#Monument
Kwadendamme - A monument to the civilian victims
In the village of Kwadendamme, there is a memorial to the civilian victims who died there and in the surrounding area in October 1944. Fourteen of the 15 civilians commemorated here died in the last days of October in the villages of Kwadendamme, Hoedekenskerke and Nisse, when Operation Vitality II ensured that the South Beveland pocket became the main battlefield in the Zeeland Delta. The fifteenth casualty, who is commemorated here, died a month later from wounds sustained during those October days.
Many German soldiers were entrenched in both Kwadendamme and Hoedekenskerke. Thanks to the military intelligence service, they were to some extent prepared for what was to come: Both villages were therefore well defended in anticipation of the expected battle. After the Scottish soldiers had gained a relatively easy foothold in the village of Baarland, they set their sights on Kwadendamme. Using crude artillery, they targeted the village hall where the German command centre was located. Unfortunately, they mainly hit the neighbouring houses. Several people fled in the midst of all this war violence. This includes two of the victims commemorated by this monument: siblings Johannes and Jaantje van Kruyssen were fatally hit by shrapnel as they fled to a safe shelter.
Most of the casualties occurred on 26 October 1944, the day on which the Scottish units landed on Green Beach and Amber Beach. Among the victims were several children: the youngest victim, Apollonia French, was only one year old. The 15 victims commemorated in Kwadendamme are only a small part of the total number of civilian casualties during this period. According to the registry office, there were 34 civilian casualties in the villages of South Beveland on 26 October 1944 alone.
The monument
The memorial consists of a memorial stone with a depiction of Jesus on the cross. The names, birth and death dates of twelve of the victims can be found on individual gravestones at the edge of the memorial. The memorial itself names the three remaining victims and bears the following text:
In memory of
The war victims of 1944
Grace and peace to you (1 Thess., l. 1)
On the back of the monument is a plaque with the following Latin text:
Jesu salvator mundi
exaudi preces supplicum
This text can be translated as: “Jesus, Saviour of the world, hear the prayers of the supplicants.”