Canadian Paratroopers Save Denmark!

Mar 6, 2020 11:17:21 GMT The Herald Erjen said:

I'm not Canadian myself and wouldn't want to be (too damn cold up there), but it kind of annoys me that the Canadian effort in WWII was pretty much forgotten outside of Canada after the war was over.  I guess Canada didn't have a Charlie de Gaulle to get out there and wave the flag.  They just went in and did the job, and those who survived went home to Canada and lived out the rest of their lives.

You're so right. Canada always struck me as the type of country that doesn't blow its own horn. They're not braggarts, but their contributions are well-documented if one looks for them. As far as I can recall, they fought in Italy, France, Germany and the North Atlantic.

The winter of 1944/45 is referred to by the Dutch as the Hongerwinter when circumstances effected a famine. Canada was part of Operation Manna which, with German permission, airdropped rations to the starving population. When the war ended, the Netherlands was still occupied by Germany who later surrendered to Canadian forces.

In my trips to Europe I befriended an older Dutch couple who ran the small hotel in Amsterdam where I always stayed. Occasionally I could get him to talk about the war. He told me "I was 12 years old (1940) when those animals marched in." After the war he was working as a 17 year-old bellboy in a hotel which billeted Canadian officers. He said they were very generous always giving him some of their food rations and cigarettes (which could be traded for food). He had nothing but praise for the soldiers whose conduct he described as "humane and correct."

Aside from all this, the Dutch royal family took refuge in Ottawa during the war and were kindly received. This helped form a bond of friendship between the two countries which still exists today. If I recall correctly, the Dutch still send them a large amount of tulips each year.