The liberation of Holland

This week, in honour of our war veterans, I am profiling some of the men and women who served Canada in the Second World War. These veterans sat for portraits for me last year, as part of a series I was creating, and kindly shared their stories with me.

This first portrait is of Ted Patrick.

Ted enlisted in the army as soon as he had finished high school. As a radio operator who was also part of the force that liberated Holland, Ted witnessed the hardship—and the gratitude—of the civilians there.

Ted recalls a young civilian couple, who gave him shelter in their house for the night. Ted expected to sleep on the floor, but the young couple insisted on giving him their bed. It was the first time in years that he had slept on sheets, and the power of such a simple and unexpected pleasure stays with Ted still. The next morning, the couple had prepared ersatz coffee; before leaving, Ted gave them a pound of coffee, which had been sent to him in a care package from home. Their joy was overwhelming: it was the first coffee they had had in 6 years. It was a poignant moment, and as Ted was leaving, he looked back to see the couple sharing the coffee with their neighbours.

Another veteran who helped to liberate Holland was Cleve Conlon.

Cleve served with the Governor General’s Foot Guards, fighting in Normandy and Holland. Speaking about the liberation of Holland, Cleve describes the unimaginable hardship faced by civilians there:

The towns had been completely devastated—everything that the people had owned had been stolen from them by the German army: bicycles, cars, horses, goats, pigs—any livestock at all. Many of the men had been taken away by the German army, either forced to fight with the army, or put into labour camps to work and support the German war effort. Many young unmarried women had been taken away by the army as well. That left towns full of the elderly, and mothers with small children.

There was so little food, that mothers were feeding tulip bulbs to their children. The Canadian units had cook trucks with them—trucks fitted up with wood stoves where cooks made meals for the troops. When they would set up the trucks, the mayor or burgemeester would ask the troops not to throw anything away, even the garbage. Instead, the troops would put the lid on the garbage bins upside down, and the soldiers would put everything in the lids. Children and adults would come with plates, or anything they had, and scoop the remains in to take home, although many of them were so hungry they just stood there and ate on the spot.