The
Netherlands
60th Anniversary Ceremonies 2005
Introduction
On Monday 02 May 2005 Legion
members from the Lahr and Baden area traveled to Ede,
the Netherlands where accommodations had been arranged in the Dutch Military Kaserne. On arrival in Ede we were met by Hendrik Kuiper, Sgt-at-Arms of Branch 005 who had the rooms all
arranged. All visiting members of Zone would like to extend our gratitude to
members of Branch 005 for their hospitality and in particular to Hendrik who stayed with us for the week in Ede and made sure we were at the right place at the right
time for the many ceremonies we would attend during the week. We had supper
that evening in the military mess and spent some time in the canteen where we
met some interesting people and were joined by Mike Leblanc and Stephanie Politano from Branch 003 who would also accompany us for
the week.
Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek
On Tuesday 03 May we had
breakfast at the mess in Ede and departed for Groesbeek.
Although Groesbeek is only some 50 Km away the early
morning traffic around Nijmegen is heavy to say the
least as road construction and bridge crossing over the river Waal causes many traffic jams. On arrival at the Canadian War Cemetery in Groesbeek the sky opened
up with heavy rain and thunderstorms but there was a huge reception tent set up
and we were able to keep dry and meet many of the veteran delegations from Canada
. We were met at this ceremony by Valerie Laucke and Liz Hine from Branch 003. The sky cleared for the ceremony which was well attended. Queen Beatrix was present as was Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson the Governor General of
Canada
and many military and civilian dignitaries
representing Canada and the Netherlands. The highlight of the ceremony had to be the large
numbers of Canadian Veterans present on this the 60 Anniversary of the
Liberation of the Netherlands.
Following the ceremony we
again had an opportunity to meet a number of Canadian Veterans and members of
the Royal Canadian Legion from Dominion Command. Later in the afternoon we were
treated to an excellent parachute demonstration by the Sky Hawks of the
Canadian Forces.
The Canadian War Cemetery at Groesbeek contains the largest number of Canadian war dead
in the Netherlands numbering 2,338 burials. In addition on the Groesbeek Memorial are the names of 1,103 commemorating
members of the Forces of the British
Commonwealth who have no known
graves 993 British, 108 Canadians and 2 South Africans.
Canadian War Cemetery Groesbeek
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Canadian War Cemetery in Holten
On Wednesday 03 May we were
off to the
Canadian
War
Cemetery
in Holten. On arrival in Holten we were bussed to the cemetery. In attendance at the
ceremony was basically the same delegation that took part in the ceremony at Groesbeek with the exception of Mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven, husband of H.H. Princess Margriet
represented the
Netherlands
. The Liberation of the Netherlands Branch 005 of the
Royal Canadian Legion provided the Colour Party for
this ceremony. This ceremony was organized by the Dutch (The Foundation Welcome
Again Veterans Association) who afforded the Colour
Party the proper respect and positioned them at the Cross of Remembrance. Again
it was heart warming to see the large delegation of veterans present but the
highlight was the participation of the youth that took part in the ceremony to honour the 1,355 Canadians buried here includes one
sailor and three airmen. It was estimated that some 5,500 people were in
attendance at the ceremony.
The attack for control of Holten began on the
morning of
08 April 1945
.
With the strong German defenses being underestimated and the ensuing battle
became basically house-to-house combat for the Calgary Highlanders, Le Regiment
de Maisonneuve and the Black Watch of Canada, with armour support from the Fort Garry Horse. The town was
finally cleared by 2000 hours that night, and the Canadians headed north
towards
Groningen
.
Following the ceremony in Holten we drove to the
village
of
Wilp
to visit the PPCLI Re-Enactment Group who was setting up a camp. Dressed in PPCLI uniforms this group set up a Camp each year complete with field kitchen, WWII vehicles, and weapons. Through displays, posters etc. they tell the story of the PPCLI who liberated the area and their advance over the River Ijssel.
Later that evening we went to
Apeldoorn
where we took part in the silent march and a wreath
was laid on behalf of Zone Europe.
Canadian War Cemetery Holten
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Wageningen Ceremony
On Thursday 05 May due to the
parking problem we departed
Ede
early for Wageningen and
had plenty of time to register and get straightened away before the other five
thousand participants arrived. The Colours were
called out at approximately 1200 hours and preceded to the church where they
would take part in the church service. The remainder of our members plus a Colour Party from Branch 003 who joined us had the
opportunity to associate with the many friends we made over the last twenty one
years we have been participating in this event. We were also honoured to meet a large number of veterans from
Canada
not from the official delegation but those visiting
the
Netherlands
from other Legion Branches across
Canada
we were delighted that they would march with us
through the city.
