FERGUS – There’s a warm place for Canada in the hearts of people in the Netherlands that goes back 80 years – back to 1945 when Canadian troops fought bitter battles and eventually freed the country from Nazi occupation.
It was the beginning of the end of the Second World War.
“Town by town, canal by canal, Canadian soldiers pushed back the occupying German forces in the Netherlands,” reads an entry on veterans.gc.ca.
“The First Canadian Army played a major role in the liberation of the Dutch people, who had suffered terrible hunger and hardship under the increasingly desperate German occupiers.
“The First Canadian Army also played a leading role in opening Belgium and the Netherlands’ Scheldt estuary (tidal river), gateway to the port of Antwerp.
“Access to this port was essential to maintain supply lines to the Allied armies as they continued their push toward Germany to defeat Adolf Hitler’s forces and free Western Europe from four years of Nazi occupation which had begun in April 1940.”
The website goes on to describe the battles, the loss of life, the courage of the soldiers and the euphoria and gratitude of the Dutch people when their country was finally free.
Fergus resident Bob Foster, son of veteran Dr. V.S. Foster, is heading to the Netherlands to retrace his father’s footsteps.
Foster will walk the very same roads and pathways through Dutch towns and villages as the Canadian soldiers did as they liberated the Netherlands from Nazi occupation.
And he will speak about his “In Our Fathers’ Footsteps” pilgrimage on May 9 at a special Nederlandse Avond/Dutch Night evening on May 9 at the Legion.
“It’s a significant anniversary,” said Randy Graham, president of the Fergus Legion Branch 275.
“Bob’s father went back for the 40th anniversary and we held a special Dutch Night to celebrate and commemorate back then. I know this will be an emotional trip for Bob.”
The band at Emmanuel Christian High School will play at the reception and will also play the Canadian and Dutch national anthems.
Graham said the school’s principal, who is also the band leader, was very excited at the invitation.
Graham is excited to have young people attend the event.
“Legions exist so we remember,” he said. “Part of our mandate is to make sure young people hear the stories and know where their freedom comes from.”
Graham said after the First World War, the Second World War, after Afghanistan and other conflicts, people always say “we can’t allow this to happen again.”
“But it happens over and over again,” he said, dismayed. “That’s why we have to keep this history fresh in the minds of young people.”
Dutch Night is slated for May 9 at the Legion, 500 Blair St. in Fergus, and is open to the public as well as Legion members.
It includes a roast beef dinner and a Dutch dessert by Made in Holland, as well as Foster’s talk.
Tickets are $30 and are available at the Branch Club Room (open most afternoons) and can also be purchased online until May 4 at payments@ferguslegion.ca (indicate the event in the comments section).
Graham said there are a couple of other significant anniversaries the Legion will be celebrating in May as well.
This is also the 80th anniversary of VE Day, marking the end of the Second World War in Europe, and the 90th anniversary of the Fergus branch.
