Gerardus Johannes Leeder

This memorial page is dedicated to Gerardus Johannes Leeder, 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.

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Additional information

Son of Carl Wilhelm Leeder and Wilhelmina Antonia Leeder-Schoester.

Gerardus Johannes Leeder moved from Deurne to Venlo on 30 June 1939. During the evacuation of Venlo, the family was evacuated to Germany because they were of German nationality.

On 3 April 1945, Gerardus Johannes Leeder’s brother, Gerrit Willem Leeder, was instructed by his employer, farmer Karl Block of the ‘Gut Knochen’ farm in Bad Driburg, to take a wounded German soldier by horse and cart to a military hospital in Bad Hermannsborn. Gerardus Johannes Leeder was to accompany his brother and the wounded German soldier. As the American 3rd Armoured Division advanced shortly afterwards, it was impossible for the two brothers to return to Karl Block in Bad Driburg, and they were forced to spend the night at farmer Tieleke’s in Reelsen. As they were almost at farmer Tieleke’s, the brothers came under shellfire, during which Gerrit Willem Leeder was wounded in the leg and Gerardus Johannes Leeder in the lower jaw. The wounded Gerardus Johannes Leeder mustered all his strength to go and ask farmer Tieleke for help, and by the time he arrived on the scene, American soldiers were already administering first aid to Gerrit Willem Leeder. Shortly afterwards, both brothers were transported by an American Red Cross ambulance to an American field hospital in Paderborn; farmer Tieleke accompanied the brothers but was taken back to Reelsen by the Americans shortly after their arrival in Paderborn.

Weakened by his injuries and significant blood loss, Gerrit Willem Leeder had no idea where his younger brother, Gerardus Johannes Leeder, had been taken. Gerrit Willem Leeder returned home to Venlo on 10 July 1945, by which time his leg had been amputated. Here, the family waited in vain for Gerardus Johannes Leeder; even after an extensive search by various organisations, including the Red Cross and the Caritas Mission, no further information about him unfortunately came to light. A clairvoyant, whom the desperate mother had consulted, claimed to ‘see’ that Gerardus Johannes Leeder was in a refugee camp in Germany.

A comprehensive file regarding Gerardus Johannes Leeder may be available for inspection from the author.

Letter from Karl Leeder to the Red Cross’s ‘Flüchtlings-Suchdienst’ (Refugee Tracing Service)

Gerardus Johannes Leeder

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