Knokke-Heist commemorates Zwindrama with two killed officers

View our report from 2011 below with images from 1971

In the night of 2 to 3 May 1971, a police patrol carried out a routine check on the Zwin car park. The driver of a stolen car turned out to be a tough boy: Robert Van Sprang, a Dutch soldier of 22. He planned to commit a series of robberies in our country and mowed down four officers with a machine gun. Two died on the spot: Willy De Bree and Paul Demare. Two other officers were seriously injured. The perpetrator was able to escape but would eventually be caught in his barracks in the Netherlands. He was jailed for 12 years and later committed suicide.

The 1971 massacre sent shockwaves across the country. Such a brutal murder had never been seen. King Leopold visited the wounded officers and the funeral ceremony attracts crowds.

51 years after the facts, the municipality of Knokke-Heist and the police remain important to commemorate this drama. The ceremony will take place this afternoon in the presence of Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden, the mayors of Knokke-Heist and Damme and the chief of police of the Damme/Knokke-Heist police zone.