INDEPTH: VE-DAY
A veteran’s letters
by Allan Notman, for CBC News Online
 Allan Notman in 1945.
Notman landed in Europe on July 15, 1944, and was in Normandy until the end of August 1944. He then continued with his regiment through Belgium and the Netherlands until the end of the war.
CBC News Online featured his letters home from 1944 in our D-Day
anniversary site last year. This week he is in Holland with other veterans to mark the 60th anniversary of VE-Day and writing letters about his experiences for CBC News Online.
Saturday, May 7, 2005
We'll meet again
By Yvonne Waanders for CBC News Online
 A canal in Amsterdam.
Allan asked me to write about the last day in Holland.
I'm Yvonne. I had the special honour to meet Allan and "his lady" Pat.
I shall never forget this week of my life!
Pat and Allan had the wish to spend their last day in Holland in Amsterdam.
They heard a lot about this beautiful city. This would be the chance to see it.
They enjoyed it very much.
We went by boat over the canals and saw the beautiful houses and buildings.
And, of course, they went shopping.
The most impressive thing was the reactions of people on the street.
Mothers with children started talking to their kids about the tall and handsome Canadian veteran.
They explained why Allan was wearing all the medals.
Men from all generations gazed at him and were quickly making a picture when he came by.
People shook his hand and thanked him for liberating the Netherlands. Police officers put their hands at their caps and were saluting.
It was so impressive.
At the end of the day, we went to an Indonesian Restaurant "Tempo Doeloe" and had a wonderful dinner. The people again paid a lot of respect.
But then we had to say goodbye. My husband, Peter, drove them to their hotel.
When we stepped out of the car, we started softly to sing:
"We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when…"
We hope we'll come to Canada next year to see these wonderful people again!
Thank you Allan for all you did.
Thank you Pat for all the warm feelings.
Thank you both.
We love you!
— Yvonne
Friday, May 6, 2005
Royal Palace "Het Loo" in Apeldoorn
 Allan Notman in the Netherlands.
The department of Veterans Affairs handed out umbrellas and plastic raincovers, but we never needed to use them. The DVA were always on hand to give extra special attention to the veterans and did a wonderful job.
Our Governor General did us proud: Always so elegant and her speech was inspiring.
The Canadian Forces Band played and the two singers in their band did a fantastic rendition of Amazing Grace in Dutch and English.
Afterwards there was a reception in the Palace Stables and the food was excellent and included many different Dutch cheeses and appetizers. The festivities ended at 2 p.m.
The second part of our day was very special. We were invited to meet Yvonne's Waander's family in a town called Heerde close to Apeldoorn. Her father, Lambert, was 11 years old when we came to Holland in 1944 and he remembers Canadian soldiers handing out chocolate.
We spent the rest of the afternoon with Yvonne's mom and dad, her brother and family.
Neighbours dropped in to tell us how happy they were that Canadians liberated them.
We experienced Dutch hospitality at its best.
— Allan
Thursday, May 5, 2005
Memorial in Dreumel
Today was a very special day. It was a "free day" with no official ceremonies.
Our Yvonne Waander picked us up and drove us to her home in Dreumel, a small village in the south of Holland, so that we could meet some of the people who were involved in erecting the memorial to the men, killed in their village on Dec. 18, 1944.
When we reached Yvonne's home, I realized that this was the house on the dyke that our section had been in on that fateful night 60 years ago.
It was quite a shock to me.
We were greeted by a welcoming committee of happy Dutch people. What a great moment!
Everyone went into the house for coffee. I slipped away to spend some quiet time by myself at the monument, which was just across from the house on the dyke.
I read the names and saw my best friend's name, "Vincent Job Sigley."
His face appeared in my imagination exactly as it was 60 years ago.
Sig, as he was called, was an American who volunteered to join the Canadian Army in 1941, years before the U.S.A. became involved. That's the kind of guy he was.
He grew up in Brooklyn, New York. After spending three years of training in England together we became great buddies. Today, standing looking over the Waal river to the other side, where the Germans were entrenched 60 years ago, was a very emotional time for me.
I was reminded of how lucky I was to have survived the war.
The group joined me and flowers and candles were placed at the base of the monument.
I looked around me. I could see a pastoral scene of horses, cows and sheep grazing in the fields.
What a contrast to 60 years ago.
Then we all went back to the house for coffee, cake and some lively conversation.
Strangers became friends.
