The Least We Could Do

To say it was “blowin’ a gale” when we arrived at the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery would be a vast understatement as the Netherlands was being hit with the worst summer storm the country had seen in a century. Groesbeek is the final resting place for 2,619 Canadians who died liberating the Netherlands in WWII.

After leaving the bus we immediately sought shelter under a covered memorial. Carl, yelling to be heard over the wind, told us the story of the Dutch liberation and the surrender of the Nazis to the Canadian General. Given how intense the storm was we were all content with skipping our usual ceremony at the Cross of Sacrifice and instead make a break for the bus… but then we saw the flags…

Each individual grave had at least one small Canadian flag planted before it. These are the same sort of flags that are given out here on Canada Day, and are certainly not meant to last. It occurred to us that means that these flags would need to be regularly replaced, and just the level of care and respect the Dutch have given and continue to give our fallen soldiers moved us beyond words. So we made our way to the Cross of Sacrifice to pay our respects… truly the least we could do.

So although it was so windy it was nearly impossible for the Scouts to keep hold of the flags, we proudly sang O Canada… as the wreaths blew by, the the rain pelted us, and the storm raged on. One of my favourite memories – so 4th Grand Falls, lol!


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