The Liberation of Maastricht (1944) - The First Liberated City of the Netherlands in World War II

The Liberation of Maastricht took place in September 1944. At the Americans entered Zuid-Limburg a day before liberating villages they soon moved up to the main city of the Dutch southernmost province. The liberation of Maastricht took place in September 1944 during World War II. At the time, Maastricht was a strategically important city because of its location on the Maas and its proximity to Germany. On September 12, 1944, the liberation of Maastricht began with the arrival of American troops, specifically the 30th Infantry Division of the US Army. Under the leadership of Major General Leland Hobbs, the American soldiers advanced towards the city. They were supported by Allied air support to weaken the German forces. On September 14, 1944, the first American soldiers entered the city and Maastricht was officially liberated from the German occupation.
History Hustle presents: The Liberation of Maastricht (1944) - The First Liberated City of the Netherlands in World War II.
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SOURCES
- De bevrijding van Nederland 1944-1945. Oorlog op de flank (Christ Klep & Ben Schoenmaker).
- Nederland bevrijd van Limburg tot de Lauwerszee (W. Trees / R. van Soeren).
- Liberation of the Municipality of Heer on Wednesday 13 September, 1944.
www.oldhickory30th.com/Liberat... (29-05-2023).
- www.75jaarvrijheid.nl/artikel... (29-05-2023).
- www.oorlogsbronnen.nl/thema/S... (29-05-2023).
- www.1limburg.nl/nieuws/130877... (29-05-2023).
- www.liberationroute.com/pois/... (29-05-2023).
- www.oldhickory30th.com/30th%20... (29-05-2023).
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VIDEO
Video material from:
• Duitsland valt Limburg...
Duitsland valt Limburg binnen mei 1940
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[@HistoryHustle]

GERMAN INVASION OF THE NETHERLANDS: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXqspIxsa5mne5Y GERMAN OCCUPATION OF THE NETHERLANDS: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bWiZfYuwgtxmm7M THE LIBERATION OF THE NETHERLANDS: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZiYeHh7gtl2qas AFTERMATH OF WW2 IN THE NETHERLANDS: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5uch5iqa7B7acU

[@marcoskehl]

✅ 👍

[@rickbear7249]

For viewers from the USA and other Allied countries who have never had the opportunity to visit the Netherlands. As an Englishman, who has lived in the country, I can confirm that the people have not forgotten their debt of gratitude to their liberators. If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Netherlands, especially on 'Liberation Day', you will be astounded by the strength of gratitude and the welcome you will receive. A wonderful people and true friends of those who came to their aid. To paraphrase, Lest We Forget, the people of the Netherlands will never forget their debt of friendship.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply.

[@FreeAmericaChannel]

Thank you very much for this video! My family is from Maastricht. Their home in Wyck was destroyed by allied bombers while they were in a bomb shelter. My Opa was an air raid warden in his neighborhood. Their liberation by the US Army is still commemorated by my family.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your response!

[@Artur_M.]

I very much like this idea of a video focusing on an individual Dutch city during WW2 and its liberation. Perhaps it will become a series? Fingers crossed for Breda. You know why. 😉

[@frogandspanner]

Me too! Dad's family lived in Breda, and I discovered late in the lives of hime and his family how much they had been involved in the resistance movement. Dad was involved in reporting to SOE Nazi air movements at Gilze-Rijen, and sabotaging railway lines and bridges. It is ironic that his brother became a civil engineer whose first professional job was to repair a bridge that dad had blown up. Dad had nightmares, though, and it was only by the application of much Bols Oude Genever that I discovered why: he had been on a mission to sabotage a railway line near Breda, but he and his companion encountered a Nazi patrol. They separated, and there was a gunshot. Dad ran on, but felt guilt for the rest of his life for not trying to help, even though he could not. I still have dad's photos of the Polish liberators, and of a tank in the war-torn but liberated city. But please tell us "why"

[@Artur_M.]

@frogandspanner Well, I'm Polish, and I admit I love to see the knowledge of the exploits of our forces being spread. Additionally, Gen. Stanisław Maczek is my personal favorite military commander of WW2, partially due to his effort to minimize the collateral damage to the city while liberating Breda. PS. Thanks for sharing your family story. It was very interesting!

[@HistoryHustle]

Hi Artur! Breda will be covered one day for sure. Much of my family lives there yet I did not find the time yet. I will travel from September for a year. I will go to South America. Meaning I have no time before that to shoot the episode. It will at least take another year, cause I have to make it when I get back. Sorry!

[@Artur_M.]

@@HistoryHustle Take your time!

[@FlyingKarl01]

Great series. My family lived in Nijmegen during the war. I just moved to outside Maastricht from the states this spring. I am here to learn more about what my family went through

[@HRM.H]

Thanks for making these videos! The liberators deserve to be remembered.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply.

