The operation for this large-scale air offensive was codenamed "Argument." In February 1944, massive air raids were conducted daily for a week, targeting centers of the German aircraft industry. Due to poor weather conditions, some targets could not always be located. In such cases, the aircraft had to find alternative targets to avoid returning with their bomb loads. In military jargon, these alternative targets were designated with the letter "O," standing for "Target of Opportunity."

Coevorden became one such target of opportunity. It was a relevant objective for Allied bombers, especially during "The Big Week." Coevorden was an industrially rich town under German control. During the bombing on Monday, February 21, 1944, the potato starch factory and the Hollandia cardboard factory were hit. The latter supplied wood chips for the wood gas generators of Nazi Germany, which was experiencing a gasoline shortage at the time. "This was a kind of LPG gas that allowed cars to run," explained Bé van der Weide, who spent years researching the bombing in which his grandfather was killed.

The sky above Coevorden was clear blue that Monday afternoon around 2:45 PM when a group of 25 to 30 aircraft, escorted by smaller fighters, approached the city at low altitude. Initially, the residents watched in awe from the ground. Their admiration turned to fear as small dots began to fall from the planes—dots that turned out to be bombs. Dozens rained down.

The potato starch factory sustained only one direct hit at the front, leaving most of the building intact. Three people died there: stoker-machinist Harm Baas, blacksmith Jacob Drent, and factory worker Gerrit Reins. Two direct hits were recorded at the wood gas generator factory, which was completely destroyed. Three more people died there: factory workers Wiecher Pool, Hendrik Lok, and Klaas van der Weide.

In the built-up area of Coevorden, many homes suffered broken windows. Despite the devastation at Juurlink's garage, the Drentsch Overijsselsche Houthandel (timber trade), and the carpentry workshop of contractor Noord, there were no casualties. At the trading company "De Twee Provinciën," bookkeeper Willem ten Vlieghuis was fatally struck. In total, there were seven deaths and twelve injuries.

A memorial stone was placed in the facade of the boiler house of the former potato starch factory on Gramsbergerstraat in Coevorden in 1946, approximately where the victims had fallen. The unveiling in memory of the three deceased employees—Harm Baas, Jacob Drent, and Gerrit Reins—took place on September 14 of that year. Decades later, in 1994, a commemorative plaque about the bombing was also unveiled at the former cardboard factory.