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The coastline you are viewing is a dike around the village of Westkapelle. During World War II, The dike was part of the Atlantikwall. The Atlantikwall was the German defence border against the Allies, it stretched from Norway to Spain. The Germans built all sorts of bunkers and anti-aircraft artillery on the dike. Therefore the Royal Air Force bombarded the dike in 1944, leaving a hole 30 meters across in it. This caused a flood all over the peninsula of Walcheren. In the panorama you can clearly sea that the village was built below sea level. A few months after the first bombardment, two more followed and the Allied forces landed in Westkapelle through the hole in the dike. It took 8 days of fighting to liberate Walcheren. The Allied forces tank (look down in the panorama) was the only one that reached the streets of Westkapelle. It still stands on the dike as a monument (and kids love climbing it). Nowadays the dike is crowded with Germans during the summer. They're tourists and welcomed in. War is remembered, but hatred has been left in the past.
Shortcut to this page: http://worldwidepanorama.org/wwp_rss/go/n2048
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