As the Netherlands marks the 80th anniversary of the country’s liberation by the Canadian Army, more than 1,000 Canadian students will take part in events where they are expected to sense both the horror of war and the reverence of the Dutch for their liberators.
Upwards of 175,000 Canadians fought as part of First Canadian Army in the Netherlands between September 1944 and early May 1945, with 7,600 killed during the campaign to liberate the country from its five-year German occupation.
The fighting came to an end on May 5, 1945, when Canadian Lt.-Gen. Charles Foulkes accepted the surrender of German troops in the village of Wageningen….