A wonderful new exhibition remembering the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands is open now at the Small Arms Inspection Building (1352 Lakeshore Road East) from 80 Years of Freedom Committee, the City of Mississauga and Creative Hub 1352:

“This outdoor exhibition blends public art, testimony, and immersive history to honour the 7,600 Canadians who died liberating the Netherlands during the Second World War. At its heart is a trail of sculpted tank barriers — known as hedgehogs — each transformed into a photo monument pairing a Dutch civilian who was a child during the war with the Canadian liberator of their town or village. The exhibition was conceived by Dutch-Canadian photographer and filmmaker Jason van Bruggen, whose multi-year portrait and interview project 80 Faces, 80 Stories captures the legacy of liberation through human faces and lived experience. His work is featured both outdoors and inside the Small Arms Inspection Building gallery.” Twenty hedgehogs mark twenty cities liberated by Canadian forces are stationed along a trail throughout the surrounding arsenal lands property.

The exhibit is open to the public today and tomorrow, with a closing reception on May 14. For more information and hours, click here.

Outside of this special exhibit, and with thanks to both The Canadian Encyclopedia and past research through Heritage Mississauga, let’s step back in time …

The liberation of the Netherlands during the Second World War began in early September of 1944, roughly three months after D-Day. Operation Market Garden was launched in mid-September to secure bridge crossings and to outflank the Siegfried Line of German defences. The operation largely failed, setting the stage for the Battle of the Scheldt. The First Canadian Army was assigned with the capture of the German-held Scheldt estuary: “The First Canadian Army … as well as large contingents of British, Polish, American and Dutch infantry and armoured troops … formed the left flank of the Allied advance towards Germany, with the First Canadian Army liberating ports and cities along the Channel Coast of France and Belgium. Upon reaching the Netherlands, the First Canadian Army was ordered to clear the banks of the wide, multi-channelled Scheldt River between the North Sea and the port of Antwerp. It was a treacherous landscape for attacking troops to operate in — flat, soggy, sometimes-flooded land, situated below sea level and enclosed by a series of dykes.”

The First Canadian Army lost nearly 13,000 men killed, wounded and captured, including some 7,600 Canadian casualties during the Battle of the Scheldt. By November 8 the estuary and its many large islands had been secured by the First Canadian Army. On November 28, the first convoy of Allied cargo ships entered the port of Antwerp, which was a key supply chain for both relief and to support the allied advance.

In February 1945, the Allied advance in northwest Europe resumed, with a huge offensive to drive German forces across the Rhine River. It fell to the First Canadian Army to clear the area between the Maas and Rhine Rivers during the Battle of the Rhineland.

Private Alfred Ives gravestone, Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Netherlands

The First Canadian Army, which included the 2nd Canadian Corps, was reinforced by various Allied units, including the 1st Canadian Corps. For the first time in history, two Canadian army corps were fighting together under Canadian command. The Canadians faced stiff fighting in places, and were also hampered by the broken roads, bridges, dykes and other infrastructure destroyed by the retreating Germans:

Private James Kitchener gravestone, Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, Netherlands

“The Canadians were greeted as heroes as they liberated small towns and major cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Millions of Dutch had suffered terribly during the harsh winter of 1945, and Canadian troops facilitated the arrival of food, fuel and other aid supplies to a population facing starvation.”

Private John Salmond gravestone, Adegem Canadian War Cemetery, Belgium

Soldiers from historic Mississauga were also involved in the Liberation of the Netherlands. Of the 7,600 known Canadian casualties, there were at least nine soldiers from historic Mississauga who lost their lives. These include Private Robert Henry Gardner, Gunner John Salmond, Private James George Philbrook, Gunner Marvin Joseph Connaghan, Private Albert Ernest Bell, Private Alfred Hall Ives, Sergeant Cyril Walter Hare, Private James Norton Kitchener and Private Stanley Primrose.

We remember their brave sacrifice as we reflect on the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands.