Latest news with #VictoryInEurope
Globe and Mail
26-05-2025
- General
- Globe and Mail
Second World War scrapbooks bring memories back to life for Globe readers
The black and white photograph has faded over the years, but it's not hard to make out the nine Canadian soldiers smiling for the camera, many with their arms draped across each other's shoulders. They're standing in a field somewhere in Italy near the end of the Second World War. There's a tiny 'x' above one of the men, with an arrow leading to a flowing signature – 'David Lloyd Ferris 64 Victoria St., Simcoe Ont Canada'. His son, David Ferris, saw the photo for the first time this month – 80 years after it was glued into a scrapbook by Klaas Nieborg, a 25-year-old school teacher in Groningen, the Netherlands. Mr. Nieborg compiled two scrapbooks in the spring of 1945 as Canadian soldiers drove the German army out of Groningen. The books – comprising 250 pages of photographs, signatures and mementoes from hundreds of Canadian servicemen – were donated to a local archive a few years ago by Mr. Nieborg's son. This month, the archives posted digitized copies online as part of the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. A recent Globe and Mail story about the scrapbooks led many readers to scour the pages to learn more about loved ones who served in the Netherlands. For some, just seeing the signature of their father or grandfather brought memories back to life. Others, such as Mr. Ferris, got to see images of their dads as young men, frozen in time. 'I was absolutely amazed to see that photo,' said Mr. Ferris, 73, who lives in Simcoe. He also spotted the signature of another soldier from the community: his father's buddy, Stan Frankis. 'He was their sergeant,' Mr. Ferris said. 'They remained friends after the war.' His father, who died in 2009, never mentioned serving in the Netherlands. He'd joined an artillery regiment and was among the Allied troops who landed in Anzio, Italy, in January, 1944. Mr. Ferris said his father spent several months in Italy before his regiment was attached to the American Fifth Army, which made its way through France and Germany. Mr. Ferris has no idea how a photo of his dad ended up in Mr. Neiborg's scrapbook. 'I never heard him say that he was in the Netherlands, but once they convoyed out of Germany, I suppose they could have touched up there.' The scrapbooks brought back complicated memories for Dara Legere – that of an unexpected phone call in 2002 informing him that he had a half-sister in Rotterdam. The caller, John Boers, was from the Association of Liberation Children. He shared that Mr. Legere's dad, Philip, had fathered a daughter while stationed in the Netherlands in the summer of 1945. The organization estimates that as many as 7,000 Dutch children were conceived by Allied troops during that period. 'We didn't know anything about her,' Mr. Legere said from his home in Joggins, N.S. Philip grew up in Joggins and joined the army in 1942 at the age of 18, largely to avoid working in the local coal mines. He spent a couple of years in England and landed in France just after D-Day in the summer of 1944. His regiment was among the Canadian troops that liberated the Netherlands in April, 1945. After coming home, Philip worked at an aircraft factory in nearby Amherst, married Patricia St. Peters and raised three children. He died in 1977; his wife passed 20 years later. Mr. Legere said it was only through the Dutch organization that his family learned of their sibling, Yvonne Fraaye, who was born in March, 1946. They were told that Philip got into an accident while driving a military truck and spent time in an Amsterdam hospital run by the Canadian Forces. While recovering, he had a romantic liaison with a nurse, Huibredina van Gurp, before he was shipped back to Canada in August, 1945. Dutch family's WWII-era scrapbooks keep the names and exploits of Canadian soldiers fresh on the page According to Mr. Legere, Ms. van Gurp had no way of contacting Philip. All she had was his name scribbled on a matchbook, along with a mailbox address in Ottawa that was used by the Canadian Army. Philip never spoke about the truck accident or his relationship. 'Nobody knew. Not even his best friends who were all in the war together,' Mr. Legere said. He and his brother were introduced to Ms. Fraaye on a Dutch television show in 2004. In an e-mail this week, Ms. Fraaye said she was seven years old when her mother, nicknamed Dien, told her about her Canadian father. Philip had wanted to take Dien to Canada and marry her. 