Inundation of the Wieringermeer

In 1945 German forces occupying the Netherlands planned to destroy the Zuiderzee Works to cover their retreat.

In late February or early March 1945 Dutch workers started to undermine the dike around the polder under German command.

Each hole was loaded with 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) of explosives; unexploded bombs from British and American aircraft were used.

[5] No one was killed as the polder slowly submerged again (the inhabitants had been warned), but the high water and a subsequent storm destroyed most of the infrastructure built in the previous decade.

As civilians left the flooding polder through the military checkpoints, the Resistance member A.C. de Graaf [nl], of Wieringermeer, was captured and then shot whilst trying to escape.

[8][9] Owing to their size and the infill needed, the dyke was not restored to its original line, passing through where the two flooded pits are, but now went outside this by 144 m (472 ft) and with the perimeter road inside them.