Jan Berben was born on June 4, 1911 in Roermond and lives in Breda. He holds the title of engineer. When the threat of war for the Netherlands increases sharply in the autumn of 1939, he is mobilized and assigned to the 16th Company of Pioneers as a first lieutenant of the reserve. On 25 May 1940, after the German invasion and the Dutch capitulation, he and five other Dutch soldiers carried out clearing work at Wessem in Limburg. A landmine that is on high alert explodes unexpectedly. Four soldiers are killed in the explosion; two are injured. Jan is one of the fatalities; he would have turned 29 in a few days. Local soldier Petrus Verwater also died in the accident. Jan finds his final resting place in the Roman Catholic cemetery Zuylen in Breda.
Jan Berben was born on June 4, 1911 in Roermond and lives in Breda. He holds the title of engineer. When the threat of war for the Netherlands increases sharply in the autumn of 1939, he is mobilized and assigned to the 16th Company of Pioneers as a first lieutenant of the reserve. On 25 May 1940, after the German invasion and the Dutch capitulation, he and five other Dutch soldiers carried out clearing work at Wessem in Limburg. A landmine that is on high alert explodes unexpectedly. Four soldiers are killed in the explosion; two are injured. Jan is one of the fatalities; he would have turned 29 in a few days. Local soldier Petrus Verwater also died in the accident. Jan finds his final resting place in the Roman Catholic cemetery Zuylen in Breda.
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