LIBERATION DAY

[JRT]

Today, May 5, is Liberation Day in Holland. 75 years ago today the German Army in Holland surrendered to the Canadian Army. The link between Holland and Canada has been powerful ever since.

 

[Lamb]

Today, May 5, is Liberation Day in Holland. 75 years ago today the German Army in Holland surrendered to the Canadian Army. The link between Holland and Canada has been powerful ever since.

Do you know if there are big celebrations?

 

[JRT]

Do you know if there are big celebrations?

There certainly are in Holland. There are parades and festivals throughout Holland. The guests of honour are the veterans some of whom return year after year and are greeted with adulation. In Toronto in early August each year the Canadian National Exhibition starts. The opening day is known as Veterans Day and it is kicked off by a parade of veterans including many from the USA plus military units and marching bands. Every year along the route there is a huge group of Dutch- Canadians and Dutch visitors waving Dutch and Canadian flags and banners like "Thank You Liberators". The first year I marched I was not expecting that and it moved me to tears. Sadly the veterans dwindle year by year and I suspect this years celebrations were minimal.

 

[JRT]

It is interesting to note that the Dutch royal family spent the war years as the guests of Canada in Ottawa. When the future queen was about to be born the hospital maternity wing was temporarily designated Dutch soil by an act of Parliament so that she could take the throne.