Restrained Policy and Careless Execution: Allied Strategic Bombing on the Netherlands in the Second World War

Abstract

This article examines the nature of Allied strategic bombing on the Netherlands in the Second World War. It discusses the endless controversy on strategic bombing, and adds the policy of bombing occupied countries, especially the Dutch involvement in bombing policy development, a quantitative analysis of bombing on the Netherlands, and three case studies to the existing narrative. The paper concludes that Allied bombing policy towards the Netherlands sought to maintain a balance between the usefulness of bombing and the risk of collateral damage. Further, it reveals the absolute magnitude of the bombing campaign in the Netherlands, which contrasts with existing history. This article concludes that the nature of strategic bombing on the Netherlands, notwithstanding the fact of sincere intentions and restrained policies, was that the execution of the bombardments regu- larly failed to attain the defined bombing goals. These failures caused extensive collateral damage, as illustrated by three case studies: bombardments on Amsterdam, Nijmegen, and The Hague.