As a former Spitfire pilot which stole 60 missions on Europe occupied by the Nazis during the Second World War, George Brewster is not the type to shake easily.
But he says that the experience of the heat and gratitude of the Dutch who came out for him and other Canadian veterans of the Second World War this weekend left him speechless.
“It is a feeling of wonder,” said Duncan’s 102-year-old resident in British Columbia, who visits communities in the Netherlands as part of a Canadian delegation to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.
Twenty-two Canadian veterinarians, aged 96 to 105, made a long transatlantic trip. Several, like Brewster, have seen the action in the sky, at sea or on the ground in Holland during the last crucial months of intense combat.
“When you meet people, you realize how kind and kind they are and how they remember. And this memory is something that is engraved in my mind,” Brewster at CBC News told.
On Saturday, thousands of residents of the city of Apedoorn, which was released by Canadian troops on April 17, 1945, aligned the streets and draped the Canadian flags of their balconies as parade with the veterans and luggmers who have made their way on the streets.
The volunteers distributed Canadian flags and pins, and many neighboring houses have been decorated with red maple leaves.
Sincere gratitude
Brewster and the other veterinarians, who were mainly pushed into a wheelchair, were treated as celebrities with spectators who try hands to shake hands and say thank you.
“I am a very ordinary person who has experienced many extraordinary events, but only by the grace of God. And I am humiliated by this,” he said.
The push through Holland and the Rhineland by the first Canadian army in 1944 and 1945 saw a series of vicious and finally decisive battles which helped to seal the defeat of the third Reich of Adolf Hitler.
Eighty years ago, Canadian soldiers led to release the Nazi Netherlands. Events take place across the country in honor of their efforts, especially in the city of Appeddorn, where large crowds bordered the streets to accommodate Canadian veterans.
Out of around 175,000 Canadian soldiers who served in the first Canadian army, 6,700 were killed.
He was a Canadian general who finally accepted the surrender of the Nazi forces to the Netherlands of the city of Wageningen on May 5, 1945, date on the date of the Dutch Liberation call.
The country being confronted with a serious famine due to a severe winter and a treatment inhuman by its Nazi occupants, the Canadians saved countless Dutch from dying by quickly bringing food supplies and remaining for months after until the population can stand alone.
“We are simply grateful to those from abroad who came to our small country and released us,” said Ronald Grin, 57, who attended the Apedoorn parade with his 27 -year -old daughter Shawna.
‘We love them and they love us’
“They (veterans) deserve everything – we have to welcome them here. The youngest is 96 years old and that said how much we love them and they love us.”
Shawna Grin said that she had visited all the cemeteries near the deaths of the Canadian war. The fact that there are 16 -year -old children among them leaves her speechless.
“To see that they were so young, to die for my freedom, it means a lot for me.”
Traveling with war veterans are more than 200 other Canadians. Many are a family close to soldiers who fought in the Dutch countryside.
Ellen mole d’Ebicooke, Ontario, did not trace with the official delegation, but said that she felt forced to come following an emotional experience being part of the cornemuse group during the commemorations in 2010.
“It was only one of the most incredible experiences of my life,” she said, holding tears.
“I was so proud to be Canadian. I really understood the love and gratitude of the Dutch how important our place can be and how we can help the world.”
For veterans, it was also clearly an emotional day – especially for William Seifried, who celebrated his 100th anniversary on Saturday. When the word has spread, some in the big crowd sang a happy birthday.
Seifried served as an infantryman with the Royal Regina Rifles and acted as a reconnaissance scout before the front lines, a particularly dangerous work.
The 101-year-old honorary lieutenant-general. Richard Rohmer, who was a recognition pilot in the sky in the Netherlands and then pursued a career in peacetime with the Canadian army.
Rohmer told CBC that he hoped that Canadians establish the link between the Liberation of the Netherlands 80 years ago and the need to maintain solid collective security relations, such as NATO, which can weaken US President Donald Trump.
“One of the things we have to do in our country is to pay much more attention than our own defense,” said Rohmer.
“NATO is a very important partnership … and seeing it starting to separate a little is not very encouraging because the big nations like Russia and others will benefit from it if they can. So, I hope that Canada will do its part.”
The Apeldoorn parade is one of the many commemorations that take place this weekend.
Governor General of Canada Mary Simon should put a crown in the Caden War Cemetery in Holten on Sunday and attend commemoration events in Wageningen the next day.
