What's going on in Apeldoorn, Holland? Part I

[Wigger KF vd Horst]

Canadian Plaquette for Apeldoorn, the Netherlands.
Source: Newspaper â Å“De Stentorâ ?
Saturday, april 9th, 2005.
Apeldoorn gets a gift from the Canadian government on 6 May. War-veterans will unveal a plaquette which get its destination at the Canadian monument "De man met de twee hoeden" (the man with the two hats), across "De Naaldâ ? at â Å“de Loolaanâ ?. The plaquette underlines that the liberation of the Netherlands is also memorable for Canada. The unvealing takes place on May 6th. at eleven o'clock on the property of Palace â Å“Het Looâ ?. After the ceremony there will be a demonstration by parachutists of the Canadian armed forces.

 

[Pieman]

I wonder what the significance of the man with the two hats is?

 

[Danjanou]

I wonder what the significance of the man with the two hats is?

As the statue is between the Netherlands and Canadian flags, perhaps the two hats are meant to symbolize the friendshp between the two nations and/or the special bond that grew out of the liberation.

Nice to see the Dutch again honouring us.

 

[Wigger KF vd Horst]

"The man with the two hats".
In 1995, the foundation "Bevrijding 1945" in Apeldoorn and Mr.  J. Zonnenberg, believed that the Netherlands should be grateful to Canada to thank them for returning our freedom in 1945 and made it visable by this monument.The monument is made by the sculptor Henk Visch.
In 2000, Princess Margriet unveals the monument at Apeldoorn and in 2002 the twin-monument in Ottawa, Canada.
The meaning of the monument is: the man throws two hats in air because he's liberated, its own cap and the cap of its neighbour and greets the Canadians soldiers when they liberated the Dutch cities and villages: the Netherlands got its freedom back again.
The two hats are also a symbol for the good relationship between Canada and the Netherlands.
The monument is already part of the commemorations that takes place every year on Remembrance Day, November 11th.
The Netherlands will continue commemorate.

 

[Pieman]

It is true that the older generation still seem to have a understanding of the occupation, and seem to show a lot of respect for Canada. The younger generation there don't really care if you are Canadian or not, so I suspect the stength of this 'freindship' will die off with the next generation. Hopefully I am wrong on that, but I did live there for a couple of years, and that is my take.

They have a holiday there called 'Liberation Day' on May 5th. It is the biggest and most celebrated holiday in Holland. I got to celebrate it when I was there, lots of out door concerts and plenty of beer.
The right way to do it. (They observe their version of Remembrance Day on May 4th)

If any of you happen to be there at the time, it is best to celebrate any holiday in a smaller city like Haarlem or Den Hague, anything inside Amsterdam or Rotterdam is not a Dutch experience IMHO.

 

[Wigger KF vd Horst]

". . . The younger generation there don't really care if you are Canadian or not, so I suspect the stength of this 'freindship' will die off with the next generation. Hopefully I am wrong on that, but I did live there for a couple of years, and that is my take".

The attachment shows something else . . . I hope. As long as the parents and the teachers at schools do their part in supporting the kids and tell them what the Liberation of Europe means to the whole world, I think we're on the right track. Is it important? Yes, because what should be the situation today, when all the the soldiers who fought for our freedom, were not here (in Europe) on the right time and the right place . . . ?

Indeed, the cellebration of "Liberation Day" on May 5th, is a very special event here in the Netherlands. Some choose for cities like Amsterdam and Yes . . . it's an international city. When you walk there and ask for the the way to the "Dam" in the centre of Amsterdam, there's a chance of 8:10 you have to speak in English, Deutsch or Francais, Olé, olé Espangol or a language of the middle of Africa. So, you can go also to smaller villages like Apeldoorn, Epe, Vaassen. Cosily on a terras . . . and not only beer . . .
By the way: . . . how do you like the drawing?

