Becoming king

Ross Clark shook hands until he thought his arm might fall off. Thousands of Dutch came out to say thank you to Clark and other Canadian veterans who liberated the northern part of the country 70 years ago. The Wellington resident was featured on newscasts across the country and on the front page of the Leeuwarden daily newspaper.

Dutch embrace Canadian veterans

By April 1945, the Germans were in retreat throughout much of Europe, but clung ferociously to certain patches of land— even though they knew defeat was at hand.

After they had landed on Juno Beach the previous summer, the Allied advanced was bogged down on the east side of the Rhine. But the next spring, they were moving again. They had liberated town after town in the Netherlands and were ready to do the same in Leeuwarden, the capital city of the province of Friesland. The First Canadian Infantry blocked enemy retreat to the east. They expected a fight.

Emboldened by the advancing Allies, Dutch resistance fighters began taking on the occupiers. Against direct orders, the Canadian division entered the city at 11 a.m. on April 15. The Germans withdrew hastily. People came out in droves to rejoice in liberation—though many were starving after a winter of deprivation.

Ross Clark was a dispatch rider for the 14 Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery, one of dozens of units attached to the 3rd Canadian Infantry. He remembers the day they rode into Leeuwarden—the tears, the celebration, the joy on the faces of the Dutch people.

They had starved all winter long. Food and fuel supply lines had been cut. Homes were dismantled for firewood to keep warm. As many as 22,000 Dutch died that winter from starvation or sickness made worse by malnutrition.

With the arrival of the Canadians, the people of Leeuwarden regained both liberty and health.

Ross Clark in his early twenties, serving as a dispatch rider in the the 14th Field Regiment of the Royal Canadian Artillery towards the end of World War II.

Seventy years later, that gift still resonates. The streets were lined by a grateful community, gathered by the thousands people out to greet Ross Clark and the handful of veterans who had liberated their town.

Clark was joined on the trip by just two other surviving members of the 14th Field Regiment.

Clark, and his wife were invited to celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the province of Freisland. The couple live on a magnificent tree-lined property west of Wellington, overlooking Lake Ontario. Ross planted each of the majestic 176 spruce that guard his home.

On May 1, they boarded a special KLM flight to Amsterdam, where they were met by organizing committee volunteers and whisked by bus to Leeuwarden. Each day was planned—with parades, ceremonies, fireworks and celebrations. Most of it was done by volunteers.

“It was amazingly well planned,” recalls Clark. “It was like being back in the army. It was amazing. Every where we went they dined and fed us. Beer and wine if we wanted it. There were hundreds of photographers where ever you went.”

One of the photographers, Niels Westra captured the image above of Clark reaching out from the vintage-era jeep to shake the hand of a young boy along the parade route. This image was splashed on the front page of the local newspaper the following day.

“The kids learn about what we did in school. Everyone wanted to shake our hands. Our arms got awfully sore. Women with babies in their arms would come over so that we could shake the little hands. I can’t describe how wonderful it was. It was beyond what I could imagine.”

They were in Apeldoorn for massive liberation ceremonies on May 9, when thousands upon thousands of people came out to say thank you for their freedom.

Clark recalls riding into Apeldoorn on his motorbike in the early evening. Though he was one of the first in the town, the Dutch were already celebrating, dancing in the streets in wooden shoes.

“One fellow asked me to give him a ride on my bike,” said Clark. “We rode across town, retrieved five bottles of Scotch and brought them back to the street party. Scotch was mighty rare in the war days, I can tell you.”

Later, they visited the Canadian cemetery at Groesbeck. While much of the Netherland is flat lowlands, the region around Groesbeck is hilly and heavily treed.

“It is a beautiful place,” says Clark. “They planted [the] dead Canadians there because in all of Holland, this place, with rugged hills and thick forests, most resembled home.”

They were treated to a gala reception with the King’s Commissioner John Jorritsma (a role equivalent to Ontario’s Lieutenant Governor) and Leeuwarden’s Mayor Ferd Crone. There, they were awarded medals of honour.

Earlier this year, France had awarded Clark the title of Chevalier, roughly equivalent to a knighthood— one of the highest honours in that country.

When Clark rose to the microphone in Leeuwarden to receive his honour from the King’s Commissioner, he thanked the Dutch people for their warm welcome and good wishes shown to him and all Canadian veterans.

“I told them a few weeks earlier the French had given me a medal and I am now called a knight,” says Clark. “But with everything you have done here to welcome us back to the Netherlands, I feel like a king now.”