4 interviews by Anton (Tony) Steenbergen

We found 8 young girls cowering in a corner

George Topping was a tank driver with the 

Canadian Grenadiers and in early April 1945 he was involved in the liberation of Almelo and Zutphen. In this battle two Grenadiers were killed by a German tank. "Lewis and Williams; their names are engraved on a plaque on the building in which the German tank was hiding from view," said George.

"We stopped at an office building that according to the locals had been captured by the Germans. We fired some shots and put some holes in the walls. We then sent some of our soldiers in. They soon came out with a German Field Marshal and some other German officers. That night we were hosted by the people of the city. The following day we went to a local jail. We opened all the doors and in one of the cells we found 8 young girls cowering in a corner. When they heard we were the liberators they changed into very happy people! Topping's odyssey ended in the Netherlands in the town of Baarn. He has visited Holland several times since the war and this May he will come to the Netherlands (most likely for the last time, he says, because he is eighty years old) to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Liberation of Holland.

 He went to the woman and handed her a maple leaf pin.

Vince Moore was dispatched to England in 1942. He was a Gunner in the 3rd Regiment, 4th Armoured Division. During his stay in England, before being sent to France, he married an Irish woman. He arrived via France and Belgium at the Dutch border in the fall of 1944. His Division then crossed the River Meuse to Nijmegen and from there his Armoured Division was involved in liberating the city of Apeldoorn. Vince told me that after Apeldoorn was liberated, the local children would come while they were eating and he and the other soldiers would share their food with them. After Apeldoorn, his Division went to Zwolle. From there he went via Harderwijk and Hilversum to Amsterdam.

After that his Division went via Zwolle, Meppel, Assen and Veendam to Germany, where he spent some time before returning to Holland. He has fond memories of Almelo during the war. Vince became friends with a man named George Dijkstra. After the 50th anniversary of the end of the war he returned to the Netherlands for the celebration, and after the commemoration in Apeldoorn he went to Almelo to see if he could locate his friend. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful, even with the help of the local newspaper!   During the parade in Apeldoorn, he saw a woman in a wheelchair at the back of the crowd. He asked the driver to stop the vehicle. He went to the woman and handed her a maple leaf pin. In July 1946, he returned to England and his wife. He took 10 days off to visit Ireland, his country of birth, after which they both returned to Canada. He would like to come back to Holland for the 60th anniversary of the liberation but his health is not very good. But he will attend the performance of your band, Brockville, dressed in his original WWII military uniform.

My family and I emigrated to Canada in 1967 Anton (Tony) Steenbergen account:

I was born in the town of Kerkrade in the province of Limburg in the south of the Netherlands. My father and mother came from Leiden, in the province of Zuid Holland. My father was in the Military and was posted to Limburg to protect the Dutch-German border, so that is why I was born there. In late 1939 he was called back to Leiden and during the war he was a member of the Resistance. After the war, in 1945, my father left for Indonesia and returned at the end of 1949. During the Second World War I lived in Leiden. I joined the Royal Dutch Navy in June 1953 and attended boot camp in Hilversum, after which I was sent to Vlissingen for my naval training. I was then sent to the United States on training and returned in April 1954 on a new ship, the "H.M.S. De Vos". After that I was sent to Den Helder for specialist training for the Anti Submarine Fighting Corps. I married on July 4th, 1955, left for Russia on July 5th, 1955, and returned on
August 13th, 1955.  After that I was stationed on several ships  and went all over the world. As they say, "Join the Navy and see the world". I left the Navy in July 1965 and traveled to more than 50 countries. During my time in the Navy I studied architecture and started working for the town of Den Helder. Due to spending cuts, Den Helder would not renewÊthe contracts of any of the employees after their first year, as that would have converted them into permanent employment contracts. My family and I immigrated to Canada in 1967. We landed in Canada on April 13th and we lived for 32 1/2 years in the Ottawa area where I was a Contractor. Now I am retired, and have lived in Brockville for the past 51/2 years. I am a proud Member of the Royal Canadian Legion and have been for the past 17 years. I am now a Member of Branch 96 Brockville.

A German war plane flew over; Leeder's gun shot it down

Russell Leeder was with the 4th Light Anti Aircraft "B" Division.

Russell remembers that he arrived on October24, 1944, in Ghent, Belgium, and that

 
 he and his mates were the guest of the people of Ghent for 3 days and 4 nights. On the morning of the fourth day they where told to get in their vehicles as they would be leaving soon. They had no idea where they were going. The first city they were sent to was Nijmegen in Holland. He remembers arriving there on the 28th or the 29th of October 1944. His 40 mm anti-aircraft gun was set up in a soccer field. He was taken to a church tower to oversee the area where the Canadian Division had landed and he was told of the horror of the battle of Nijmegen. He met aÊwoman who introduced him to her 10 year-old brother who was injured during the battle. He brought that boy to the military medical centre for treatment. After Nijmegen, in early April 1945, his Division was sent to Deventer where his 40 mm gun was placed in a position to cover the Canadian soldiers who for four days worked on removing explosives from the Deventer bridge. During this time, a German war plane flew over; Leeder's gun shot it down. After Deventer his group proceeded on to Zwolle where he remembers having his first fresh butter and cheese.

The last city he can remember was Groningen and from there he was sent to Germany.

He returned to Canada on December 12th, 1945. Russell has written two books and he will visit Holland in May this year to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Holland. During his visit he hopes to present his books to the Library of Zwolle.

 Dripping wet and near to freezing

John Hare was a sergeant in the 4th Canadian Armoured Division Signals. He went to Europe with the 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment. After landing on D-Day in France they started "The Run through France" to the Scheldt Pocket where there encountered heavy fighting. They then went on to the River Waal. On the 11th of November 1944 the Regiment left for Nijmegen at 2:00 am. In cold, lashing rain the five mile long stream of armoured cars and carriers wound its way through Antwerp, Turnhout, Tilburg and 's-Hertogenbosch, and at approximately 8:00 pm they arrived in Nijmegen, dripping wet and near to freezing. The road from 's-Hertogenbosch to Nijmegen was chockablock with vehicles of all types and the only thing on their mind was to get to Nijmegen despite not having any roadmaps. Next day they took up their winter job guarding the Nijmegen bridge that had been recaptured by the Airborne troops and was now the only crossing over the River Waal. One night, the officers created a brilliant new cocktail consisting of 1 part Rum, 2 parts Whisky, 3 parts Gin, 3 parts grapefruit juice and 1 part grenadine. They named it "The Nijmegen Bridge" for they proudly boasted "It takes a good man to hold it”. They held this position until the 3rd of February 1945, after which they moved north and from there to Germany. John returned to Canada in late 1945.