In fact, since 1953 the Canadian city has held an annual Tulip Festival as a way to remember those who lost their lives in the war, as well as to celebrate the Dutch Princess Juliana’s gift of 100,000 tulip bulbs to Canadia for its role in liberating the country and providing refuge for her family. A ‘twin’ of the statue is located in Ottawa, expressing the bond between Canada and the Netherlands. In each hand, the statue holds a hat, symbolising the duality of war and peace, oppression and freedom, death and life, joy and sadness. And the city of Apeldoorn is home to the national Canadian monument named ‘ The Man with Two Hats’. There’s also a memorial, the Bevrijdingsbos (Liberation Forest), in Groningen, where 30,000 maple trees were planted.
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The Memory Museum in Nijverdal (reopening in summer 2019 following renovation) and Victory Museum Grootegast in Groningen are fitting places to experience more about WWII and the Allied fighters who helped to free Holland. As well as its poignant, monumental setting, the information centre in Holten provides insight into the battles, liberation and the stories of individuals. Pay tribute to the fallen Canadian liberators in the war cemeteries in Bergen op Zoom (in the province of Noord-Brabant), Groesbeek (near Nijmegen), and Holten (close to Almelo). There are many war cemeteries in Holland, representing the final resting places of many international soldiers. It was fought in the extremely hard winter of 1944 and ’45, the so-called ‘Hunger Winter’, in which thousands of Dutch men, women and children perished from starvation and cold.Įxperience the story of the Canadian liberators in Holland
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Visitors to the Netherlands can step back in time to this period at the Bevrijdingsmuseum Zeeland, which retraces the history of the area, and in particular the Battle of the Scheldt.Īnother important battle in the south-west was the Battle of Kapelsche Veer on the River Maas in Noord-Brabant. It ensured supplies could reach Allied forces on the rest of the European continent following D-Day, but it came at a high price: more than 6,000 Canadian soldiers were killed, wounded or captured.
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One of the biggest and most gruelling battles of the entire war, this campaign was fought in harsh conditions and lasted until 8 November. It all started in October 1944 with the beginning of the Battle of the Scheldt, featuring international troops led by the First Canadian Army. Retrace the steps of the Canadian troops on their way to liberating Holland.Ĭanada played a key role in the liberation of Holland from September 1944 to May 1945, from the southwest – the setting of the crucial battle of the Scheldt – to the northeast, where the battles of Groningen and Delfzijl took place.Remember the many fallen soldiers, who are buried in the Netherlands’ Canadian war cemeteries.Read more about the battles that led to Allied victory.