'This was not approved by Dien's father, and Phil went back to Canada alone,' Ms. Fraaye wrote. 'After that, Dien had no more contact with Phil, but this could be because Dien's father intercepted Phil's mail.' She added that, 'I have been searching for my father ever since.' She and the Legeres have met several times, and they keep in regular contact. 'I don't see the resemblance, but other people who have met her say, 'My God, you can tell she's your sister,' ' Mr. Legere said. There's another faded photograph in the scrapbooks that Jan Davis spotted. It's a shot of her father, William Briant, leaning against a tree next to another soldier identified as V.H. Perry of Toronto. 'I've not seen that one at all,' Ms. Davis said from her home in London, Ont. 'Seeing my dad's signature and photo was lovely.' Mr. Briant grew up in Indian Head, Sask., a small town 70 kilometres east of Regina. On July 20, 1940, he joined the 17th Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery, Fifth Canadian Armoured Division. He was 17 years old. After training in Canada and England, he was part of the Allied force that landed in Naples, Italy, on Nov. 8, 1943. His regiment moved through Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, where they spent V-E Day after Germany's surrender on May 8, 1945. Mr. Briant was discharged in November, 1945, in Regina. He moved to Toronto and worked as a draftsman. Ms. Davis said her father, who died in 2000, hardly spoke about the war. 'He didn't want to relive all the stuff that happened. They saw a lot of garbage, and then they never got any help afterwards. So I think it affected them quite a lot.' She did come across a notebook where he'd written down some wartime memories. In one passage, he recalled heading off with another soldier named Bansecu to repair a radio wire that had been severed during a battle in Italy. As the two men fixed the wire, Mr. Briant noticed a German patrol heading their way. The pair hid in a thicket of trees. 'Bansecu whispered, 'What do we do?' ' Mr. Briant wrote. 'I said, 'Not a Goddam thing.' ' The Germans passed by without noticing them. 'I'll tell you I am sure glad that clump of trees grew where that break in the wire was,' he wrote. Then he added, 'I'm sorry to say Bansecu was killed later on in the war.' The Dutch archives have heard from other Canadians wondering whether their relatives are among the hundreds of soldiers mentioned in the scrapbooks. Business operations manager Anniek van Dijk-van Leeuwen said archivists are hoping to work with an Ottawa-based non-profit group called the Canadian Research and Mapping Association to develop a searchable database of the names. 'It's not going to end here,' she said. 'We really want to make a project out of this.'
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Picnic attracts 400 residents as part of VE Day anniversary events
A family picnic attracted around 400 residents as part of a series of tributes to mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. Haydon Wick Parish Council's commemorations began on Thursday, May 8, with the raising of the VE Day flag at 9am. A "Lights of Peace" event followed, where residents placed candles and lamps in their windows. Councillor Leanne Stevenson, vice chair of the community development committee, said: "The community's participation in the national Lights of Peace initiative was truly heartwarming." Read more: Bollards painted like cigarettes on Hythe Road in Swindon The weekend celebrations continued with a family picnic at Mouldon Hill Country Park, which combined 1940s experiences with family-friendly entertainment. Visitors enjoyed a programme of activities, including melodies from Swindon Brass, attractions from George Scarrott's and Sons Fun Fair, face painting, vintage outdoor games, semaphore demonstrations, and vintage train rides. Many attendees wore 1940s-inspired outfits, adding to the event's atmosphere. Councillor Adam John said: "In the 1940s, families gathered for simple pleasures that brought communities together during challenging times. "Our event honoured that tradition while creating new memories for today's families." Councillor Rebecca Ross, chair of the community development committee, said: "Our commemorations honoured both aspects of VE Day – the reflection on sacrifice and the jubilation of peace." The council has invited residents to their next community event, the Haydon Wick Summer Extravaganza, on Saturday, August 16.
