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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1980-06-18, Page 6• lland remembers • was a, sobering experience to look back over the last 35 years and thinkwhat you had enjoyed during that time that these boys had missed be- cause power hungry men had foisted an unwanted war on the world countries complete with suit- able background and cos - tunes. They could change costumes behind the two app .10'' it 4' Panes almost as, quickly as they flipped the panels to reveal another back-drop for the next act. MANY OFFICIALS VIEWED THE PARADE— ' the Canadian Ambassador to the Netherlands, the new QUeen Beatrix, former Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands all reviewed the parade at 35th anniversary services of the liberation of the Dutch by Canadians in the Second World War. (Photo by Bill Elston) CANADIAN GRAVES' AT GROSBEEK --There tulips on each grave when the 345th are 2300 Canadians buried in Grosbeek anniversary service of the liberation of the Dutch Cemetery in Holland and the Dutch laid three - in the Second World War was held (Photo by Bill Elston) (Cdntinued from Page .5) griet and Major Gen. Yokes (retired) took the salute. Two. RCMP constables acted as markers at the saluting tease.' Participants ranged , in age from the late fifties, well into' the seventies. Some had lost' limbs in the war but still marched, at least one man; went the entire distance on crutches -- many had artif- icial legs. They were told' before they started that if they felt unable to continue -- just step aside and vehicles would be patrolling to pick: them up. The parade also! included The Bugle Band of; the Queen's Own Rifles oil Canada; The Armed Forces' Brass Band and The Kam- loops Rube Band. A flag party from the Canadian Armed Forces Base, Lahr, Germany followed The Queen's Own Band to lead the parade. One of the wives of a Canadian happened to men- tion to her Dutch host that she had been one of the nurses who had, attended HRH Princess Juliana at the birth of Princess "Margriet. Her host promptly informed officials and she was presen- ted to the Princess who chatted with 'her fora time. PARADE ROUTE The entire parade route Was lined 30 feet deep with cheering, laughing and weeping spectators who \ran out to embrace and present flowers to the marchers. The men in turn gave coins and,. any small souvenirs they had to "the children along the way. It was, a veritable second Liberation. Perhaps, this time the "Liberators" realized more fully what it meant. Thirty-five years ago they were young and doing a job they were assigned. They knew the people were happy to see them and the Can- adians and Dutch seemed to form an instant rapport which seemed stronger than in some other countries which were liberated. During the last few days, the Canadians had heard even more of the hardships suffered by the people as they waited out the Nazi Occupation. Everyone had his own private story of hardships during that black period in The Netherlands history. One of the changes most of the men had noticed this time was the great number of sheep in the pastures. At the end_ of 'the war there were Acme left-- they had all been slaughter- ed to provide food--mostly to feed the Nazis. The Dutch were left to subsist on what they could find. Recipes for cooking bulbs abounded along with the amount of each bulb that could be consumed without harmful effects. Jewish people who survived the deportations and killings recounted stories of spending up to three years hiding in one house or even one room. Others remember relatives and friends being taken away never to be seen again., In September 1944 the Nazis embarked on a "burnt earth" policy --they system- atically destroyed everything which might be of use to the allies. Supplies to the cities Were halted and 'by October electricity had been cut off. the story of her Aunt and 'Uncle who had lived in an area where .the battle raged for several days. They hid in the cellar until the sounds of battle had subsided. They emerged from hiding to find everything was silent and they were free. As they stood marvelling at the fact that they had survived, the wife suffered a heart attack and died. In the aftermath of war there are no services so the husband had to dig the graVe himself and bury her with out any help. Another lighter story in- volves a French girl. Wendy told us she remembered waiting through the dark days of the war hoping help would come., KNEW YOU'D COME "We always knew you would come but we didn't know when: Then finally those handsome, healthy, tanned young Canadians 'ar- rived. We were dressed in rags, pale, sickly and thin from the years of scarcity. My main regret was that I was only a scrawny ten-year- old and all those handsome soldiers did was give me candy and looked to the older girls." Wednesday, all Canadian guests were bussed to the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery where services were held with HRH Princess Juliana and HRH Queen Beatrix in attendance. Groesbeek is the largest' Canadian Cemetery in the Netherlands and is beauti- fully