At any other time it would have been a 75th anniversary celebration that would have attracted a large gathering. However yesterday, Tony Bendel of Lord Elgin Branch 41, Royal Canadian Legion was quite happy to see less than a dozen people at Veteran’s Memorial Garden in St. Thomas to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Holland by the First Canadian Army.
Bendel says it is important to recognize the special relationship between the two countries.
As a result of the efforts of Canadian and other Allied troops, enemy forces in the country surrendered on May 5, 1945, liberating all of the Netherlands. All German forces on the continent unconditionally surrendered on May 7, 1945, and the next day was declared Victory in Europe Day.
