Herinneringsroute Atlantikwall Den Haag
The V2 disasters
In 1944 Nazi Germany hoped to turn the tide of war by introducing a new weapon: the V2 rocket. Mobile rocket launchers were stationed at various places in The Hague.
The first rocket was fired on 8 September 1944. A total of 1300 rockets were launched from the Netherlands, including 1054 from The Hague.
There were frequent accidents. The worst was when a rocket came down in Indigostraat, killing 24 people. A V2 also crashed onto a residential block in Riouwstraat, taking ten lives. Ten-year-old Robbert Schouten was lucky to survive. He was asleep in bed at the time and this photo was taken the next day.
After the rocket
