Blyth's Herman Mooy places wreath on behalf of Canadian Legion on Dutch Liberation Day

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Just over a month ago, Herman and Marlene Mooy of Blyth were in Holland and they brought a piece of Canada with them to be part of the Dutch Liberation Day ceremony in Harderwijk, a city about 70 kilometres east of Amsterdam.

 

Herman has a very personal connection to the ceremony and has attended likely about 20 times since the 1990s. Herman’s father was a member of the Dutch underground, a network of people who moved Jews, fallen Allied soldiers and others who were at risk in World War II from stop to stop in an effort to get them to safety. 

 

During the war, however, two of Herman’s uncles - after whom he is named, Herman and Theodore - were executed by the German forces after they were rounded up on suspicion of being involved with a German soldier being shot at. Both were young at the time and with their girlfriends, not connected to the incident in any way, but they were executed all the same, alongside more than a dozen others. 

 

For that reason, to mourn that loss, Herman has made it a point to be part of the ceremony in Harderwijk whenever he is in the country. He and Marlene often visit Holland and are typically there in April or May as the tulips bloom, so, they have been able to attend the ceremony about 20 times, including the 1995 ceremony, which marked the 50th anniversary of the Dutch liberation.
In Harderwijk, Herman said, Canadians were particularly involved in the liberation of the country and they are celebrated extensively at this time of year. However, despite the celebration of Canadians and omnipresent nature of the Canadian flag in that area around that time, Herman said that Canadians were not especially part of the actual ceremony.

 

When the Mooys were planning to visit again this spring, Herman wondered about laying a wreath at the ceremony he had attended so many times before on behalf of the Royal Canadian Legion and to honour those Canadians who had fought and died liberating Holland during that war.

 

He reached out to the local government and, after a bit of a hiccup (the mayor he had written to had left the job and the position was being filled by someone else on an acting basis), he told the politician that he’d like him to place a wreath on behalf of the Canadian Legion, to which the mayor responded that he wouldn’t place the wreath - that he’d like Herman to do it.

 

Herman accepted the offer, procuring a beautiful red and white-coloured wreath, complete with a ribbon that read Royal Canadian Legion, created by Susan Hubbard of Blyth. He said it was nice to be part of the ceremony and to shine the spotlight on the Canadians who gave their lives for the freedom of others. He didn’t do it for the attention, he said, but he was happy to talk to The Citizen about it.

 

Herman’s presentation of the wreath was the sixth of 22, which he felt showed just how important the local organizers and government officials thought it was.

 

The ceremony itself was pretty straightforward, he said. They were swept up into a group of local dignitaries and officials for a brief social time before they walked throughout the cemetery. Along the way, children stood at graves of Canadian and British soldiers, solemnly holding pictures of the departed. Then, the traditional ceremony, very similar to a Canadian Remembrance Day ceremony, went ahead, despite the pouring rain, complete with the playing of “The Last Post” and a lengthy moment of silence.

 

He also brought Canadian Legion pins and Canadian flags for some of the Dutch politicians and dignitaries on the day of the ceremony.

 

Herman was born in Holland, but came to Canada in the early 1950s when he was just seven years old. Since being in Blyth, he has spoken at times about his father and his role in the war, giving a presentation at the Wingham Legion, for example, a few years ago to tell his story.