 

[Danjanou]

Wigger KF vd Horst dank u mijn vriend

Nice pictures of the kid's drawings thanks for sharing. I don't know Pieman if kids are still taught it in school and able and willing to share thier thanks as per those drawings I'd say the Dutch will never forget.

I'd be hard pressed to see school kids here in Ontario make such pictures or theri PC "teachers" allow it

 

[the 48th regulator]

We have had a close relationship with this nation, as a regiment.   As an honor they have streets named after our fallen brothers, we even lost a Colonel there, that to this day is talked about.   As for remembering, we have had the Burgermeister of Aplledorn come to our regiment to personally thank us...over 50 years after the fact!!

This is a website for a pipeband formed to honor our regiment.

http://www.48th-highlanders.nl/

I want to say thank you, to Holland for remembering our fallen..Thank you!


dileas

tess

 

[Pieman]

Hoi Wigger KF vd Horst, Hoe maakt u het? Waar woon je in Nederland?  

  how do you like the drawing?

Ja, leuk. Mooi!

. I don't know Pieman if kids are still taught it in school and able and willing to share their thanks as per those drawings I'd say the Dutch will never forget.  

Hope it works. Talking to some of the young adults there, if I brought up the topic of WWII and Canada I would get the response "Yea, don't forget the Brits and the Americans were also there." or "That's in the history books, do people here really care what the Canadians did?" or   "That was not your generation, it was your grandfathers."    I took it to be that they respected what was done, but did not associate Canadians in general with what happened, just the people who were actually there. As it should be.

That attitude is contrary to what a lot of us Canadians seem to think about the Netherlands. In fact I feel that the Canadian public, in general, has a strong misconception about how Canaidans are perceived in Holland. Before I left for there, a large number of people would say to me something like: "Oh, the Dutch treat Canadian like gold because of the second world war." Not the case at all.

So I guess I am trying to say that my initial impression was that the bond between the countries would fade, as a lot of the people I talked to did not seem to care. But really, it is hard to judge an entire population by only a handful of conversations. If the Dutch continue to teach their youth the way they are, then maybe I am totally wrong about that. Which I really hope I am.

 

[Wigger KF vd Horst]

Hoi Wigger KF vd Horst, Hoe maakt u het? Waar woon je in Nederland?  

Goodmorning Canada, how are you today?
We're all fine, thank you! I live in Apeldoorn, where on May 8th the Parade of the Canadian Veteran's will take place. For sure, this event is still very important in our district and we will welcome the Canadians here with honour.
I saw for two week ago the videotape I made in 1995 of the Canadian Veterans. Not only the parade, but also shopping, at diner at their host-family, the commemoration of the death in "het Oranjepark". Under the "orangetree": at Ugchelen and a small parade there; on the cemetary of Heidehof; Vet's talking  and wating for the Parade at Palace "Het Loo" and so on. I took appr. six hours of videotape and made two hours on (S)VHS-tape. Allthough it's not pure professional, the "movie" can tell us a lot about the Liberation of Holland and what the Veterans feel in their hearts 50 years later. The parade is only a short part of the videotape.

 

[Wigger KF vd Horst]

"As an honor they have streets named after our fallen brothers, we even lost a Colonel there . . ."

It's quite a coincidence I made a small trip along the IJssel river and took some pictures of monuments. At Wilp there's a plaquette at the wall of the church. Because I read this morning your message, I want to show it to you.
The text on the plaquette:
"In remembrance of the 48th Highlanders of Canada.
19 Highlanders were killed in action, in and around the district of Voorst, among them:
Lieutenant; Colonel Donald A. MacKenzie, DSO, DSC. Born July 9th, 1914, Kincardine, Ontario, Canada. April 12th, 1945 at Wilp, district Voorst.

Allthough Apeldoorn is a view kilometers from Wilp, it was April 17th, 1945 when Apeldoorn was Liberated by the same Highlanders. It tells us that the Liberation of the Netherlands was not "a piece of cake" but a hard struggle for every square inch of Dutch soil.