Masstricht Liberation Plate

[Old Marine]

This is another recent flea market find for next to nothing. Does any one have any information about this plate? Was this commissioned by the City? Or, is was this made just as a commercial commemorative souvenir?

 

Any Idea as to when this plate may have been made? I looked up Petrus Regout and they went out of business in 1969 so I am guessing that this plate was made before that date.

 

Well, any comments, observations or information would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Dennis

 

[Old Marine]

[Old Marine]

[earlymb]

I think it is a commerical commemorative souvenir plate. The translation of the text on the front is "Liberation of Maastricht by the Americans". I think it was made not long after the liberation because special anniversaries would likely have another date on it, such as "1944-1954 10 years liberation" or something like that. The city historical archive might be able to help you if you contact them with these pics. Nice plate! :thumbsup:

 

Greetz

 

David

[General Apathy]

This is another recent flea market find for next to nothing. Does any one have any information about this plate? Was this commissioned by the City? Or, is was this made just as a commercial commemorative souvenir?

 

Any Idea as to when this plate may have been made? I looked up Petrus Regout and they went out of business in 1969 so I am guessing that this plate was made before that date.

 

Well, any comments, observations or information would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

Dennis

 

 

Hi Old Marine, this is pretty weird, having never seen one of these plates before, I just saw two of them two days ago.

 

I have just come back from Maastricht from the anniversary of the 65th liberation, we took 41 WWII vehicles and 110 pesonnel following the route of the 2nd armored division. Two of these 1944 manufactured plates were given as gifts to the two leading people who organised this trip.

 

To see photos of this trip the vehicles, people and city see the posting on this forum http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...c=53905&hl=

 

 

Cheers ( Lewis )

[Old Marine]

I have just come back from Maastricht from the anniversary of the 65th liberation, we took 41 WWII vehicles and 110 pesonnel following the route of the 2nd armored division. Two of these 1944 manufactured plates were given as gifts to the two leading people who organised this trip.

 

Hi Lewis,

 

Those photos are fantastic, you guys really looked great, and the vehicle are just fantastic. I bet that it was pretty special to part of an event like that, really nice, thanks for giving me the link. Do you think these plates were actually made in 1944? That would make sense, for the company to quickly produce a plate commemorating the Liberation while it was still a very special current event. I would imagine that in 1944 these plates would have sold pretty well to the enthusiastic liberated residents as well as the GIs.

 

Some one had suggested to me that this may have been made in the 50's for an anniversary commemoration event, but I didn't think that was the case. I agree with David, if it was an anniversary plate it would most likely have both dates on it. It would be pretty cool if this plate was actually made in 1944 only a few weeks after the Liberation.

 

Hi Old Marine, this is pretty weird, having never seen one of these plates before, I just saw two of them two days ago

 

On a side note, I too seem to run in to that same weird phenomena. I'll go years with out finding something and then when I finally find it, in rapid succession, I'll come across 3 or 4 more of the same items. A few months back I finally found a nice M-1 bayonet at the flea market and then for the next couple of weeks every time I hit the markets or antique shops I found an M-1 bayonet. I have had this happen with 43 field jackets, and other WWII things. I am not complaining, it's just seems a bit weird that when I find some thing I keep finding like items. :think: Maybe the militaria gods are just in a good mood, who knows?

 

Thank you both for your comments.

 

Dennis

[APO472]

After the war these type plates and other items were produced and presented to the Veterans when they returned for the major anniversaries, ie 1954, 1964, 1974 etc. That being said, I think that your's is from the 1954 anniversary. In 1964 I believe the Veterans were presented with miniature wooden shows (about the size that you can hang on a Christmas tree), You can see 1974 in the following pictures, 1984 was a blue & orange ribbon that said "Remember September" if I recall correctly. Seeing your plate reminded me of some that I have.

Up first the cousin to your plate from 1954 the "Eindhoven Ashtray". Commissioned by Philips...

[APO472]

Here is the 1974 Veteran Gift. This is about a foot long and is designed to be an ashtry but it can double as a wall hanger as well!

[APO472]

Here is the 1974 Veteran Gift. This is about a foot long and is designed to be an ashtry but it can double as a wall hanger as well!

The back...Hope this helps.

[Johannes]

These plates aren't that rare, I've got a few of them in my collection.

A lot of older people still have these plates hanging on the wall or somewhere else.

Maastricht was liberated in september 1944, so I think these plates were made in late 1944 or 1945/1946.

There is also another version of this plate in color, but they are very rare. I've never seen one before.

Besides these plates, other plates were made as remembrance even a tank as teapot.

I'll post a picture of my plates a.s.a.p.

 

The value of your plate is appr. 30 to 40 euro's, that's (at this moment) 45 to 60 dollar.

[Johannes]

 

Left: The Maastricht Liberation Plate

Middle under: Also a Maastricht Liberation plaque

Middle above: A memorial plaque for the Rail strike in sept 1944 and may 1945

Right: Dutch Liberation PLate 1940-1945 'Oranje bloeit op eigen grond na vijf jaar tyrannie'

Translation: ' Oranje thrives on own ground after five years tyranny'

[Old Marine]

Johannes,

 

Your plates are nice, thanks for taking the time to post them. I have never seen the other 2 plates or the rail tile, the more you can see of others collection the more knowledge you have for future hunts. Thanks for the information about the plate.

 

I never thought that much about commemorative things like this in my collection, but I happened to stumble across this plate at a flea market and now I think it's a really nice addition to the WWII collection.

 

Thanks for the information.

 

Dennis

[nsholld]

I'm not sure if the plates were sold commercially or not, but the one I am familiar was a gift to a G.I. while still in Maastricht during WWII. The G.I. in question was with a U.S. Army railroad division and he came through Maastricht shortly after the liberation. His second time there was when he received the plate; he said that a china factory had gotten up and running and was giving the plates to American troops as a thank-you. This soldier could not possibly have bought it at a later date, because he never traveled outside the U.S. once he got Stateside. It had a place of honor in his home for the rest of his life; I remember it from the early 1950's on. He also didn't even know anyone who traveled to Europe after WWII. I suppose that it's possible that some were sold, but certainly not the one he possessed.

 

N. S. Demarest

[TexasPeg]

The Delft blue plate was designed by my father-in-law, John van Wunnik, of Maastricht. He befriended an American G.I., Henry Kreuger, who was with the 30th Infantry Div. of the 1st Army when the troops liberated Maastricht. Dad was an accomplished artist and potter who worked for Petrus Regout pottery. Our family has several of these plates but it was only this week that I learned (from Nelson Krueger of Kansas, Henry Krueger's son) that Henry was the model for the soldier depicted on the plate, and that Dad was the one who designed the plate. I would not be at all surprised if the plates were given as thank-yous to the soldiers. The people of Maastricht were enormously grateful to the American troops.

[manayunkman]

My father's youngest brother lived and practiced law Maastricht.

 

Beautiful city.

 

In addition to the plates already shown there is another plate which in English says "5th of May Holland is free".

 

In Dutch it rhymes.