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heartbeat of your neighbour…. There we were: between
Middelburg in the west, the Sloedam in the east en who
knows how many boches (‘Jerries’) in the other corners
around us.’ After fierce fighting the
Canadian forces managed to form a bridgehead. On 6
November Middelburg was liberated.
WOENSDRECHT
I used my pistol to shoot out the lock of the town hall
door
Anecdote related to me by Lieutenant-Colonel Dennis
Whitaker of the Royal Hamilton Light Infantry during my
visit to Whitaker at Lake Ontario in May 2001 just a few
weeks before he passed away.
Battle of Woensdrecht
(15 October 1944-27 October 1944)
The Canadians quickly realized that capturing the high
ground at Woensdrecht was crucial for getting into
Zuid-Beveland (Battle of the Scheld).
Whitaker: "In the days preceding October 15th, my
headquarters were at Calfven in Ossendrecht where we
prepared the invasion of Hoogerheid and RHLIs attack on
the hill in Woensdrecht. We had to head towards
Woensdrecht via Hoogerheide. When we had made it to
Hoogerheide I wanted to use the town hall to make
further preparations for the final "Battle of
Woensdrecht". But I was confronted with a locked door
and was not given permission to enter the premises. And
yet I wanted to use the building because of its
strategic position.
"A few hours later I used my pistol to shoot out the
lock of the town hall door and appropriated the building
and the mayor's office for my own use. In the afternoon
of October 15th, I discussed the final details and
tested the logistics and communications. I did not want
to run any risk. On October 16th, at approximately 03:00
a.m., we started with heavy curtain fire. At 06:15 a.m.
I was able to move my headquarters to the farm owned by
Cees van Beeck in Dorpsstraat. On our way to moving into
the farm we captured six Germans. Many of the Royal
Hamilton Light Infantry and of the Black Watch Regiment
lost their lives during the Battle of Woensdrecht."
Jan Prop, Town of Woensdrecht
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GRONINGEN
Mind my strawberry plants
I was 15 at the time of the liberation, living with my
parents and grandmother in the Westerbadstraat. On
Saturday afternoon, April 14th, I believe, we spotted
the first Canadians, whom my mother kept referring to as
Tommies. We were
in the back room, the safest place in the house under
the circumstances. Seeing the Canadians and shouting
'Tommies', mother rushed into the kitchen and on into
the garden, telling the Canadians to stop and mind her
strawberry plants, all this in the Groningen dialect.
Her words have never been forgotten!
Why were they in the garden? Bordering as it did on an
extension to the neighbouring café, it struck the
Canadians as a good starting point from where they could
clear all the gardens between the Paterswoldseweg and
the Westerbadstraat. So a large number of soldiers
jumped into our garden from the roof of the new billiard
room and, having seen this, my mother took action, not
thinking of the risks involved. We stood petrified with
fear: what would happen now? We had been too late to
stop her and she had been off like a shot. The Canadian
in charge of the operation shouted something that we
could not understand, and raised his rifle. We thought
she was about to be shot down when we saw her raise her
hands. Then she went on talking in our dialect telling
soldiers to use the tiled path and stop ruining her
gardens; there was no need for that at all. While she
was thus talking she moved her hands in the direction of
the plants and the path. We have never found out whether
the soldiers could make sense of what she had been
saying or somehow realised what she meant. The fact is
that the soldier in charge issued a few commands and
presently all of them went their way grinning, using the
tiled path.
A story from the book:: “Thank you, Canada. Memories of
the Liberation of Groningen in April 1945”(Groningen
1990) Published by Gemeentelijk 5 mei Comité, written by
Bart Tammeling e.d..
BERGEN OP ZOOM
So there they stood, aiming guns at each other
"Panzersperre" at the Zoom river
The city of Bergen op Zoom was liberated by Canadians on
October 27th 1944 and last year we festively
commemorated this historical fact. Simultaneously we
managed to celebrate the 80th birthday of veteran Doug
Peeler, but that is another story. This one is about
international gentlemanlike behaviour… |
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On
the day of the liberation of Bergen op Zoom, the Germans
had retreated behind the Zoom river, a natural obstacle
from which they could easily fight the Allies. Canadian
tanks were kept at a safe distance. In order to make
progress in the direction of Halsteren, the Zoom river
had to be conquered. Therefore, on the 26th of October
at 01:00 hours, the Canadians launched an attack in the
vicinity of the "De Zoom" laundry and the Beckers stove
factory. Bitter house-to-house fights took place there.
And during these fierce battles something peculiar
happened.
In an attempt to flee the laundry and to return to his
own troops, sergeant Charles Kipp suddenly came to stand
eye to eye with the enemy. A German officer kept a
Schmeisser gun pointed at him. But when his attention
slackened for a moment, sergeant Kipp managed to grab
his Lee Enfield and pointed it right back at the German.
So there they stood, aiming guns at each other, hardly
ten feet apart. Not a word was spoken and the two men
kept looking without moving a limb. And then, as if
agreed upon beforehand, they both gradually lowered the
barrels of their guns. Slowly, very slowly, arms were
stretched until the guns pointed at the ground. Then the
German officer greeted sergeant Kipp, his hand touching
his round paratrooper helmet. He made a right turn and
disappeared. Charles Kipp had returned the salute and
speedily went back to report to his superiors. Years
later, in 1986 during a visit to Bergen op Zoom, Charles
Kipp met a group of German veterans of the 6th
Paratrooper Regiment. One of the men was former officer
Carl Heinz Holst. For years he had been telling a 'wild'
story to anyone willing to hear, about a chance meeting
with a Canadian soldier… Finally the two gentlemen were
able to meet and recognised each other. Since that day,
people believe the story they have been telling since
the war. The two became friends and even went on holiday
together. A worthy way to follow up on a peculiar event.
And a particular way to make peace…
ALKMAAR
Dear Liberators
During the second world war 43,000 young Canadians gave
their lives far away from home for people they did not
know. 7600 were killed while liberating the Netherlands
from the dictatorship of the Nazis. We treasure this
freedom, so precious and not to be taken for granted.
Freedom of speech, the press, religion, and |
