This memorial page is dedicated to Antonius Josephus Mennen, one of more than 725 war victims connected to the municipality of Deurne documented by Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers. The municipality of Deurne and the surrounding villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Helenaveen, Neerkant and Zeilberg were liberated in the autumn of 1944 during heavy fighting. Victims fell on all sides: Allied soldiers from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and German soldiers.
But the archive covers more than just the combat victims on Deurne soil. Residents of Deurne who lost their lives elsewhere are also commemorated: civilians who were murdered in concentration camps, forced labourers who died in Germany, people who were executed or succumbed to the effects of persecution and oppression. In addition, residents of Deurne who entered German military service and were killed elsewhere are also included.
Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers has been documenting the story of all these people since 1995, without distinction of nationality, side or background. The goal is to give every person a name and a face, and to keep their memory alive.
| Name | : Mennen | |
| First names | : Antonius Josephus | |
| Nickname | : Antoon | |
| Date of birth | : 24 March 1935 | |
| Place of birth | : – | |
| Residence | : 29 Hoek, Liessel | |
| Rank / Occupation | : – | |
| Identity tag | : – | |
| Unit | : – | |
| Date of death | : 11 October 1944 | |
| Place of death | : Vlierden | |
| Cause of death | : as a result of a landmine explosion | |
| Cemetery | : – | |
| Memorial site | : Memorial cross in Vlierden | |
| : War memorial in Liessel | ||
| : War memorial at St Willibrord’s Church in Liessel | ||
Additional information
Son of Martinus Mennen and Antonia Maria Raijmakers.
After the fodder beets, intended as cattle feed, had been harvested, they were stored in a silo. Immediately after unloading the first load of fodder beets, the lorry drove over a landmine left behind by the Germans.
As a result of this tragic accident, on Wednesday 11 October 1944, his nephews, the brothers Adrianus Petrus Isbouts and Wilhelmus Johannes Isbouts, were also fatally injured.
Antoon Mennen had previously been taken by his parents to stay with the Isbouts family because of the heavy fighting in Liessel. At the farmstead named ‘Ruth’, in the hamlet of the same name, Ruth, near Vlierden, it was relatively quiet.
Joint memorial card
Death register
View all persons in the category: Residents of Deurne who lost their lives in Deurne