[@spib65]

Excellent stuff as usual Stefan, I have been through Maastricht on the way back across Europe after playing some gigs, it was crazy to imagine what this must have been like back then, all the very best, and many thanks.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply. Maastricht is a nice city yes.

[@aidankitson7877]

Nice work Stef. I was an excellent Dutch movie about the resistance( I forget the name) which showed Mad Tuesday

[@HistoryHustle]

Resistance Banker?

[@aidankitson7877]

That's it 🤔

[@VersedNJ]

My father was in the 29th Inf. Div. US Army, he told me he went through Belgium and the Netherlands before being wounded in Aachen. I saw on one of the maps, Aachen didn't seem far from Maastricht.

[@michaelhemphill8575]

As usual Professor.. very fine presentation..can't emphasize enough..how being on sight..bring these reports more so ..to the forefront.. "Good Job"!!

[@HistoryHustle]

Great to read. Thanks!

[@Thiago.Acquati]

Nice vídeo, a great research done by you with first handed historical documents from the Netherlands. Thanks for sharing the vídeo !

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks!

[@marcvloeberghs8179]

Well done Stefan!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you Marc!

[@jamesbodnarchuk3322]

As always great presentation Dr.Stefan❤🇨🇦

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you James.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was a wonderful series worked done by the( history Hustle) channel. The episode was about Maastricht city liberation by allies at 1944. Thank you, respectful 🙏 ( Sir Stefan), for sharing this wonderful historical coverage video

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks again Mohammed!

[@felixmbandandayitabi4536]

Excellent episode. A curiosity, did you made a special about A. Mussert, one of the most misterious collaborationist at least for those who don't read Dutch or German.

[@marcoskehl]

0:30 Liége was the name of my beloved mother 💖. 1957 / 1993. Obrigado, Stefan! 🇧🇷

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing.

[@corkroonenburg]

Super goeie uitleg😊

[@dutchman7216]

Thank you

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@tennysonfordblackbird2087]

Great professional film🎉

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for watching!

[@tonnywildweasel8138]

It appears that this infamous Max Strobel fled to Friesland where he was responsible for 25 more deaths. And that this war criminal never is cought unfortunately, despite all investigations and searches.. Great vid again Stefan! Greets oet Grun', T.

[@HistoryHustle]

👍👍👍

[@gibraltersteamboatco888]

Good video. Thank you. BZ. Did you visit Groeve de Schark American Memorial? I believe the Stichting Herdenking Amerikaanse Kerstviering 1944 still holds a commemorative mass there annually..

[@HistoryHustle]

No I haven't. I did go to Margraten.

[@gibraltersteamboatco888]

@@HistoryHustle Thank you. The Dutch have my upmost respect and gratitude when it comes to honoring their fallen allies. Almost 80 years on and they have waiting lists to adopt a grave at Margraten and the CWGC cemeteries. A woman lighting a single candle at her adopted grave on a Christmas Eve started a tradition that is now entrenched in your culture. 2011 article out of USAG Schinnen alerted me to the Groeve de Schark, again amazing. I find all this, very humbling. Thank you to all those who ensure that time will not dim the glory of their deeds.

[@jamesbodnarchuk3322]

Would love to see a live podcast with Stefan Mark Felton Spartacus Olsen?

[@HistoryHustle]

😁👍

[@seegurke93]

Thank you :) so what are the start and end date for the battle of maastricht 1944? Grüße

[@HistoryHustle]

Technically 13-14 September 1944.

[@sirdarklust]

That was a good video. Take it easy.

[@HistoryHustle]

😁👍

[@jokodihaynes419]

hope you do the story of the brave knights of arnhem

[@HistoryHustle]

For sure one day!

[@coling3957]

no doubt people were still afraid the Germans might counter-attack and come back - as they did in parts of Belgium later that year during the Battle of the Bulge. . at that time SS and Gestapo followed the German troops, arresting people suspected of being in the Resistance, or even people they had seen in news footage celebrating their liberation .. many were shot.

[@ronhaire5978]

My father was an american soldier that was in Limburg at this time. He met a dutch girl and married her some 2 years later.

[@HistoryHustle]

Wow, what a story. Guess she noved with him to the States? Did you ever learn Dutch?

[@ronhaire5978]

@@HistoryHustle Hoe gaat het met u? Dutch, I can read it better than speak the language (een beetje moeilijk) My moeder was from the town of Kerkrade, Limburg and my father was in the 2nd Armored Division. I have a very big map, framed above my fire place showing the movement of the division throughout Europe. My parents were married in the Church at Kerkrade. I was told, cannot verify, she was the first dutch meisje to marry an American soldier in the Netherlands. Yes, she did move to USA, it was bad in country after the war. I have letters she wrote to her family while waiting to depart from Cherbourg, France.

