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In the short engagement, the Germans fired at least five 10.5 cm (4.13 in) shells at the petroleum tanks. None hit their target but the sound of the explosions woke up the sleeping Dutch coastal artillery detachment on the island. They rushed to their two 120 mm (4.7 in) naval gun battery that protected the tanks and opened fire.
Following the raid the Dutch government decided to permanently station marines and ships on the island. [11] [12] During the Second World War, the island played an important role in the supply of fuel for the Allied forces. In 1940, before the invasion of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany, the British occupied Curaçao and the French Aruba.
Curaçao includes the main island of Curaçao and the much smaller, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao ("Little Curaçao"). [12] Curaçao has a population of 158,665 (January 2019 estimate), [ 2 ] with an area of 444 km 2 (171 sq mi); its capital is Willemstad . [ 12 ]
The Colony of Curaçao and Dependencies (Dutch: Kolonie Curaçao en onderhorigheden; Papiamento: Kolonia di Kòrsou i dependensianan) was a Dutch colony in the Caribbean Sea from 1634 until 1828 and from 1845 until 1954.
If you live near the Carolina Forest area, there’s a good chance your home could have been built atop a WWII era bombing range. Those rusty old explosives are still being found over 70 years later.
The 1969 Curaçao uprising (Papiamento: Trinta di Mei, ' Thirtieth of May ') was a series of riots on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, then part of the Netherlands Antilles, a semi-independent country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The uprising took place mainly on 30 May but continued into the night of 31 May – 1 June 1969.
In 1958, it was designated as the only cathedral of the island. [3] The ruins of Pietermaai after the 1877 hurricane. On 23 September 1877, Curaçao was struck by Hurricane Pundi which caused massive destruction. Pietermaai was the hardest hit part of the island. [7] Large parts of the neighbourhood were destroyed or swept away by the waves. [8]
An invasion of Curaçao was launched by French forces against the Dutch colony in 1800 during the War of the Second Coalition.French forces landed on the island on 22 July, and on 5 September attacked and captured a fort protecting the town of Willemstad.