Cinema Rex bombing

This article is about the Belgian cinema destroyed by a V-2 rocket in World War II. For the arson of the Cinema Rex in Iran, see Cinema Rex fire.

Cinema Rex bombing
Part of the Western Front of WW2 and Strategic bombing during World War II
Location	Cinema Rex, Belgium
Date	16 December 1944
Attack type	Aerial bombing Rocket attack
Weapon	1 V-2 Rocket
Deaths	567 killed 271 civilians 296 Allied military personnel
Injured	194 Allied military personnel Unknown number of civilians
Perpetrators	Wehrmacht

Cinema Rex was a cinema located at De Keyserlei 15 in Antwerp, Belgium. It opened in 1935 and was designed by Leon Stynen, a Belgian architect, modeled after large American movie theatres.

On 16 December 1944 (the first day of the Ardennes Offensive), at 15:20, a V-2 rocket fired from The Netherlands (Hellendoorn) by the SS Werfer Battery 500 directly landed on the roof of the cinema during a showing of The Plainsman. There were approximately 1,100 people inside the cinema and the explosion killed 567 people including 296 Allied servicemen (194 further servicemen were injured) and 11 buildings in total destroyed. Up to 74 Belgian children were killed too.

It took nearly a week to dig all the bodies out of the rubble. It was the single highest death total from a single rocket attack during the war. Following the attack all public performance venues were closed and the town council ordered that a maximum of 50 people were allowed to congregate in any one location.

The theatre was re-built in 1947 but closed in 1993 and was demolished in 1995.

Further reading

• Serrien, Pieter (2016). Elke dag angst: de terreur van de V-bommen op België (1944-1945). Amsterdam: Horizon. ISBN 978-94-921-5958-8.