‘Very poignant’: Manitobans part of pilgrimage to mark Liberation of the Netherlands

A ceremony at a Dutch war cemetery is held to mark the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands. (Terry Dann)

Thousands of miles from home, a Manitoba woman is retracing her father’s footsteps in a Second World War campaign that freed the Netherlands from Nazi occupation.

Monday marked the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands.

Terry and Cheryl Dann were flown over to the country for In Our Fathers’ Footsteps (IOFF) – a nonprofit event for the descendants of Canadian military who served in the Netherlands during the war.

“The Dutch population still have a great deal of gratitude towards Canadian soldiers and their descendants,” Terry said in a phone interview from Cuijk, a southeastern Dutch city.

“We’ve marched through places where Canadian soldiers gave their lives, and the streets were lined with people.”

According to Veterans Affairs, more than 7,600 Canadians died in the eight-month campaign to free the Netherlands from German occupation.

Town by town, canal by canal, Canadian soldiers pushed German forces from the country that suffered years of hunger and hardship as the Nazis became increasingly desperate.

‘These soldiers paid a very high price’

Cheryl’s father Maj. Clifford Anderson was among the Allied Forces fighting for the country’s liberation.

He was redeployed there after being thrown from a tank in Italy and injured.

“I have his letters to my mom, and he said, ‘Guess what? I’m in northern Europe,’” Cheryl said.

He was billeted in Holland as he helped fight to liberate the country, which had been under German occupation since April 1940.

He wrote Cheryl’s mother frequently – correspondence that has since been digitized.

Many of Maj. Clifford’s letters spoke of the Dutch family that took good care of him. They had lost their own son when he was taken prisoner by the Germans, Cheryl recounted.

“They never heard from him again.”

The liberation culminated on May 5, 1945, in the village of Wageningen, days after Adolf Hitler committed suicide. A formal German surrender was signed May 7 in France.

Maj. Anderson came home when the war ended.

He rarely talked about what he had seen in combat, Cheryl said, but by all accounts, he was forever changed.

“He was a different person. (My mom) talked about how he was shaky and he wasn’t that well. He had neck issues and so on,” she said.

“These soldiers paid a very high price.”

‘It’s very poignant’

The Danns’ packed pilgrimage is aimed at offering a reflective and joyful celebration of freedom, peace, and Dutch friendship, the IOFF said.

It involves 50 kilometres of walks along routes taken by the Canadian soldiers, commemorative activities and liberation festivities.

The whole trip culminated Monday on the 80th anniversary of the Netherlands’ liberation at ceremonies in a handful of Dutch towns. Descendants were honoured by choirs, cultural displays, games and festivities.

The trip is special for Terry, as well, whose father Sgt. Ron Dann also served in the Second World War.

The cemetery visits have been the most affecting, Terry said.

“The whole of northern Europe is dotted with endless seas of white crosses or the Canadian stones have a simple stone with a maple leaf engraved in it and a brief description of the person that’s buried beneath it,” he said.

“It’s very poignant.”

Cheryl said the trip has given her a clearer understanding of her dad – the man who had seen so much but said so little.

“It’s made me read his letters and take a greater interest in it, and certainly now when I look back, I realize how much it impacted his life.”

- With files from CTV’s Danton Unger