Bombing of Rotterdam (1940): The Raid That Forced Dutch Surrender

The bombing of Rotterdam was a German air raid on the centre of the Dutch port city on 14 May 1940, during the German invasion of the Netherlands. Bombs and the fires that followed destroyed the historic heart of the city, killed around 800 to 900 people and left about 80,000 homeless. Faced with the threat of more cities being destroyed, the Dutch army capitulated that evening.

Background: the invasion of the Netherlands

Germany attacked the neutral Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg on 10 May 1940 at the start of its offensive in the west, which ended in the fall of France. Paratroops and airborne infantry seized key airfields and bridges, including Waalhaven airfield and the bridges over the Nieuwe Maas river in Rotterdam.

Dutch troops, including marines, held the northern bank of the river in the city centre. German forces on the south bank, under Generalleutnant Rudolf Schmidt, could not cross the Willemsbrug and the other bridges. The delay threatened the German timetable, and the German command decided to break the resistance by force.

The ultimatum and the raid

On the morning of 14 May Schmidt sent an ultimatum to the Dutch commander in Rotterdam, Colonel Pieter Scharroo, demanding surrender and threatening severe consequences. Scharroo asked for clarification because the document was not properly signed, and talks continued into the early afternoon.

Meanwhile about 90 Heinkel He 111 bombers of Kampfgeschwader 54 were already in the air. Red flares were fired from the south bank to signal that the attack should be called off. Part of one formation saw them and turned away, but most aircraft did not and bombed from about 13:20. In roughly a quarter of an hour they dropped close to 100 tonnes of bombs on the old centre.

The fire

The bombing started fires that spread rapidly through closely packed old buildings, fed by burning stores of oil and fat in the harbour area. Broken water mains left firefighters nearly helpless, and the fire burned for days.

About 2.5 square kilometres of the city were destroyed. Roughly 25,000 homes, along with schools, churches, shops, warehouses and offices, were lost. The medieval Laurenskerk was gutted, though its tower and walls stood.

Capitulation

That afternoon the German command warned that Utrecht would be bombed next. General Henri Winkelman, commander-in-chief of the Dutch forces, decided that further resistance would mean the destruction of more cities. On the evening of 14 May he announced the capitulation of the Dutch armed forces, and the formal surrender was signed at Rijsoord on 15 May. Queen Wilhelmina and the government had already left for London on 13 May.

Debate and myths

Early Allied reports spoke of 25,000 to 30,000 dead. Later research reduced this to around 800 to 900, with a figure of 814 identified victims often cited. The exaggerated figures nevertheless shaped public opinion in Britain and the United States.

Historians still argue whether the raid was a deliberate terror attack or a failure of communication. The flares and the partial recall show that some effort was made to stop it, but the bombers’ radio links were poor and the decision to send them while talks were taking place was itself a form of pressure. After the war German commanders presented the raid as a legitimate tactical attack on a defended city, a view many Dutch historians reject.

The bombing also had a wider effect. On 15 May the British War Cabinet authorised RAF Bomber Command to attack targets in the Ruhr, beginning its strategic campaign against German industry. Rotterdam is often compared with the earlier bombing of Guernica as an example of air power used against a city.

Legacy

Rotterdam chose not to rebuild its old centre as it had been. The city became a showcase of modern architecture and planning, with the Lijnbaan shopping street opened in 1953 as one of Europe’s first pedestrian precincts. Ossip Zadkine’s sculpture “The Destroyed City”, unveiled in 1953, shows a figure with a hole torn through its body. A line of lights in the pavement marks the edge of the fire zone.

Timeline

• 1940, 10 May: Germany invades the Netherlands; airborne troops seize Rotterdam’s bridges and Waalhaven airfield.
• 1940, 13 May: Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch government leave for London.
• 1940, 14 May, morning: Schmidt delivers a surrender ultimatum to Scharroo.
• 1940, 14 May, about 13:20: German bombers attack the city centre.
• 1940, 14 May, evening: Winkelman announces the Dutch capitulation.
• 1940, 15 May: Surrender signed at Rijsoord.
• 1953, 15 May: Zadkine’s monument “The Destroyed City” is unveiled.

Why it matters

The bombing of Rotterdam ended Dutch resistance in five days of war and became an early symbol of the destruction that air power could bring to cities. Its exaggerated reported death toll influenced Allied opinion, and the rebuilt city remains one of the clearest examples of how the war reshaped urban Europe.