The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Gerard Lemmen
(Gerardus Johann Willy)

Oorlogsgravenstichting

Gerard Lemmen was a metalworker. The five friends Gerard Lemmen, Gerard Rooskens, Piet Saelmans, Reinier Schampers and Nico Scholten from Tegelen went towards the end of the war on November 23, 1944 through the front (across the Maas and through a minefield) to join the Allied Forces. In early December 1944, they were enrolled in Eindhoven in the Royal Dutch Navy as Marine OVW (war volunteer).  [1] On the way to their training in England, they had to embark in Antwerp. The city had been liberated for two months. There they were killed in a cinema by a V1. You can find their story at the link below [7] from the book: Oorlogservaringen uit Tegelen en Belfeld by Theo Laumans from 2003. [2]
On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennenoffensive) [3], their last serious attempt to halt the Allied advance. Antwerp being an important supply port for the Allies, the bombing on this day was no coincidence. Some Dutch sources indicate that the flying bomb was a V1, but the Antwerp memorial website and the Flemish TV station VRT [4] speak of a V2.

Reburied on the National Field of Honor in Loenen, grave E 906 [5]

Footnotes

1. Archief Oorlogsgravenstichting (@ Nationaal archief), Dossier Gerard Lemmen #5
2. boekwinkeltjes.nl Theo Laumans - Oorlogservaringen uit de omgeving Tegelen Belfeld
3. Wikipedia • Nederlands • Deutsch • English • Français • Português
4. antwerpenherdenkt.be NL tijdlijn • DE zeitschiene • aEN timeline • FR chronologie
   www.vrt.be Nederlands • Deutsch • English • Français
5. Nationaal Ereveld Loenen
   oorlogsgravenstichting.nl • 4en5mei.nl, oorlogsmonumenten
   Wikipedia • Nederlands • Deutsch
6. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl
7. https://ogsweb.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/contribution-media/import/1430114768.jpg