Achtmaal is a village the south of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is located in

Zundert Zundert () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and town in the south of the Netherlands bordering Belgium, in the province of North Brabant. Zundert is the birthplace of Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter Vincent va ...

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

, near the border with

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

History

The village was first mentioned in 1294 as "Gilberti de Achtmale", and is a combination of "reserved forest" and "court of justice". Achtmaal was home to 100 people in 1840. The St Cornelius Church was built in 1863. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

104th Infantry Division,

415th Infantry Regiment The 415th Regiment is a regiment of the United States Army Reserve. Service during the World Wars The 415th Infantry was constituted in the Organized Reserve on 24 June 1921, assigned to the 104th Division, and allotted to the Ninth Corp ...

, liberated Achtmaal from German troops.

Operation Pheasant Operation Pheasant, also known as the Liberation of North Brabant, was a major operation to clear German troops from the province of North Brabant in the Netherlands during the fighting on the Western Front in the Second World War. This offensiv ...

(code-name "Suitcase"), aimed at clearing German troops from the province of North Brabant, started on the morning of Friday 20 October 1944 just after 7:00am. On 27 October 1944 the 3rd Battalion of the 415th Infantry entered the village and Lieutenant Colonel Kelleher was handed papers by the

Dutch resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...

. They proved to be very helpful for the liberators. The Regiment sustained thirty-seven killed and 135 wounded during the operation.

References

Populated places in North Brabant Zundert {{NorthBrabant-geo-stub