“We remember. Pamiętamy!” the NAC Breda fans wrote in an X post showing a huge sign saying “PAMIĘTAMY”. Each letter of the sign contains pictures from the city’s liberation and Polish soldiers’ faces, including the famous General Stanisław Maczek. 

“Each letter is filled with an image of liberation. 80 years of freedom in our city. They made the ultimate sacrifice, and we will always be grateful to them. Maczek and his men fought for every street and did not think of giving up. They showed NOAD and because of that, we enjoy our city and our freedom again tonight. Let our men on the field bring the same courage and strength this season,” The NAC Breda fans wrote in an X post. 

The Breda football fans also invited a Polish veteran, Lieutenant Eugeniusz Niedzielski to thank him for the liberation of their city. 

The fans also prepared a special memorial list of the soldiers who fought for Breda in 1944.

In late July and early August 1944. The 1st Armoured Division landed on the beaches of Arromanches in Normandy, where it was assigned to the 2nd Corps of the 1st Canadian Army. General Maczek’s division was the only one of the five armoured divisions of the 21st Army Group to take part in heavy fighting a few days after being transported to Normandy.

At the end of September 1944, the Polish 1st Armoured Division started to operate within the British 1st Corps, as part of which it led an assault to capture the Baarle-Nassau area, which it succeeded in doing on 2 October. After a three-week rest, the division began operations which ended with the liberation of the city of Breda on 29 October.

In recognition of its merits, the 1st Armoured Division was awarded the Militaire Willems-Orde, which is the oldest and highest decoration of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. At the request of the people of Breda, the division commander, General Stanisław Maczek was awarded, honorary citizenship of the Netherlands.

Source: X, IPN

Tomasz Modrzejewski

Photo: X @NACnl