On 3 October 1944, the dyke to the south of town was destroyed by British bombers (this event is still known in Westkapelle simply as "'t Bombardement" (= "the Bombardment")), to flood Walcheren to flood out German occupation troops to make liberation easier. 180 inhabitants of the village were killed in the bombing; the village was all but wiped off the face of the earth by the bombs and the incoming sea. The Allied troops performed an amphibious landing on 1 November 1944, on the northern and southern edges of the gap in the dyke. During these landings, only six people were left in the village â€" the rest of the survivors had been evacuated to the surrounding villages. It took until 12 October 1945, more than a year later, to finally close the gap