Five Brothers and a War

Indigostraat Disaster—January 1, 1945

As the van der Lecq family had walked from the Hendrik van Deventerstraat and were on the Copernicuslaan (“Copernicus Lane”), they heard what eldest child (and future wife of Kees) Flora would describe as a “hellish” sound—a V-2 ballistic rocket travelling at full throttle at low altitude across the city. Panic-stricken, they found the nearest shelter, which happened to be a outdoor stairway to the upper floors of a row house on the Copernicuslaan.

van Pelt

Before they could reach the top of the stairs, the rocket impacted into houses at the corner of the Indigostraat and the Kamperfoeliestraat, barely 600 meters away, killing 24 people, injuring dozens, and destroying or damaging many homes within hundreds of meters.

Five Brothers and a War

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