Achtmaal
village in Zundert, the Netherlands
Achtmaal is a village the south of the Netherlands. It is located in Zundert, North Brabant, near the border with Belgium.
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, the United States Army 104th Infantry Division, 415th Infantry Regiment, liberated Achtmaal from German troops. Operation Pheasant (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. They proved to be very helpful for the liberators. The Regiment sustained thirty-seven killed and 135 wounded during the operation.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Achtmaal” is village in Zundert, the Netherlands. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Achtmaal, village and Zundert, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “village in Zundert, the Netherlands” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2823165. Authority coordinates are 51.453, 4.582. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1294, 1840, 1863 and 1944.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Achtmaal”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Achtmaal primary sources, Achtmaal archive and Achtmaal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Achtmaal”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Achtmaal” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.