[@HistoryHustle]

Dank voor je reactie.

[@denisobrien4253]

Hi , I have a friend who is from Zwolle. During the war he was a toddler that ended up in an orphanage. His father had been in the Dutch military and was prisoner. His mother disappeared. He doesn't remember her or even know much of her. I have through a genealogy site discovered somethings about her. I wonder if you could give some suggestions how I might help him discover what happened to her.

[@HistoryHustle]

Sorry. I'm a KZbinr, not an archivist. Contact this organization: www.niod.nl/en Maybe they can help you. I cannot.

[@denisobrien4253]

@@HistoryHustle Thanks, it's really what I hoped you could help with. I know that he is well in his eighties and it would be a great thing if he knew good or bad what happened to his mother.

[@alandesouzacruz5124]

Make a vídeo about battle of leros German last victory in ww2

[@HistoryHustle]

If I get there on location I would.

[@ktipuss]

In the World War 2 Week by Week KZbin series, Spartacus Olsen criticises the use by the RAF and USAAF of heavy bombers to attack small targets like bridges in built-up areas as they did in Maastricht, and Caen in Normandy which was the example he used. The RAF had Mosquito fighter-bombers that could do pin-point attacks on targets and did so elsewhere in France, Denmark and The Netherlands. Apparently the Air Commanders were divided on this issue but had to carry out orders from above. The Germans had their own dive bombers, the Ju87, very effective in the invasion of Poland and The Lowlands in 1939/40, but were slow and were sitting ducks for the RAF in the Battle of Britain. The Mosquitoes however were very fast and could outpace most German fighters. Part of the problem could have been the USAAF's belief in the supposed accuracy of the Norden bombsight, which wasn't so accurate on actual missions with bombers weaving to evade flak and the occasional German fighters.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for sharing. I really have to catch up with that channel. Haven't seen a video for ages.

[@Kededian]

What happened to the people that were members of the NSB? From what i heard they were arrested including children etc. Others say they fled to Germany.

[@HistoryHustle]

That's where it came down to yes.

[@DD-fj2ut]

Sad to hear about the B-17’s attempt to bomb the bridge hitting homes instead. In retrospect a lesson in how inaccurate the aerial “precision” bombing could actually be.

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed.

[@CalebNorthNorman]

👍

[@HistoryHustle]

:)

[@fryfrysk]

I believe that Maastricht was the only dutch town liberated by the US army . The rest of NL was liberated by the Canadian army; Correct ?

[@HistoryHustle]

Of that I am not sure. My grandma lived in Sittard and had Americans stationed in her house. Hope to cover more on the American contribution in the Liberation of the NL.

[@marie-jacqueline2180]

No, Roermond, Venlo for instance were liberated by Americans. In Middle- and North-Limburg people had to wait till March 1945. In short it depended on which side of the River Meuse the city or village was situated. The places on the right side of the river became frontline, on the left the allies were situated. People still occuped had a long, cold and hard winter in front of them.

[@tylerclayton6081]

🇺🇸 ❤ 🇳🇱

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@shutup2751]

the home of andre rieu ❤

[@dirk5720]

Nobody cares

[@Better_Clean_Than_Green]

@@dirk5720 But care enough to reply👍

[@HistoryHustle]

🎻

[@jankusthegreat9233]

Did German medicis help injured duch civilians?

[@HistoryHustle]

Don't know. Believe they had their hands full on soldiers.

[@user-rh9sg9qj2h]

And I was thinking Maastricht had been liberated by Andre Rieu and his marching band orchestra walking through the Vrijthoflac and playing his Entry or the Radetzky March. Americans always leave a mess. Without Uncle Stalin's help, they would have been liberating Europe for the next 10 years and making Berlin the next Hiroshima.

[@HistoryHustle]

Lol

[@mirola73]

Football field, niet een 'soccer field', de originele naam is 'football' (wij noemen het toch ook voetbal ?). Het is het probleem van de Amerikanen dat zij hun veramerikaanste rugby 'voetbal' noemen.

[@HistoryHustle]

Ok.

[@kingerikthegreatest.ofall.7860]

I thought the Canadians liberated the Netherlands.

[@HistoryHustle]

They did, most of it. Also British and Polish troops. And French in the north. Only the part of the south was done by the Americans.

[@talpark8796]

First Canadian Army, eh 😉 🦬🇨🇦💪

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@willnill7946]

You mean occupation?

[@shutup2751]

occupation ? 😂yeah i'm sure the german occupation that resulted in famine was much better

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed. Revisionist nonsense.

[@fryfrysk]

correct, but you are about 5 years too late in your comment , but keep on trying to catch up !

[@willnill7946]

@@shutup2751 American occupation still exists