UDEN
'Greetings from Uden'

Market-Garden tour of former landing zones and battlefields
The advance of the 43rd Division is headed by the 8th Armoured Brigade attached to it. Here a column of this unit is photographed in front of restaurant 'Den Tol' in Reek, on the highway 's Hertogenbosch- Grave. The place is nearly unchanged since the war. Many photographs were taken at this spot amongst other of the 8th Armoured Brigade that was in advance of the 43rd Wessex Division, and of the Dutch Princes Irene Brigade.
The 'Van Sasse pumping-station' at the so-called defence channel at Grave. In this building, of which the Americans thought it was a power station, most probably the control panel of the nearby-located FLAK was hosted. The German defence of the Maas Bridge at Grave consisted of several anti-aircraft guns placed amongst others near the "Van Sasse pumping station" and on kazemates.
The 2,000 paratroops of the 504 Regiment (called "Devils in baggy pants") were instructed to occupy the triangle Grave-Heumen-Hatert. At a quarter past one the Regiment landed near Overasselt and
 

Velp. During the Operation the name "Grave" was degenerated into "Graawi". Pronounced in English it would seem that the soldiers were talking about their "grave". A heavy load rested on the shoulders of the 2nd Battalion that day. The instruction was given to take the Maas Bridge near Grave by surprise and to keep it till the British 30 Corps came to relieve the Division from their isolation. The bridge must be captured regardless of the price.
On Tuesday 19th September l944, around a quarter past eight in the morning, the link took place with the British 30 Corps. From Veghel the tanks could have reached Grave with the kind of jump Montgomery had in mind for the whole Operation. 'Greetings from Uden' a British armoured car reported. In the afternoon of Wednesday 20th September 1944 the first army trucks of the eight hundred vehicles counting supply convoy reached the Maas Bridge via the small corridor.

HARLINGEN
I've lost many friends

It was a splendid sight on Saturday, April 14th, 1945: Germans on old bicycles, sometimes in crocks on commandeered ships.... in short, they had confiscated anything they could use to get away as quickly as possible, terrified at the thought of being confronted with the advancing allies.
That Sunday was a strange day. All but one or two Germans 'verschwunden' (disappeared). The few remaining patrolled Harlingen by car to uphold the curfew. Nevertheless, many inhabitants of Harlingen were out on the streets. After dark we heard shots. Towards midnight – no one had gone to bed because of the shooting – we heard that there were Canadians near the police station. I snuck along Grote Kerkstraat to Noordijs and there they were: the Liberators. And with a cadged cigarette, a ‘Sweet Corporal’, as proof, I ran back home.
We took in two Canadians who had made it through their combat period and were waiting to be repatriated. They belonged to the Ontario Regiment, part of the 1st Canadian Army Corps. Harold Moore and Wilfred Deschamps were their names. Harold was nicknamed 'Shorty' and Wilfred was called 'Pud'. Some café’s were rented out as canteens. They had all sorts of things there: beer, rum, gin, you name it. After waiting for about four months there was room for them on board ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. We had had good times together. When I said goodbye, I can remember thinking "We'll never see them again."
One Friday in April 1982, Mrs Driessen-Koopmans telephoned from Harlingen to

Dordrecht, where I now live. "You'll have a visitor this weekend. Shorty is here with me now," she said. It was an emotional weekend. I returned the visit in 1983. It often went through my mind "How is it possible that you are visiting your liberator somewhere in Canada; it's as if we were the liberators". When we stopped for dinner one evening, the name of the restaurant (Brandy's) reminded Harold and me of café Brandy in Harlingen, which had been one of their 'canteens'. I realized that Harold Moore – who had marched through Europe shooting for three years – wasn't such a tough, courageous soldier, but instead a warm-hearted, amiable and very helpful person. Harlingen is a symbol to him: "For us the war ended in Harlingen. I've lost many friends."
L. Koopmans

ROTTERDAM
Volunteer musicians

The final push for Canadian Troops came in April and May of 1945 with the liberation of Holland. The establishments of the overseas bands were now becoming reduced by attrition, mostly because of the strain of the war, many of the musicians had returned to Canada. Major Streeter himself was sent to the 21st Army HQ for a visit suffering from fatigue and exhaustion. This malaise was a common occurrence among the musicians because of very long days and equally long nights of travel and performing. In February 1945 it was agreed that no further musicians were to be permitted home leave. With eight bands needed in theatre (Europe) it was essential to maintain the standard of the bands. Two bands had already been cannibalized to sustain the instrumentation levels in the remaining bands. Most of the musicians were to remain at least ten months following the end of hostilities in May 1945.
Numerous concerts and street parades including a victorious parade in Rotterdam which unquestionably was the most emotional moment of the war.  The  people of Holland saw appearances by several of the bands that were stationed in Europe including the appearance of the Canadian Woman's Army Bands.
The war ended on May 8th and brought with it the final moments of groups of dedicated Canadian Volunteer musicians and their fantastic expertise, demonstrated by the British Bandmasters that led these bands. It was a remarkable feat to bring together highly sophisticated and well-trained bandmasters who were career soldiers for the purposes of developing professional military bands. What is equally more amazing is that it was accomplished in a very brief period of time and every musician that came back from that experience helped to raise the standard of musicianship in Canada  post war.

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