Events in P.E.I. to mark 80th anniversary of liberation of the Netherlands

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Islanders are remembering the sacrifices of Canadian veterans for the 80-year day of the liberation of the Netherlands during the Second World War.

Islanders acceptable to retrieve Canadians who fought to escaped Dutch during World War II

Ryan McKellop · CBC News

· Posted: May 04, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

Dutch civilians question to Allied bombers during the liberation of the Netherlands successful 1945.

Islanders are remembering the sacrifices of Canadian veterans on the 80-year day of the liberation of the Netherlands during the Second World War.

Events are scheduled for Belfast Lavender Labyrinth from 2- 4 p.m. Events volition determination to St. John's Presbyterian Church successful lawsuit of atrocious weather.

For the Dutch, May 4 is Remembrance Day portion May 5 is Liberation Day — marking the day of Germany's surrender of the Netherlands to Canadian Lt.-Gen. Charles Foulkes. The days commemorate the deaths of some soldiers and civilians during the war.

About 7,600 Canadians died freeing the Netherlands from Nazi occupation.

Three Canadian Military officers conscionable astatine a array with 4 German Military officers arsenic the Germans surrender the Netherlands successful 1945.

Event organizer Xandra van der Geer, who's primitively from the Netherlands, said the 2 days volition beryllium rolled into one.

"To observe it is truly important," she said. "It's ever been important backmost successful the Netherlands and inactive is simply a truly immense event, an lawsuit of 2 days successful the Netherlands. Here we effort to bash that successful 1 day."

What's going on?

The activities in Belfast connected Sunday volition see performances by the Belfast Pipe Band, a wreath laying and stories from the Second World War.

At the end, tulips meant to symbolize the Netherlands volition beryllium fixed to each successful attendance.

Netherlands liberation day | CBC News special

The archetypal play successful May marks the 80th day of the liberation of the Netherlands during the Second World War. Join CBC News main analogous Adrienne Arsenault for a commemoration from Groesbeek Cemetery — wherever 2,338 Canadians are buried — to support their stories and sacrifices alive.

The tulip has been important to the Dutch since earlier the war, said van der Geer, who shared a communicative told to her by her father.

"My dad, who was from a large household with 13 kids, and especially astatine the extremity of the warfare determination was the hunger winter, and determination was conscionable nary food," she said.

"So, helium was eating tulip bulbs, and that sounds truly weird, and the authorities truly encouraged radical to bash so because it was a batch of nutrients radical didn't cognize about, and they had to, different they would starve."

Since the war, the Netherlands sends 20,000 tulips to Canada arsenic a thank-you each year.

Van der Geer said she hopes radical volition deliberation much astir the war, and be thankful for what they have.

"We shouldn't instrumentality state for granted, we person a beauteous bully beingness ... compared to a batch of radical successful the war," she said.