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email
to Fred Fisher,
from Jim Bunting,
Born in Toronto, August 15th, 1946
Former Canadian Forces soldier, (1966 to 1996).
The 48th Highlanders of Canada,
4th mechanised infantry
brigade,
stationed in West Germany.
Volunteer guide at the Canadian War Plane Heritage
-
Museum, Hamilton International Airport,
www.warplane.com
Jim Bunting holds a PhD in Canadian military history
from the University of Toronto
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Most
people from the Netherlands are very well educated
about their
history in WW2 and the special relationship between
their country and
mine. As a former Canadian Forces soldier, I can testify
to their
extraordinary hospitality, while I was a part of our 4th
mechanised
infantry brigade, stationed in West Germany. On a
annual leave period I
spent 2 weeks tracing the path of the 1st Canadian
Infantry Division,
during the winter and spring of 44/45 thru Holland.
Although we were in
civilian clothes, our CF private motor vehicle plates
were a dead give
away as to our nationality. We couldn't spend a cent
there, and we were
"invited home for supper ", almost every day that we
were in the country.
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Every year, the kids who turn ten that year, spend a
whole year,
individually tending to a Canadian soldier's grave, and
learning about
his life and death. Although there are massive war
graves cemeteries in
Holland, there are also many small sites with as few as
3 graves in them,
and many are in the yards of private homes, all
carefully maintained and
marked with small bronze markers on the walls or the
house entrance
gate.
My old original CF unit, the 48th Highlanders of
Canada, has a
"tribute " organisation in Holland, who are a WW2
re-enactors group, who
parade in authentic WW2 battledress and kilts, and are
known as " The
Pipes and Drums of the 48th Highlanders of Holland ".
They are officially
endorsed by the Colonel of the 48th and they have been
equipped and
trained by our current P & D staff. They play at
numerous events in
Holland every year, and have appeared in Canada with the
48th's Pipes and
Drums in Remembrance Day events, here.
Here is a link to their website in Holland.
http://www.48th-highlanders.nl
Click the "Canadian version " to get it
in the English language, not Dutch ( grin ).
How about that for "remembering the Canadians "?
Jim
Bunting. Toronto . |
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