BBC News
12-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Battle of the Atlantic: 'I was there when the Germans surrendered'
On 14 May 1945, almost a week after Britain and its allies celebrated victory in Europe, Hitler's defeated Atlantic U-boats berthed for the final German submarines – the "U-boat peril" as Churchill had called them - had been the Allies' principal threat at sea during the Battle of the Atlantic, a campaign that raged throughout the that day, the first of the U-boats made their way up the River Foyle to Lisahally in County Londonderry to formally years on, Bert Whoriskey, then just 14, and who watched the surrender, told BBC News NI it is a day he can "never ever forget". 'The war had ended, excitement was second to none' "The war had ended, excitement was second to none, " he said. "There were ships of of all kinds, and at their head a big Navy destroyer, and there they were coming up the Foyle."The U-boats were following, around eight, or 10 of them, and they berthed about 200 yards from our house." Pre-war, Lisahally had been a quiet hamlet on the shores of the River was home to about 20 families, mainly workers at a manure factory, whose homes had been built by the factory owners."All we had was a nice cricket pitch, and a pavilion – that was Lisahally until 1939 when Hitler decided it was time to have a war," Bert months, Lisahally, as well as the city of Derry, and the wider north west of Northern Ireland, would be transformed. Lisahally would become one of the Allies' most strategically important amounts of timber arrived, stretched out across Bert's childhood cricket pitch, along with US Naval Construction Battalions (Seabees).Work began, and continued day and night for months.A huge jetty was built at the "back of our house," he the Royal Air Force oil storage facilities were built nearby, an airfield balloons arrived, surrounding the area to protect it from air strike. 'Lisahally was ready' Never had then nine-year-old Bert "seen anything as big"."When that was all built you just looked at it, Lisahally was ready," said he said, the ships started to arrive."Destroyers, battleships submarines, they all came to refuel and rearm. There was British, Canadian, American, Australian, Dutch. This went on every day for the rest of the war," Bert said. The naval base - shared by the Royal Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy and the United States Navy - was vital to the protection of convoys in the one time, 140 Allied escort ships were based on the River Foyle, and Londonderry was home to Base One Europe, the US Navy's operating base in Northern Battle of Atlantic was the longest continuous military campaign of World War than 66,000 Allied merchant seamen, sailors and airmen died, with 175 Allied warships and 5,000 merchant ships destroyed by German U-boats. 'They paid the ultimate price' As months gave way to years, Bert said, "you could see the the price that was being paid for where we are today"."The ships were coming in damaged. They would have let us on every once in a while. The young men who were crewing the ship, you could see in their faces they were terrified," he said."Nearly every day there would be bodies on the jetty, waiting to be taken away. That always comes back into my dreams, the bodies on the jetty getting put into the back of a lorry - people who paid the ultimate price." When victory in Europe finally came, Bert remembers sailors jumping into the Foyle "because they were so excited".A "big announcement" came in the days that followed, he said."They announced the U-boats fighting at our end of the Atlantic were surrendering at Lisahally," he 14 May the first of the U-boats berthed at Lisahally and formally ordered to surrender by Admiral Sir Max Horton, commander-in-chief, Western Approaches."Of all the things that happened, all the things we had seen, this was the biggest of them all," Bert said."We were only young. All we thought was we had spent six years fighting the Germans, and now we were going to see actual real Germans," Bert said. Bert and his pals had to wait until "all the pomp died down"."The first thing we heard was the singing of marching tunes."When we looked at them and I will never forget, they were all very young. Not many of them were even as old as 30."You could tell they were glad the war was over, they knew they had survived."The German submariners were held at the naval base for about a year and Bert and his friends used to go down and look through the fence."One day they were all on their knees in a big line, we thought they were going to be shot," Bert said."What they were doing was pulling the grass out of the ground to make a football pitch – the next day a goalpost was put up."We spent time marching up and down with them. They made us toys at Christmas, they made a toy double decker bus – I had never seen a double decker bus." Derry's strategic importance can not be underestimated, Admiral Lord West of Spithead, the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from 2002 to 2006, said."It was absolutely crucial and we needed to get our ships and facilities as far to the west as we could," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme."It was wonderful that we could use the base up in Londonderry which put our ships a bit closer." The U-boats were deliberately sunk - or scuttled - off the coast of Derry and Donegal after the war.A special event to commemorate the city's wartime role is set to take place in Derry's Ebrington Square on 17 May.
South China Morning Post
10-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
The world lives more in hope than expectation of a time without war
The commemorations around the world marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the second world war in Europe have involved a complex mix of celebration and remembrance. They have, depending on the time and place, been patriotic, even nationalistic, but also moving, poignant and uplifting. Advertisement As today's conflicts continue to take a terrible toll, causing death, displacement and destruction, it is important to reflect on the horror of war and to renew a commitment to peace. Last week's Victory in Europe Day celebrated the defeat of the genocidal Nazi regime by Allied forces in Europe between 1939 and May 1945. In Asia and the Pacific, of course, the conflict began earlier and ended later. Events marking the victory over Japan are, therefore, still to come. Here in the UK, VE celebrations were numerous and widespread, lasting four days. Advertisement They began with a military parade in central London. The presence of 11 Ukrainian soldiers provided a timely reminder that the world has not vanquished war.
CTV News
08-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
Lethbridge community, Legion, dignitaries come together for V-E Day
Members of the community, Legion and dignitaries gathered for a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, also known as V-E Day.
