Bergen Op Zoom and a Special Meeting
Yesterday was a heavy day and it is a good thing we arrived to our new lodging relatively early and an unreal buffet that stuffed most of them. Chicken wings and fires along with plenty of pastas and salads and of course breads and cheese. We couldn't go wrong. There was plenty of free time after supper for walking in the gardens and areas adjacent to the hotel in this wonderful forested town of Osterwjik. A couple of us chaperones even got into a little game of sewer ball before heading in for the night at 9:00 PM. Night night tonight is 11 because all of the schools are here and tomorrow is our biggest day at Bergen op Zoom. Good night from the Netherlands or good morning as I finish this.
May 4th Liberation Day in the Netherlands is a day that the Dutch people finally were freed from the oppression of the Nazi regime from 80 years ago. There will be people from the town of Bergen Op Zoom here today that have lived through the horrors that play out in our history books. We, TOSH 2025, will get to walk into the long liberated town, as representatives of the Canadian heroes that came here 80 years ago and it’s going to be a special day. We are armed with pins, hats, flags, pinwheels and pencils all sporting our beautiful flag and colors, and we cannot wait to give it all away.
Our day will begin with a tour of the town, a very special meeting with Trooper Alvah Leard, the official ceremony and silent march and then onto the dinner and reception. All in all we have 11 students participating in the various aspects of the ceremony. Right up there with the most of any school here…they may be sick of hearing Three Oaks today….lol.
around their beautiful town, and I should add the old town. The local guides were present to take each group of 1000 total on a tour of their majestic town. Bergen Op Zoom was an extremely important trading market during the middle ages, yes that is how old this town is. Many of the buildings date back to the 1400s and in the area and this town’s only economic rival was Antwerp, the famous diamond capital of Europe. As we walk through the town, all of the scenes are out of European movies and their iconic cobbled street paths and connected homes. European architectural beauty at its finest. This medieval town has opened their arms to our Canadian kids and we haven’t even reached the ceremonial piece of today.
We bussed down to CWG cemetery early so we could pay a special visit, which we promised a local family almost 1 year ago. When I first opened the CWG file for those interred at Bergen op Zoom, I did a quick search of what else, the word PEI. What came up was a list of young men from PEI and I searched for a name that sounded more western, another very PEI thing to do of course. In doing that I came across Leard, Alvah Ray Leard from Northam, PEI. While sitting at my desk in my office, I yelled into Jacqueline, who hails from the western part of PEI as well, and said she was pretty sure she had heard of an Alvah Leard. In fact, she was pretty sure he was related to someone she knew, Lynn Arsenault, who lived in our subdivision and who Jacqueline was Facebook friends with. Within 10 minutes I asked if we could call Lynn and see if a connection could be made, and low and behold Alvah Ray Leard would become a focus of our group for VE 80.
Months later, after going through dozens of letters while sitting with Lynn and various relatives over a few evenings, with plenty of treats of fudge and cookies, we are starting to build a story about a man who enlisted during the prime of his life in order to fight for his country and without knowledge of where he would spend the last days of his life. In his honor today and on behalf of the greater Leard family we stood by his grave today and told a story of a hero, just another one on my list that has grown over the last 20 years. That list grows every cemetery I walk into and I will continue to pass on the messages we heard over and over again today...say their names, simple as that!!! I will continue to say their names as long as I can.
Just prior to laying the plaque I texted Lynn to see if she was awake, a 5 hour time difference you must remember. The answer was yes and a quick facetime to say hello, show her the grave and the plaque and let her say hello to all of the kids, and our hearts are full but not as full as the greater Leard family. Thank you for everything Alvah, the people of the Netherlands are forever grateful for your sacrifice and we are beyond proud to know that you are from our little province and that we’ve gotten to know you.
Zoe and Quinn stand beside his grave and read the following:
We are honored to have travelled all of this way to Bergen op Zoom on behalf of the family of Alvah Ray Leard.
Alvah was born in Alberton, PEI on August 31, 1922. He was the son of Lloyd E. and Margaret Leard, of Northam, Prince Edward Island.
In December of 1942, with the Second World War well underway, Alvah enlisted at the PEI regimental office in Charlottetown.
