麻豆视频

During World War II, Holland was occupied by the German forces and was repatriated by Canadian soldiers. Some of these Canadian soldiers had roots close to home here in the Carlyle area.

聽聽聽聽聽 One such soldier was the brother of Dave McDonell, a long time resident of Carlyle.

聽聽聽聽聽 His brother, Trooper Jack Alexander McDonell, was one of the soldiers in the liberation of Holland. He was laid to rest in the town of Bergen op Zoom, having lost his life while working to repair a tank. The country of Holland has always been forever grateful to Canada and the soldiers that freed the country from Nazi occupation.

聽聽聽聽聽 Craig Lewis, who is a nephew of The McDonell brothers, received an email in October of 2019 from a 16-year-old high school student from Holland by the name of Desiree van Aert. She was working on a school research project. Her school, Het Mollerlyceum, is in the village of Halsteren, part of the town of Bergen op Zoom.聽

聽聽聽聽聽 The project was designed so that this generation of Dutch students would be aware and learn of the sacrifices of the past.

聽聽聽聽聽 Each student was assigned a soldier from the cemetery located in the community to research and tell their story.

聽聽聽聽聽 Aert鈥檚 family had just recently travelled to Canada in 2018 to visit family and made a road trip from Calgary to Vancouver Island. This trip sparked Aert鈥檚 interest to research Trooper McDonell鈥檚 service.

聽聽聽聽聽 In one of her emails she states, 鈥淚 totally agree about every soldier having their own story and having made the ultimate sacrifice. I am really glad there is still one sibling alive who knew Jack (Trooper McDonell) before he went to Europe.鈥�

聽聽聽聽聽 On Christmas Eve 2019 members of Aert鈥檚 community placed a candle on every grave of the soldiers laid to rest there. The intension is to do this every Christmas Eve going forward. Aert placed a candle on Trooper McDonell鈥檚 grave and had a picture taken, which she forwarded to family in Canada.

聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淚t was an emotional experience to see all the burning candles at each and every grave鈥�, she writes in her email.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 October 27, 2019 was the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen op Zoom and the children of the local schools, as well as the students taking part in the research project, walked in a parade. There were several activities to commemorate the date in October, as well as the candle ceremony at the cemetery on Christmas Eve.