At approximately 1500 hours
we proceeded to the parade forming up area and waited the end of the church
service and the return of our Colour Party from the church and the parade gets underway. We were formed up just in front of the Royal British Legion Pipes Band which is the perfect place to be for the march through the city. The crowds that lined the entire parade route was just remarkable, people were on roof tops, hanging out of windows and up trees. There was so many people that the streets at certain points were difficult to pass in three ranks. The cheering was so loud at times you couldn't hear the band it was all quite amazing. Around the reviewing stand was just one mass of people the parade was honoured to have Prince William
Alexander take the salute.
It would be amiss of me if I didn't mention the fact that we all missed Prince Bernhard who was the icon of this ceremony since the beginning. In the early years of this ceremony when security was not a big issue we would all gather together in the same place for the reception and Prince Bernhard would always find time to visit with our group from the Royal Canadian Legion. It was always quite evident that he enjoyed kibitzing with us and on one memorable occasion we were in a hall where they had a big bowl where we could purchase tickets for drinks. One of our guys said to Prince Bernhard "I heard you were a Duke before you became a Prince"? Yes the Prince said I was a Duke! When sitting with a bunch of crazy Canadians it's not difficult to know what comes next! "Then how about if the Duke buys a round"? After some more joking around the Prince make his tour of the hall and when he was ready to leave his aide appears at our table and drops a handful of tickets in the middle of the table and said "THE DRINKS ARE ON THE DUKE"! In later years when the reception got separated Prince Bernhard would always send his aide to find us and convey his personal thanks for our attendance at the ceremony. The other notable jester that was always meaningful to us is that on passing the saluting dais following the salute he would always give us the thumbs up which will always be in our memory.
Branch 005 Literary Contest
Presentations
On Friday 06 May in support of
our comrades we attended the presentation of awards for the Literary Contest
that was conducted in the
Netherlands
by Branch 005. The theme of the contest was appropriate "Your Canadian Liberators". Some 1800 schoolchildren were invited to enter the contest, the best posters were exhibition during the presentation. The presentation took place in the auditorium of the
Sprengeloo
College
in
Apeldoorn
. Ben Zonnenberg the president of Branch 005, done a fantastic job with the organizing and emceeing of the presentations. To the delight of the children and those present the presentation of awards to the winners was done by His Highness Prince Floris of
Orange
of
Nassau
, van Vollenhoven. Members present also enjoyed the songs from the
C
anadian
Ambassadors Male Choir and the tunes from the
Highland
Regiment Pipes & Drums from the
Netherlands
.
Following the presentations a lunchen was held where we had the opportunity to view the displays and chat with members of the Legions from Canada and with Prince Floris.
Nijverdal Ceremony
On Saturday 07 May we took part in a ceremony in Nijverdal a town north of Holten. It could be said that the town was much to small to have so many people stop by on the same day. The forming up area was congested with World War II vehicles of all descriptions, buses, Military Units and bands all trying to form up in the rain. Eventually the parade got underway through the town of Nijverdal and the weather didn't dampen the spirit of the thousands of residence gathered to cheer their liberators. The organizers sorted out the congestion by marching us through a neighboring town of Hulsen and back around to where we started. A reception was held in the town hall following the parade.
Apeldoorn Ceremony
On Sunday we took part in the parade through the streets of
Apeldoorn
. The Ceremony was extremely well organized we were bussed from the Canadian Club in
Apeldoorn
to the forming up area on the grounds of the
Royal
Palace
. The parade could be described as the same as the march in Wageningen accept a larger city and larger crowds. It was estimated that in access of 250,000 people lined the parade route to cheer on their Canadian Liberators, some 1500 veterans who were in the parade or in WW II Vehicles of the Dutch Keep Them Rolling Organization. The parade ended in the city center and from there we were again bussed back to the Canada Club.
On our return to the Canadian Club we had the opportunity to meet a great number of visiting veterans. We also had the oppurtunity to present Comrade John Wallace with the special medal that was produced by the Thank You Canada & Allied Forces Association to honour veterans who actually served in the Netherlands during the war years. Against a backdrop and with the Colour Party and members present the President of Branch 005 Ben Zonnenberg did the honours. Also present was John's son Bob to witness the proud moment.
In summary it was a great week to spend in the Netherlands emotional at times with the outpouring of genuine gratitude of the Dutch people to Canadians. It is without a doubt a bond that was always there, it is there today, and when you witness the youth of the country that actually participate in these events there is no doubt it will be there in the future.
