Quispamsis veterans honoured on VE Day

It was May 5th, 1945, thatNazi forces occupyingthe Netherlands capitulated to Allied forces. Much of the annualVictory in Europe Day honour is bestowed uponCanadian troops instrumental in that campaign.

A small,be-ribbonedgroup of veterans attended a ceremony atKings Square in Saint John to honour over 7600 Canadians who gave their lives in the liberation of the Netherlands.

Two veterans were presented with a liberation cake in Quispamsis.

GeoffreyCrowewas with the British Army's30thArmour Brigade. PatHoneymanwas with Canada's 2nd Independent Armoured Brigade.

Honeyman worked as a wireless operator. His brigade had been slowly liberating parts of Holland since February. He and his fellow troops made wayover the canals by driving their tanks onto rafts and pulling the rafts across.

They were in Germany on May 4th, when they heard the news. He put his wireless headset into his helmet to amplify the reporter's voice.

"Everything was peaceful, so we hooked up the wireless that was in the tank, the BBC,and there we found out that Canadians and British had ceased their fighting as of 8 o'clock that night. So our war ended on the 4th of May," recalls Honeyman.

Honeyman says his brigade's reaction was subdued.

"Pretty much quiet. Like we said, well, that's over with. There was no whooping, no hollering. I've seen all the pictures of other places, but, it was just a job done, I guess, and the feeling of relief. We were still there."

GeoffreyCrowe sayshis strongest memory of the Dutch was after the war. When he was posted to Holland and billeted with a local vet.

"The great thing about it was, that he was a local hero, he had hidden a downed RAF pilot for several weeks, and when we had this victory dinner that he had prepared, the tablecloth ws the map that the airman hadthe escape routes on," said Crowe.

Dr. Brian Garland organized a tribute to the men in their residence.

"We don't often equate the liberation of the Netherlands. And this is where our boys fought along a long line across Europe. This is where we died, this is where we're buried, and this is why we should remember," he said.