Saint Anthony's Mill - Eerde

The history of the windmill begins with the very first request from Wilhelmus Smits, who on 24 April 1883 asked the mayor and aldermen of Sint-Oedenrode whether he could build a windmill in Eerde. Subsequently, the windmill was owned by various private owners, until it came into the hands of the De Eerdse Molen foundation on 4 June 2002, who wanted to rebuild the windmill in its former glory. On 1 March 2009, the rebuilding work officially began, so that on Saturday 17 September 2011, a mill capable of grinding could once again be put into use.

The mill in wartime

The mill was severely damaged by acts of war in September 1944. Sergeant Jacob Wingard, an American soldier, was killed in the mill. On 18 September 1944, he was shot by a German sniper, who was probably in the hedgerow behind the mill. After this incident, the five families hiding in the mill were evacuated during the fighting. Directly behind the mill is a sand drift. Here on 24 September 1944, during the Battle of the Sanddunes, fighting raged between the Americans and Germans, with enormous losses on both sides. A monument to the soldiers who died here has been erected near the windmill.

On the foundation's own website, the history of the mill is described in detail and there is also a photo album.