Wounter v.d. Kamp (1908 - 1963) - WWII Veteran
Liberator of the Netherlands
He was wounded in the town of Flushing by a booby trap
Born on March 31, 1908 in Barneveld Netherlands
His name was Wounter v.d. Kamp, later changed to Walter
Vandekamp. He arrived in Halifax in March of 1928 on board
the M.S. Nieuw Amsterdam, the first ship to dock at Pier21.
He traveled to Vancouver and started working for Grauers
Dairy farms until 1933 to 1934. After which he obtained a
320 acre home stead in the Caribou region plus or minus 80
miles E.N.E. of Lac la Hache, BC, built a log house and out
buildings and started farming, mainly beef cattle and sheep.
He also had a 30-mile long trap line with several overnight
huts built out of logs. The Date of is naturalization is
un-known.
In 1938, as there was no market for his products and it cost
him more to ship his beef then he was paid for it, due to
the depression, decided to sell his property an to go back
to the Netherlands for a visit. After returning to Canada,
again worked for Grauers.
When Canada declared war on Germany in 1939 he joined the
Seaforth Highlanders and was sent to Truro Nova Scotia.
Later he was sent overseas to Great Britain and was
stationed at Aldershot and Truro, England. Then he was asked
to join the Canadian Intelligence Corps and did some work
behind enemy lines in Occupied Europe. He landed in Normandy
on Juno Beach on the first day of the invasion. When they
reached Belgium he was ordered to leave the 1st Canadian
army and joined the 4th Canadian army and went north to
liberate the Netherlands. They crossed the river Scheldt and
landed on the island of Walcheren, where he incidentally met
his future wife, Johanna Minderhout. He was wounded in the
town of Flushing by a booby trap. From there he went to
Germany until Germany Capitulated on may 8, 1945. When Queen
Wilhelmina visited the liberated part of the Netherlands in
Feb. 45, he was her bodyguard and she made him an honorary
member of the House of Orange which is quite and honor.
For the remainder of his service he was stationed in
Apeldoorn in the Netherlands until he was repatriated on
July 10, 1945 and sent back to Canada. He was discharged in
Vancouver and went to Powell River where he lived until his
demise in 1963. He left a wife, 2 sons and a daughter.
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