After a short period of training Alvah was sent overseas. HE joined the Sherbrooke Fusiliers Regiment, R.C.A.C and was sent to the 27th Armed Regiment Division.
While his time on the front lines was relatively short, he sent dozens of letters home mostly to his sister Margaret in Halifax. In fact his last letter to Margaret was dated September 25, 1944. 1 day later Alvah was killed in action and was later buried right here in Bergen Op Zoom Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery at 11 H 9.
We stand here in thanks for what he gave up for the Dutch people and ultimately for our freedoms as well. Alvah is fondly remembered by his many nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews that we were able to connect with over the past year.
We leave this plaque and a gift of a Jews harp on behalf of the family and Three Oaks and we vow to always remember his sacrifice and all of those others who are buried beside him ... .brothers and sisters in arms a part of the greatest generation that humanity may have ever known. So selfless and giving in the defence of others, may we all be more like that generation as we go forward.
We will remember them!
Following our ceremony I noticed a Dutch woman had joined us so I went over to say hello. Her name was Caroline and she was so pleased to see us at the grave. She volunteers for the Faces to Graves of Bergen op Zoom and wanted to know more about Alvah. I told her as much as I could but assured her we would gather as much information when we returned home for their website. The Faces to Graves website states the following:
In the Netherlands we owe our freedom to the allied armies who managed to free us from the German occupiers in 1944 and 1945. During the liberation of especially Southwest Netherlands many soldiers gave their lives. These soldiers are buried at various cemeteries in Europe. Almost all of the soldiers who fell in the southwest of our country are at the Canadian War Cemetery and at the General War Cemetery in Bergen op Zoom. Next to the Canadian cemetery on the Ruytershoveweg you will find the General cemetery. This cemetery contains not only soldiers with the British nationality but also soldiers of other nationalities. When you walk over these two fields of honor, you will only read the name, age and Regiment of the soldiers on the stones. But who were these men and those few women anyway? In the Faces To Graves Bergen op Zoom project, research is being done into the backgrounds of all those killed soldiers and with the help of the service files a biography, the personal story, can be drawn up.
We officially have another job to do as soon as we get home. Trooper Alvah Leard needs to be memorialized on their website and we will get it done.
There are so many things going on as many Dutch come out to see us pay our respects. I will send as much video as I can in order for you to “feel” the experience more vividly, there is no way I can describe it, I am not that good!! Haha
What I truly love about the Explorica ceremonies is that the focus is on youth. Dave Robinson, a mentor of mine, THE man who organizes all of these is a master of putting the next generation at the forefront, where they should be. He always bridges the gap between ages and countries as we get to hear from youth from across Canada and Bergen op Zoom. They speak of why they came and why they need to continue to carry the torch of remembrance, they speak of why they look after the graves and why they need to remember these souls who liberated their grandparents and in all reality, them as well.
Oppression can last generations and they very well could have been born into an oppressive regime, if not for these Canadians buried here. They were so brave and so young as the kids are seeing as many of them are brought to tears. This is what I wanted to see, they get it as I knew they would. The tears are the confirmation of understanding what these men gave up. 18, 19, 23, 25 and Alvah was 22. Never before was it so hard for these students to see such simple digits engraved on a simple stone.
Following the ceremony, which was traditional in nature, as the laying of wreaths by schools took place, led by Seth and Ellen from TOSH, we began to line up for the march back to the town center of Bergen op Zoom. This is where they now learn what it truly feels like to be a Canadian. The Dutch people are lining the walkway. The people are of all ages and all so happy to be receiving our Canadian swag. The students are awestruck by the looks on a 5 year old when he receives a pin and a hat, the parents are overjoyed we spotted them. The 75 year old lady clutches her heart when we give her a small Canadian flag and PEI pin and the middle aged man is overwhelmed when we hand him a full size Canadian flag and he vows to fly it along side his Dutch flag with pride. Think of the experience our lone, current but soon to be, non-Canadian citizen, is getting right now. If it is ok with the Heyman family, I will consider her baptized into “Canadianship” today and not on July 1st. ON July 1st your family will be sworn in as Canadian citizens, today Hannah was baptized as a Canadian.
