The real liberators
Some people call it ‘playing soldiers’. Evert Joosse, part-time student at the Teacher Training College in Arnhem, has a different view. He and his group of friends form ‘Allons-Y’, a living-history group which shows what the Canadian soldiers looked like during the Second World War and what they did. In Canadian uniforms they walk commemoration trips and give demonstrations about soldiers’ daily lives. ‘We find it important that youngsters know who were our liberators.’
Dangerous parachute jump
Evert Joosse wasn’t in the forces himself. A car-accident when he was seventeen caused him to be in a wheelchair temporarily. He went to the military examination but was rejected. ‘I am now disabled for seven per cent, I cannot drive a car and I suffer from concentration problems.’ This does not stop him from taking tough risks, anyway. ‘I want to act out the historical events as truthful as possible and I go really far in that sometimes.’ He decided to put on the uniform of a Canadian parachutist and wanted to give himself for hundred per cent. ‘I was invited by English reservists (soldiers in partial service), to make a few parachute jumps like in the Second World War, after having intensively trained for a week. It went wrong during my second jump. The parachute didn’t open because the wires had become a knot. Fortunately, I could disentangle them on time, but I landed way to hard. The doctor who treated me afterwards, discovered I had had a car-accident and I suspected a reproach because I hadn’t mentioned it. I was afraid that I wasn’t allowed to jump if I told it. But the opposite happened: I received appreciation and got a red Beret as distinction because of my efforts to honour old-militaries.
The attack in Apeldoorn
Another impressive event happened last year, during Queen’s Birthday in Apeldoorn. Joosse and his friends took part in a parade, 300 meters distanced of the Naald. ‘There was a lot of noise and we heard an accident had happened. Everything was called off.’ Much later, on their way to the parking lot they discovered by coincidence that there had been an attack. ‘That was very odd, yes.’ Joosse studied theater-science in the past and was active at Archeon, where he played the role of Viking-narrator. Later on, he became member of the United Historical Militaria, inside which different living-history groups are active.
Why this way?
‘Via theatre you can easily share things. It works better than give ‘dry’ information. Further, I see it as a mark of honour to former fighters. I find it great when people learn new things. Few people know that it was the Canadians who, after the winter of starvation, gave food to the people with their military field-kitchens, and introduced the hamburger in Holland.
The forgotten Allies
When people think about the liberation of Holland, they often think of the American and the British. Only a few know that it was the Canadians who had the task to liberate Holland. After the failure of operation Market Garden, in which a part of Holland was liberated, the Second World War went on at other fronts. Our country was nearly forgotten, while terrible things as the winter of starvation were the prospects. It is this first Canadian army where the occupiers would surrender to. During the Second World War there was no compulsory military service. Still, 41 per cent of the male population between the ages of 18 and 45 was in service. They had enlisted voluntarily to fight against the occupiers here, in Europe. Back in Canada they received little recognition. The citizens hadn’t experienced the war at all, so what were the soldiers nagging about? They had gone as volunteers, hadn’t they? Nobody had forced them. This led to bitterness by many veterans and for that reason the Canadian former soldiers really and highly appreciate the attention they get here in Holland.
More information? www.livinghistory.nl
