The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Mathieu “No II” Corbey/Corbeij
(Marie Joseph Peter Mathieu)

broeksittard.nl …

Cammaert writes about Mathieu Corbey: Before the war, he worked for military intelligence and collected data on German positions, artillery positions and fortifications. Around Easter 1940, to his annoyance, he observed that German officers in civilian clothes were visiting the Netherlands as tourists and taking careful note of the defensive line in Limburg. [1.1]
He did not fall well with some because he was teetotal and president of the association Sobrietas. [2]
In addition, secretary of the Centrale Limburgsche Drankweer. [3]
He was mayor of Broeksittard from 1934 until his “dishonorable” discharge in 1941. That municipality lay east of Sittard next to the German border and was soon incorporated into Sittard after his resignation, under a Nazi mayor, of course.
On August 31, 1941, Corbeij asked the Department of the Interior to relieve him of his post as mayor of Broeksittard. He could no longer concile himself with the erosion of democracy and advancing Nazification. On September 21, 1941, he was discharged. Between January 7, 1942 and February 8, 1943, he was imprisoned as a hostage in St. Michielsgestel. [1.1]
In 1943 the LO was founded with the main purpose of bringing together forces in helping those in hiding and other “illegals.” Mathieu Corbey founded a resistance group in Sittard after his release from St. Michielsgestel, but remained stubbornly independent to the annoyance of the Roermond and Heerlen districts. [1.1, p.658]
Cammaert wrote summarily about him in his introduction: Sittard and surroundings, former mayor. Resistance pioneer. Had numerous resistance contacts and played a leading role in the Sittard underground. He was involved in almost every conceivable resistance activity, but always remained in the background. [1.2]
It was mainly the many contacts that the former and future politician had:
After his release, he immediately began making contacts with the aim of building an underground organization in the Sittard region. Thus he got in touch with the criminologist Father M.H. van Rooy OFM from Sittard, the teacher of French A.H. Simonis, the clerk of the cantonal court in Sittard, the jurist G. Dahmen, rector E. Pompen from Ophoven-Sittard, the director of the hospital, H.L.M. van der Hoff, the police detective J.J. Leentjens and with P.J. Ronden, working as an electrician at the State Mines. [1.1]
In Sittard, the LO worked narrowly with the knpkploeg (K.P.) under the leadership of the aforementioned Dolf Simonis.

After the liberation in 1944 he was for some time acting mayor of Merkelbeek, Oirsbeek and Schinveld. In 1949 followed his appointment as mayor of Nieuwstadt and in addition he was a member of the Provincial States of Limburg. Corbey died in late 1950 at the age of 64. [3]
Mathieu Corbey’s surname is also often spelled Corbeij. Therefore, you can read both variants above. Apparently this seems to be more common in that family. [4]

Footnotes

1. Cammaert, A.P.M. (1994). Het verborgen front: Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
   1. Hoofdst. 6, $VIII.6. District Sittard pp.686 ff.
   2. Hoofdst. 0, pp.18ff: Introductie van vaak genoemde personen
2. broeksittard.nl Mathieu Corbeij, leven en werken
3. Wikipedia NL: Mathieu Corbey/Corbeij
4. genealogieonline.nl/ Stamboom Corbey » Marie Joseph Peter Mathieu "Mathieu" Corbeij (1886-1950)
5. https://broeksittard.nl/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Corbeij-1941.jpg
6. Wikipedia NL: Mathieu Corbey