Our roughly 4 KM walk back to the city center is a piece of cake due to our training of 23,000 steps the last number of days. Coupled with the interaction with the Dutch people from time to time, we are back in no time at all for an official welcome by the city at city hall, although still run by youth, because DRob has made sure those connections are made. Our
town flag bearers Brayden, Hannah and Kayla carry the flags of Canadian towns. Madison was a part of the peace flag marching group, while Addison and Jorja were selected to carry the beautiful torch provided by Commonwealth War Graves Commission that each student in the procession will carry for 80 steps until passing it off to the next. The 80 steps parallel the 80 years since the liberation occurred.
The town welcomes us with speeches from their youth council and acts of remembrance by Canadian youth and then the bells of the clock tower play O Canada. Another extremely proud moment to be a Canadian on Dutch soil. It is soon time for me to whisk off to the reception as yours truly is the master of ceremonies for the mess hall dinner to cap off the day of remembrance. Abby, Daniel, Ian and Brooke-Lyn accompany me in the official setting up of the missing man table, honoring the dead soldiers, which is a military tradition at formal dinners. Once the speeches and formalities are done, the only time adults are allowed to speak, in this case beside me(with a script so no rambling like you are getting now) there is Amy Meunier the Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs, and Lt. General Lise Bourgon a 3 star General and Second in Command of Canada’s Military and finally Nele Belle from Belgium and the Commonwealth War Graves. All 3 speak of how proud they are to see so many youth committing to remembering and going forward to speak their names so they will never be forgotten. Another heart full day!!! I will now turn it over to Mr. Tim Hockin, who is along as a chaperone and experiencing this for the very first time as well. Go for it Hockin.....
I have studied both World Wars in university, taught them in school, read books and watched countless movies about them, but none of that prepares a person for actually being here.
I have always wanted to travel to Europe and see first hand the areas that have been made famous in the history books and movies. For the last two years I have taught my students about the battles, the atrocities, and the valor that took place in Europe over 80 years ago; but until this week, the stories I told were just names in a book or maps on a page. This week it all became real and very much tangible.
A few days ago, while still in Belgium, we visited Vimy Ridge -arguably the birthplace of our nation - but what we really will stick with me is towards the end of the day we pulled off on the side of the road in a seemingly innocuous little field but as we rounded the corner a large memorial - The Brooding Soldier - appeared. This was the real site of where Canadians became the first group of Allied Soldiers to die from German Gas attack in World War 1. There was a slight breeze that afternoon and the wind hitting my face impressed upon me that this same wind in this same spot caused the death of over 2000 men younger than me. I touched the monument and looked out at the now peaceful fields. The stories in the history book were no longer just words on a page.
Indeed so much history is “real” in this part of the world. Today, we took part in the remembrance ceremonies of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. We were in a town called Bergen op Zoom. Nearly 1000 Canadian students took part in the ceremony and a large part of the town came to the graveyard to take in the ceremony. Canadian students spoke, as well as local Dutch students. One well-spoken Dutch student first thanked our students for the role Canada played in allowing his country to be free and democratic. He reminded them that once again a war rages in Europe only 2000 kilometers from where we were today and that peace is something we must not take for granted. He challenged the students to stay true to John McCrae’s words, to take up the torch and hold it high so that they can pass it onto the next. At the end of the ceremony a British Spitfire plane flew over and dipped its wings to signal hello to us. The site of that spitfire 80 years ago would have been a fearful site to the Germans in that very spot. For me today, it was awe inspiring.
After the ceremony, we marched in a parade and small children and old citizens lined the streets to thank us. We gave out Canadian memorabilia and the children were so excited to get it. The parents pushed their children forward to say thank you to us as if we were something special to behold. They still cherish what Canadians were able to do for them and they hold true to their words not to let the sacrifices of so many young soldiers be in vain. It was a very emotional day.
There is something about being here that just makes a person feel a little more connected. We are 80 years removed from all of the atrocities but for these people, the hurt and the scars are only just under the surface. It is truly sombering and a powerful reminder that we should not take for granted what we have in Canada. I hope I can pass this lesson on to my future students.
Thanks for reading everyone....sorry about the delay....theme park day and didn't quite get it finished...en route to Amsterdam and Brooke just asked if we go home soon and made that sad face.
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