#Battlefield
A city in ruins
During the Second World War, the northern German port city of Emden became a repeated target of Allied air raids. Between July 1940 and April 1945, the city was bombed 94 times. What began as attacks on industrial and military infrastructure ultimately led to the near-total destruction of Emden’s historic city centre—85 percent of the city lay in ruins by end of the war.
The most destructive raid occurred on 5 September 1944. What began as a warm, windless late summer day ended in catastrophe. At 18:00, the air raid sirens sounded—a familiar warning for the people of Emden. Minutes later, chaos broke out. Over the course of a twenty-minute bombardment, Allied planes dropped approximately 1,500 high-explosive bombs, 10,000 incendiary bombs, and 3,000 phosphorus bombs in multiple waves.
The destruction was overwhelming. Emden’s historic old town was reduced to ashes. Five hundred years of architectural heritage were lost in minutes. In one school basement alone, 63 children were killed. Hundreds more civilians lost their lives during the bombing campaign. The city once praised as the "Venice of the North" was transformed into a smouldering wasteland.
Many residents survived thanks to the extensive network of bunkers that had been constructed throughout the war. Still, the psychological and physical scars would remain long after the smoke cleared.
Following Germany’s surrender on 5 May 1945, Canadian forces entered Emden. On 6 May, a young Canadian soldier named John MacLeod of the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders entered the devastated city as part of the occupying force. The Canadian forces remained for only a few weeks before British troops assumed control, but their presence marked a little-known final chapter in Emden’s wartime history.
While Emden has been rebuilt in the decades since, it still bears the marks of a past that must never be forgotten.