kept by the Dutch people. The rows and rows of white stones are set off by neatly kept lawns and flower, beds. On this special day of commemoration, three red tulips were placed on each grave. As we walked along the rows of white stones reading the inscriptions, the futility of war was brought home to us even more forcefully than stories of hardship and horror had done, Tears ran freely. Most of the youog tuerrhad been in their twenties, - they had to learn how to die; before they had a chance to live. A row of five or six graveS .would have the same date and Would be from the same 'regiment. One group of six aroused our curiousity as they date was after the end of the war: Some of the Dutch people' explained that thebodies had not been found until after the war, in fact the -body of a German soldier had just been discovered two weeks ago in the Arnheim area. Since, the exact date of death could .not , be established, the date of discovery of the body was put on the stone. Here and there we found stones with the date of death but name unknown. Twenty-three hun- dred Canadians are buried in this cemetery and the names of 107 men with no known graves are inscribed on a memorial at the gates. Returning veterans of the - Holland Campaign walked the rows looking for the names of buddies, who, they knew had been killed in the area. Watt found the grave of Tommy Holmes, the soldier whose place he took when he went 'into the front' lines. It they were presented: with a plaque with the inscription "Thank yon Can- ada, More, May 5th 1945- 1980 Hollande." Thursday, busies were available, to take us to Arnheim to a museum show- ing the development of the Mitch way of life. That evening, our hosts, Mrs. Thea Hortulanus, Zieta and Henk Biuldel entertained a group of neighbours in our honour. Here ' we received many gifts arid heard more first band stories of how glad the ,people had been to. iee -the end, of the Nazi occup- ation and how much the arrival of the Canadians' meant to them. One man remenibered seeing, the first para-trooper to land in' Nij- megen. He had been out in the, street with his bicycle when a young man had floated down from' the sky then ran up to him; asked if he could borrow, his bicycle; asked directions then rode off to a planned rendezvous with other paratroopers. it, was then that the people on the street were 'sure 'that help was really, coming. SIGHTSEEING Tuesday and Friday were left free for sightseeing and doing whatever we wanted to do. Tuesday, Thea, took us for a tour ,of Nijmegen which is a very old and lovely city. As we passed an excavation in the heart of the city where they were excavating graves app. 1500 years old, Thea explained that if a building is demolished, before rebuild- ing can take place, the archaeologists must be called in to sift for any historical information that may have been covered up by the previous building. This creates a great deal of delay in making 'changes in the downtown area.. It is quite easy to shop or get around in the Nether- lands as most Dutch people can speak some English. They put Canadians to shame - we sometimes com- plain when we are forced to learn' French as a second language. The Dutch learn French, English and Dutch in school. On Friday, we took a ,tour (Continue '4 on Page 14) After the ceremonies, all the Canadians were taken to * De Molenheuk restaurant for a dinner supplied by the Canadian Government, then returned, to Nijmegen to rest up before the festivities at the Winter garden in the evening. , DECORATING Our host, Henk Buddel and friends had been work- ing every evening all week decorating the Wintergarden in preparation for the recep- tion and had done a beautiful job. All the visiting Can- adians and their Dutch hosts were guests. Entertainment consisted of a dance band which would play for a while as couples danced among the tables. The dance floor was almost filled with tables to accommodate the large * crowd. After a half hour or so the orchestra vacated the stage and three young men with a very polished profes- sional performance enter- tained with songs of different „We heard afterward that they were not professionals but, local lads who had started their act during the festival in February. Entertainment was also provided by the Kamloops Rube Band from British Columbia. In the parade on Monday they had been in formal uniform and had played the usual marching pieces but "here at the VVintergarden they were un- recognizable as they dressed in clownish costumes and proceeded to keep the aud- ience in stitches throughout the entire performance. Each of the above acts made three different appearances on stage with the dance band' playing in between and the audience dancing. Lunch was, served and the last time the Kamloops bandieft the stage they proceeded to, the entry and continued to play and clown. They were still at it when we left about 1:30 a.m. As each Canadian couple The gas supplies ran low so. everything they could find that, would burn was used to keep warm. By March 15,000 people had died of cold and hunger, Tina, our guide 'on the European bus trip recounted