron decided to launch
another strike on Leiden Centraal Station that
afternoon. At 3:35 PM, eight Typhoons from 263
Squadron and six from 257 Squadron took off from
Deurne airfield near Antwerp. Shortly thereafter,
two additional Typhoons from 193 Squadron also took
off towards Leiden.
As the second wave of aircraft
approached Leiden, German gunners were prepared.
Around four in the afternoon, the anti-aircraft guns
at Voorschoten opened up, triggering the air alarm
once more. For the Dutch, just recovering from
earlier destruction, the sounds of the guns and the
roar of the Typhoons indicated another impending
attack. The Typhoons flew high, then dove from north
to south toward their targets through a barrage of
flak. Bombs dropped into the target area, creating a
massive display of flames and debris. After their
bomb runs, the aircraft fired at anything that
moved.
TYPHOONS OF
257 SQUADRON RAF 1944
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The
neighborhood behind Stationsweg was hit by
heavy bombs. On the other side of the
street, and in Haverzaklaan, houses were on
fire. The bombs had turned most of the lots
into smoldering ruins. On the corner of
Stationsweg was a bookstore. The books were
blown out and strewn about in front of the
building. Adding to the chaos, an unexploded
bomb was lying in the street which mandated
the whole area to be cordoned off. Rescue
workers labored for hours to uncover people
from the rubble. In the evening the Academic
Hospital would announce that during and
after the bombardment 19 people died and 38
were injured.
The Typhoons
returned to their home base Deurne around
6:30 PM. The pilots again reported positive
results against Leiden. All six Typhoons of
257 Squadron bombed the target. The
fighter-bombers also strafed the target
area. 263 Squadron claimed one hit to the
south side of the target area, an explosion
and a lot of debris was seen.
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Again, contrary to what the British
pilots had reported, the British bombs had missed
their target. The Leiden neighborhood of Haverzak
was a burning and smoking mess. The houses on
Haverzaklaan and Lopsenstraat were in ruins. About
40 houses had been destroyed. Some of the freight
cars had been hit, but Leiden Centraal Station,
along with the warehouses at the goods station of
Van Gend & Loos (where V-2 materials were
stored), sustained little damage. It was reported
later that the main station platform possibly held a
shipment of rocket fuels, making it fortunate the
station wasn’t hit.
More attacks were made on December 13-14,
1944. Five RAF Mosquitoes of 138 Wing RAF
attacked Leiden Centraal Station at night.
Upon their return they reported twelve
marker flares were dropped in the vicinity
of the station and four crews were said to
have hit the target with 500-pound bombs.
Later that same night, a total of fourteen
additional Mosquito aircraft operated by 140
Wing took off for their mission. However,
shortly after departure, they encountered
severe bad weather conditions that
ultimately forced them to turn back and
return to base before they could reach their
intended destination of Leiden.
The British
attacks on Leiden were largely unsuccessful.
Officials later recognized the significant
risk of hitting civilian targets, prompting
the RAF to cease further bombing. Rather
than focus on railway stations, they
redirected their efforts to supply lines,
bombing bridges and viaducts multiple times,
while fighter aircraft targeted trains,
trams, and road vehicles. Eventually, the
official death toll from the bombings in
Leiden rose to 55, as some victims succumbed
to their injuries or were discovered months
later. Over 1,200 residents were displaced
from their homes.
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Throughout the bitter winter, the
battle between General Kammler’s V-weapon troops,
Allied Air Forces and the Dutch Resistance raged
constantly. Allied air power, as mighty as it was,
only succeeded in slowing the missile attacks, but
never brought them to a halt. By mid-December launch
sites had been prepared at several new locations in
The Hague. These included a site near Kasteel
(castle) Oud Poelgeest at Rijswijk, another at van
Vredenburgweg Huis te Werve, and one near the former
Rijswijk railway station. A few days later, the
Dutch resistance reported that close to a hundred
rockets were seen lying underneath the trees of
Haagse Bos.
