North Sea flood of 1953

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Today in Dutch history: the tragic ‘Watersnoodramp’ flooding of 1953

The North Sea flood was a major flood caused by a heavy storm surge that struck the Netherlands, north-west Belgium, England and Scotland. Many sea defences facing the surge were overwhelmed, resulting in extensive flooding. In the Netherlands 1,836 people died, along with tens of thousands of animals and huge property damage - read more here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_flood_of_1953

In the next few days a huge rescue and salvage operation was conducted, for which many CMP trucks were used, along with other vehicles like DUKWs which gave sterling service in the flooded areas.

Many thousands of volunteers came to help closing the breaches in the dykes. My dad was one of them, filling sandbags which were then carried by hand and placed in the breaches.

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Source: https://nimh-beeldbank.defensie.nl/f...a-7babfc2ce58c | https://nimh-beeldbank.defensie.nl/f...0-3affc59ba9b0