This memorial page is dedicated to Jacobus Lambertus Simons, 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.

 

Jacobus Lambertus Simons

Name: Simons
First names: Jacobus Lambertus Simons
Nickname: –
Date of birth: 4 April 1917
Place of birth: Beesel
Residence: Heide, near Swalmen
Rank / Occupation: Soldier / Blacksmith and metalworker
Identity tag: –
Unit: 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment
Date of death: 3 October 1939
Place of death: Neerkant
Cause of death: as a result of a mine explosion
Cemetery: Swalmen General Cemetery (grave already cleared)
Memorial site: War Memorial in Swalmen


Additional information

Son of Wilhelmus Johannes Simons and Maria Catharina Schoenmakers

On Tuesday 3 October 1939, four soldiers were digging up landmines in the Neerkant area with a view to relocating them. This relocation was necessary because the landmines had sunk too deep into the marshy Peel. At around 2.30 pm, the engineer soldier Jacobus Lambertus Simons, attached to the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 27th Infantry Regiment, tripped over one of the mines (or, as is also claimed, accidentally struck the mine’s detonator with his spade), causing it to detonate. Simons died instantly and his body was severely mutilated by the force of the explosion. Miraculously, the three other soldiers remained unharmed. Jacobus Lambertus Simons was buried in Swalmen on Friday 6 October, amidst great public interest.

Memorial card
Bidprentje
Funeral in Swalmen, Friday 6 October 1939
Uitvaart te Swalmen, vrijdag 6 oktober 1939
*De Nieuwe Koerier* dated 4 October 1939
De Nieuwe Koerier van 04-10-1939
*De Nieuwe Koerier* dated 7 October 1939
De Nieuwe Koerier van 07-10-1939
*Vlissingse Courant* dated 6October 1939
Vlissingse Courant van 06-10-1939
Zierikseesche Nieuwsbode, 6 October 1939
Zierikseesche Nieuwsbode van 06-10-1939
Middelburgse Courrant, 6 October 1939
Middelburgse Courrant van 06-10-1939
Gravestone at the General Cemetery in Swalmen (grave already cleared)
Grafsteen op de Algemene Begraafplaats te Swalmen (graf reeds geruimd)
Death register
Overlijdensregister

View all persons in the category: Dutch Soldiers Killed in Action