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PHOTOS OF LEIDEN TODAY
Because of the raids, for a short
period in January of 1945 some of
the V-2 trains moved on from Leiden
through Wassenaar for off-loading at
the Hollandsspoor and Staatsspoor
stations, closer to The Hague. If
the RAF had mounted a continuing
series of air attacks on the Leiden
railway installations, it probably
would have immensely hampered the
German efforts and slowed the rate
of fire dramatically—but it also
would have destroyed many more lives
and ruined the historic city.—
If you exit
Leiden Centraal Station today and look
to your right, you'll see modern
apartment buildings where Haverzakbuurt
once stood. Although the surrounding
buildings suffered bomb damage during
the war, the subsequent reconstruction
provided an opportunity to resolve the
traffic congestion that existed before.
The fourth version of the station was
completed in 1996, featuring a modern
white lattice structure and a curved,
shell-like entrance that leads into a
ticketing hall filled with shops and
restaurants. Today, not far from
Stationsweg, is a giant underground
parking facility at Lammermarkt. Leiden's
charm attracts many to Parking
Lammermarkt, providing easy
access to the old city's entertainment
options.
Where Station
Heerensingel once stood there is almost
nothing in the area today that reminds one
of the former yards. But, names such as 't
Spoortje, Spoorlaan, Bielsenstraat and
Seinpaalstraat refer to the past. At the
bridge to the Zijlpoort you can find a piece
of remaining track and a buffer, the only
remnant of the former unloading track along
Heerensingel canal. Twenty-five years after
WWII, Station Heerensingel was in severe
disrepair and slated for demolition to make
way for new development. On March 12, 1970,
the local newspaper “Leidsch Dagblad”
reported that the tower of the Herenpoort
station building was brought down with
ropes, stating, "Cracking, it came down and
landed tip-down like a ROCKET."
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TOWER OF HEERENSINGEL-HERENPOORT COMES
DOWN 1970
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SOURCES: V-2:
A Combat History of the First Ballistic
Missile, T. Dungan, 2005 — De vergeten
bombardementen op Leiden, Ingrid Appels,
1995 — De 'vergeten' bombardementen: Britse
luchtaanvallen op Leiden 1944-1945, Rob van
den Nieuwendijk, 2008 — Wassenaar in de
Tweede Wereldoorlog, Hazenberg, F.R., 1995 —
Diary J.H. Kasten, personal account, Leiden
Archives — Het spoorwegbedrijf in
oorlogstijd 1940-1945, C. Huurman, 2007 —
Diary Han de Wilde, personal account, Leiden
Archives — Municipal police reports December
1944, Leiden Archives — Restrained Policy
and Careless Execution, Maj Joris A.C. van
Esch, 2012 — Vergeltungswaffen in Nederland,
Henk Koopman, 2018 — Het spoorwegbedrijf in
oorlogstijd 1940-1945, C. Huurman, 2007 —
Boodschap aan de Bevolking van Den Haag
(Message to the People of The Hague), Carlo
Tinschert, 2005 — Netherlands National
Archives, Den Haag — Spitfire dive-bombers
versus the V2: Fighter Command's battle with
Hitler's mobile missiles, Bill Simpson, 2007
— Het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in de
Tweede Wereldoorlog, Vol. 7a, Lou de Jong,
1969 — Bombardementen en verongelukte
vliegtuigen in de periode 10 mei 1940 5 mei
1945, T. Everstein, 2003 — Erfgoed Leiden en
Omstreken
National Archives, Kew, London, Air
Ministry: AIR 16/1051; AIR 24/632; AIR
24/635; AIR 24/638; AIR 24/641; AIR 24/644;
AIR 24/648; AIR 25/221; AIR 27/1157,
Operational Record Book 193 Squadron RAF;
AIR 27/1120; AIR 27/1169; AIR 27/1528,
Operational Record Book 257 Squadron RAF;
AIR 27/1548, Operational Record Book 263
Squadron RAF; AIR 27/1559; AIR 37/712; AIR
37/716, 2nd Tactical Air Force Daily Log
Nov-Dec 1944; AIR 37/718; AIR 41/55 |
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