The Goderich Signal-Star, 1980-05-28, Page 21•
Netherlands revisited by
The following article
was written by Dr. W. K.
(Bill) Thotinson of
Ottawa. Mr, Thomson Is a
former army captain,
V$ctoria School, • vice-
prInclpal and Federal
Government scientist.
• My wife, Maxine
(Wilson) and myself,
both formerly of
Goderich, at this
moment, are on our way
home to Ottawa. We left
Schiphol Airport,
Amsterdam, a short time
ago, and now a voice tells
us that we are flying over
Glasgow. We've just
taken part in the com-
memoration services
marking the 35th an-
niversary of the
liberation of the
Neth'erl'iid"sill 1945 -
The Dutch• people,
particularly in the
Nijmegen and other war
areas, have a soft spot in
their hearts for Canada.
You can be assured this
feeling is mutual if you
talk to any Canadian who
was there in 1944-45.
There is no doubt that a
notice in the Signal -Star
early in 1980 gave us the
idea to make the trip. The
notice in the paper let it
be known that the people
of the Nijmegen area
wanted us to return to
their country for the
anniversary and share
their homes during a
series of events, that.
lasted a period of a week.
The Department of
Veterans Affairs,
Ottawa, pointed out that
wartime home addresses
are 9quite obsolete. Such
publicity given by the
Signal -Star and ethers
helped, to some extent in
getting the message that
the Dutch people wanted
the veterans back.
The Dutch people were
our hosts during the
events. Veterans and
wives invited to the
Nijmegen area paid their
own airfares.
Some readers from the
Goderich area will
remember Normandy,
the Scheldt Estuary, the
Leopold Canal and
Antwerp in Belgium.
Bergen -Op -Zoom and
later at Amersfoort
Leeuwarden and
Groningen at the north.
Many veterans and wives
visited these and -other
areas which they knew so
well. They also visited
some of the nine or 10
Canadian Cemeteries.
Maxine and I visited the
Rhineland area of
Nijmegen, Arnhem,
Zutphen, Deventer,
Zwolle as well as Ger-
many at Emmerick,
Kleve and the
Reichswald Forest.
I can't help recalling
that I met Bud Wieland,
Mayor Worsell, Bud
Sturdy, Tom Wilson,
Colin Hunter and while
reminiscing in these and
other areas, I met 'Joe
O'Brien, Keith Saunders,
Jack Leamen, Doug
Nairn, Murray
MacDonald, Don.
MacDonald, Peg Bell,
Howard Pollock and John.
McGraw and probably
others from the Goderich
area. This was all 35
CODE mpg .BIGNN.A,L•$TAR, W!
ill Thomson
Province of Limburg.
Canadian First and Fifth
Divisions and First
Canad1an.:Corps arrived
back to the, Western front
in 1945 after their cam-
paign in Italy.
On May 5, in the
Nijmegen City Centre, we
heard the Canadian
Central Band playing a
collection of old Dutch
folk songs which the
people loved. We met Bob
Fowler of the band,.. son of
Howard .Fowler of
Goderich.
Later in the afternoon,
the Department of
National . Resources,
Province of Ontario,
planted sugar maples at a
ceremony near the
southern approach to the
Nijmegen Bridge. .
Our hosts insisted on
driving us anywhere
there were memories of
the war — the Arnhem
Bridge (depicted in a
recent movie - "A Bridge
Too Far"), The Rhine,
Waal, Maas and Ijssel
River crossings into
Germany. For all these
trips, no mention was
made that the price of
gasoline is 140 guilders
per litre, about 70
Canadian cents or $3.15 a
gallon.
In 1945, after the war,
First Canadian ' Army
H.Q. returned to
Apeldoorn. It was there
we revisited some old
landmarks like the Het
Loo Royal Palace and our
billets on the read to
Zutphen.. We a lso I visited
the house -where Eniddle-
aged Dutch parents lived
with their ten children. I
remember that the
father, who was one of the
Dutch Underground,
showed me and our army
padre, the secret room in
the attic where he spent a
great deal of. .time
listening to the B.B.C. He
had just returned at that
time from German
concentration camp. The
Germans had suspected
his activities and had
looked for the room but
never found it. Neigh-
bours directed us to the
Senior citizens' home in
Apeldoern where he and
his -wife vverelivtng, each
close to 90 -years -old. It
was another emotional
moment when they
recognized me. We talked
of little incidents that
happened 35 years ago.
