'This resistance must be broken quickly,' the order read. German aircraft were at once diverted from the Belgian frontier 'to facilitate the rapid conquest of Fortress Holland'. Their target was the bridges over the River Rhine at Rotterdam. Many bombs, missing their target, fell on the city centre; 814 Dutch civilians were killed. Rumour, and Allied propaganda, quickly multiplied the figure to 25,000, even 30,000. The reality was harsh enough. The rumour gave added terror to the lives of those in France and Belgium who were as yet unbombed.
From: Martin Gilbert, The Second World War, A Complete History, Herry Holt and Company, Inc., New York, 1989, p. 65.
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