— Allan
Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Remembering the Scheldt
 Canadian Buffalo amphibious vehicles landing on a beach during the battle to clear the Scheldt estuary in October 1944.
(Donald I. Grant/National Archives of Canada, PA136754)
We began the assault over the Leopold Canal at the beginning of October. The Germans were securely "dug in" and prepared to offer a desperate defence from the West Scheldt.
As long as the Germans held control of the sea approaches in this long, winding estuary, allied shipping to the port of Antwerp would be impossible, and much-needed supplies for the Allied forces would be restricted.
Our objective was Biervliet, just over the border of South Holland. We were unable to use our armoured vehicles and went over the Western Scheldt using amphibious vehicles called "Buffalos."
When we landed, we crawled along wet ditches, over German bodies, until we reached our objective. There was a lot of enemy sniping and shelling. We worked closely with the Dutch Resistance during this time, waist-deep in water many times, often for hours.
My section of nine men entered a town called Waterland-Oudeman in Belgium. I picked up two postcards from a store in the town and sent them home. I still have them. Maybe I'll be able to visit the town on this trip.
I think the attendance at the Ceremony of Remembrance at the Groesbeek Cemetery was over 8,000, and many thousands attended the ceremony at the Holten Cemetery today.
By far the most sensational event in Holten was the fly-past of the military helicopter that proceeded to drop thousands of poppies over the large crowd of spectators.
On May 5, I will be going to the village of Dreumel, where, on Dec. 18, 1944, a German patrol attacked a position we were holding on the Waal River. Three of our men were killed and one taken prisoner.
Some of the village people got together and erected a memorial to the men, and I will be attending a private ceremony they have organized.
— Allan
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Ceremony at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery
 Canadian veterans stand for a minute of silence during memorial ceremonies at Groesbeek Canadian Military Cemetery in Groesbeek, Netherlands, May 3, 2005. (CP Photo /Ryan Remiorz)
As we crossed the Nijmegen Bridge, a flood of memories came back to me. In October 1944, my regiment was responsible for guarding the bridge. We had just been through the horrors of the Scheldt and this seemed like a good time to take stock and prepare for the next onslaught. Seeing the beautiful scenery on the way to Groesbeek I couldn't help comparing the landscape of 1944.
Our job was to prevent German frogmen, armed with explosives, from blowing
up the bridge. The Waal River was fired on by machine-guns and no frogmen reached their objective. This was a far cry from our role as reconnaissance for the 3rd Canadian Division but it was a relief not to suffer any casualties.
Shortly after, we were sent to the flooded Maas River to protect the southern
side from the Germans stationed on the other side. It was a dirty and dangerous job.
Today was a very emotion-filled day. I found many of the graves of my comrades.
Regards,
— Allan
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Good morning from Arnhem
 Allan Notman in 2005.
Yvonne Dijkslag is one of those who was told the stories and who really cares. She is 40 years old and lives in Dreumel, in the south of Holland. She regularly puts fresh flowers on a monument near her home where three of the soldiers of the 7th RECCE (reconnaissance unit) in my section were killed and one was taken prisoner during a raid on our position on Dec. 18, 1944.
When she heard that my companion and I were coming to Holland for the 60th anniversary of their liberation, she insisted on being our "Private Chauffeur." She met us at the Amsterdam airport and has offered to drive us to any event of our choosing. On one of these days we will be going to her home in Dreumel to meet with other people involved in the erection of the memorial.
Our hotel, the Mercure Hotel in Arnhem, is located a few miles from the area where thousands of Allied paratroopers dropped in September 1944 during the ill-fated offensive called “Market Garden.” This operation was launched in an early attempt to bring about the end of the Second World War.
This hotel is also quite close to the Arnhem Bridge made famous by the Joseph Levine movie A Bridge Too Far. At that time, I was part of the Canadian offensive in the Scheldt area in southern Holland, in an attempt to clear the enemy out so that supplies could come into the Port of Antwerp. That was 60 years ago.
— Allan
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May 8, 1945 was a day to celebrate. It was VE-Day, the long-awaited moment when the Allied forces triumphed over Nazi Germany to claim victory in Europe. But the joy brought by news of peace was dampened by the memory of fallen comrades and the ongoing war in the Pacific. From the liberation of Holland through the German surrender, celebrations in Canada and the servicemen's return, CBC Archives follows Canadians as the war ends in Europe.
» Victory! The Last Days of the War in Europe
» Countdown to victory
from CBC Archives
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