In 1944-1945, John Fernhout filmed the liberation of the Netherlands, in the footsteps of the allied forces. The Netherlands Information Bureau and the British Ministry of Information commissioned him to use this footage to put together various films. In Broken Dykes, he shows the liberation of the island of Walcheren, which the Allies had flooded by bombarding its dykes to chase away the Germans. He also shows the hardships endured by the population of the submerged island.
