As the Netherlands marks the 80th anniversary of the country’s liberation by the Canadian Army, more than 1,000 Canadian students will take part in events where they are expected to sense both the horror of war and the reverence of the Dutch for their liberators.
Upwards of 175,000 Canadians fought as part of First Canadian Army in the Netherlands between September 1944 and early May 1945, with 7,600 killed during the campaign to liberate the country from its five-year German occupation.
The fighting came to an end on May 5, 1945, when Canadian Lt.-Gen. Charles Foulkes accepted the surrender of German troops in the village of Wageningen.
David Chisholm, vice-principal of Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside, P.E.I., is a former history teacher who has long had a passion for keeping the stories of Canadian veterans alive. His school is one of five from the province taking part in the trip, which he hopes will instil the same passion in his students.
“We get the kids connected to their own families and their own community,” he said. “They do projects, they do research and they connect to local veterans.”
Chisholm said he was in the Netherlands for the 65th and 70th anniversary liberation celebrations, adding his students are about to experience something special.
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“I got to experience what it’s like to be a Canadian during the liberation time and the celebration … they are really going to see what it’s like to be a Canadian and to be revered.”
Amy Meunier, assistant deputy minister commemoration and public affairs with Veterans Affairs Canada, said her department works to help student tour groups be included in the various ceremonies, although they aren’t part of Canada’s official delegation.
Meunier, who has worked for the department for the past 20 years, says the interest in travelling to the Netherlands for its liberation celebrations has only grown in that time.
“I think a large part of that is the role played by educators across Canada and veterans groups who go into schools and have conversations to get that spark going,” she said.
Meunier said the chance for Canadian students to directly experience the gratitude of the Dutch people also leaves a lasting impression. She said it happens in a number of ways, including one-on-one conversations.
“You see this happening on a daily basis … there are always Canadian youth at events and you see those really informal connections happening and it’s quite powerful,” she said.
The P.E.I. group began their journey in France where on Thursday they visited the memorial to Canada’s defining victory of the First World War at Vimy Ridge. The towering limestone monument, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of the ridge, is inscribed with the names of the more than 11,000 Canadian soldiers listed as missing during the first global conflict.
Ian Sharpe, a Grade 12 student at Three Oaks, said it was very moving to see Vimy.
“You can appreciate it through pictures, but to see it in real life is breathtaking,” the 17-year-old said in a telephone interview from the national historic site. “Having all those names listed one-by-one of some of the soldiers we couldn’t identify, it’s just hard to put into words.”
The P.E.I. students also visited the Thelus military cemetery near Vimy and were then to travel to several battlefield sites in Belgium before attending ceremonies in the Dutch city of Bergen op Zoom, where there is a Canadian war cemetery. At the cemetery they will place a plaque on the grave of fallen soldier Alvah Ray Leard on behalf of his family.
Leard of Northam, P.E.I., was killed in action at the age of 22 on Sept. 26, 1944.
Sharpe said learning about Canada’s contribution has been a revelation.
“As the trip approached, we did research in preparation for the liberation events, and it became clear how important a role we played with the liberation,” he said.
Jackie Shaw, a teacher at St. Stephen Catholic Secondary School in Bowmanville, Ont., believes the celebrations will be a “real eye-opener” for the group of 13 students from her school.
Shaw said her students will take part on Sunday in a silent “liberation march” through Bergen op Zoom that will end at the Canadian war cemetery, where some will lay wreaths.
She said the students have gradually become aware of the gravity of Canada’s wartime contribution.
“It’s hard to get them to bridge the 80 years on some levels, but on other levels it’s not so hard because they are relating to the fact that these people who were going over to fight were not much older than them,” Shaw said.