He reminded me that we
and other Canadians used
to share our .Canadian
food parcels with their
ten children. At first we
didn't realize it, but'they
were almost starving.
Three daughters, who
were teenagers or
younger in 1945 are
married, two of them
living in Hilversum and
one is married to a
psychiatrist in
Breukelen. Mother called
the three girls to say one
of -the Canadianswas
back and arranged for
thein to meet in
Breukelen where Maxine
and I met them two days
later..
It would be easy to get
carried away and write a
book on the 10 -day visit.
Stories and memories
seem to accumulate.
There were -many more.
The 1945 "before"
memories contrast
greatly with the 1980
"after" places and in-
cidents. To this, can be
added stories of our
wonderful hosts, their
memories of 1945 and the
"lean" years preceding
when their land was
occupied. Then there are
stories from other
Canadian couples who
coyldn't believe that
hosts could be so kind.
We have been able to
touch on only a few
highlights of the trip. It
seems likely that our
hosts may visit us in
Canada and we will be
able to even the score, or
at least try.
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Dr. W.K. (Bill) Thomson of Ottawa and formerly 'of Goderich recently revis.tited
the Netherlands to take part, In the commemoration services marking the 35th
anniversary of that country's liberation. He has written an account of that trip
and some of his recbllections from the war for this newspaper. Besides being a
former army captain in the Canadian army and a Federal Government Scientist,
he was also vice-principal of Goderlch's Victoria Public School at one time.
(Photo by Joanne Buchanan)
so long ago. Of course, it
was always a great event
to meet, unexpectedly,
someone from the home
town.
Now to get back to my
story. --A Dutch -Canadian
committee, whose- o C
was on Bay Streets
Toronto, is to ` be
congratulated for the
immense undertaking of
arranging • for 1200
veterans and wives to
meet and be entertained
by hosts and hostesses in
the Nijmegen area. A
smaller official group
under different auspices
visited Amsterdam.
Some'of this group came
to events in Nijmegen by
bus.
Great praise should be
given to our Dutch hosts.
They simply could not do
enough for us. Maxine
and I.. were billeted in
Cuyck, a town a few
kilometers south of
Nijmegen. Our hosts
were a professor from
Nijmegen University and
his wife, who were in
their teens during war-
time. Another host in the
same town and his wife', •
now in their twenties, (of
course born after World
War II) had knowledge of
the War through their
parents.
The parade of veterans
years -ago T+ i� is--.-h?rd—to down. •th.e street of
believe that it happened Nijmegen was in some
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respects like the entry to
the city in 1945. Streets
were lined with Canadian
flags. Tears' were
streaming from the eyes
of many bystanders along
the route as they walked
out to hand us flowers.
There were many lumps
in the veterans' throats
as well. Indeed, there
;were many emotional
moments during the
week's activities.
One of those moments
was in ° Groesbeek
Cemetery, particularly
when we read the ages on
the many stones. After
the commemoration
services, we viewed stone
after stone which showed
ages of 20-25 years. The
cemetery was like a
garden,. with green,
clipped lawns and fresh
tulips and a small flower
bed next to every stone.
Queen Beatrix, Princess
Juliana and Prince
Bernard and a large
contingent from the
Dutch underground took
part. Graves of the un-
derground were not in the
cemetery but are scat-
tered here and there in
fields, in woods, usually
wherever they m-ettheir
deaths, often helping
allied airmen and,
soldiers. We visited one of
the other cemeteries in
Germany, in'-- the
Reichswald Forest
between Kleve and
Emmerick. The left half
of the cemetery con-
tained ' graves of RCAF,
RAF, Royal Australian
and Polish Airmen.The
right half were graves of
British Infantry and
Artillery. It was also a
beautifully -kept
cemetery.
The various units ,and
countries remind one of
the international •
character of the first °
Canadian army. ' It
consisted, some of the
time, of three Canadian
Divisions, a Polish
Division, a British Corps,
as well as American,
Belgian and Dutch
troops. The American
Army,- under General
Simpson fought alongside
toward the south in
Belgium and in the Dutch
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