Dud St. Clemens Church

Dud St. Clemens church

After the liberation of Nuenen, Pastor Aldenhuyzen writes in his diary on September 22, 1944: "… What the church -which was also touched- I do not know. A bullet was hit right through the wall above the priest's confessional, but we cannot trace where it went. There is no further trace of it. The church has no more damage, but such a piece of the outside and inner wall has driven debris and dust into the church that there is a lot to work in before Sunday…. "
The rectory itself was also hit hard, both the roof and the bedroom on the street side on 9/20/1944 had been hit hard.

On 3/3/1999, during the renovation of the church, the contractor found the lost projectile. It is 75mm High-explosive grenade with bottom detonator, M66A1. Grenade was trapped under the walkway and a truss in the church roof on the right aisle for 54 years. The confessional was also located in the right aisle in 1944.
The grenade is slightly twisted by the wooden roof of the church and then settles at an acute angle into the inner wall of the semicircular arch of the right aisle. The location and damage to the Presbytery also correspond exactly with the direction of the then on the 20th advancing Allies from Opwetten.

On the inside of the church there is still a curly leaf of a rosette missing, it has broken off due to the impact and the vibrations that ran through the truss. The rosette has never been repaired, as a wink and reminder of the war.

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