World War II: American aircraft mistakenly bomb the Dutch towns of Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and Deventer, resulting in 800 dead in Nijmegen alone.

The bombing of Nijmegen on 22 February 1944 was a target-of-opportunity aerial bombing raid by the United States Army Air Forces on the city of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, then occupied by Nazi Germany. In terms of the number of victims, it was one of the largest bombardments of a Dutch city during World War II. Officially, nearly 800 people were killed due to carelessness in inaccurate bombing, but because people in hiding were not counted, the actual death toll was likely higher. A large part of the historic city centre was destroyed, including Saint Steven's Church. Saint Augustine's Church and Nijmegen railway station were heavily damaged as well.

Nijmegen is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands and the first to be recognized as such in Roman times. In 2005, it celebrated 2,000 years of existence.

Arnhem is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of the rivers Nederrijn and Sint-Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development.

Enschede is a city and municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches the border of the German city of Gronau.

Deventer is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020 the municipality of Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but it also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen was merged with Deventer as part of a national effort to reduce bureaucracy in the country.