Close to three-thousand people welcomed Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet of the Netherlands to Goderich Sunday afternoon to celebrate the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945.
Ever since the events of the Second World War, there has been a strong and enduring friendship between the town of Goderich and the Netherlands. Over 70 years ago, 20 men left the Huron County region to contribute to the effort to liberate the Netherlands.
Her Royal Highness Princess Margriet and her husband Professor Pieter van Vollenhoven accepted the invitation from Goderich in order to pay tribute to the sacrifices made by these 20 men, as well as those made by the thousands of other Canadian soldiers who fought, fell, and were laid to rest in the Netherlands.
Following the dedication of a plaque at Liberation Memorial Park, the Princess led a procession to the Trinity Christian Reformed Church for a meet-and-greet with local veterans.
The royal couple also signed a scroll naming the 20 Huron County men who gave their lives during the liberation campaign.
Her Royal Highness Princess Margreit of the Netherlands in Goderich Sunday, May 14, 2017. (photo by Bob Montgomery)
Among those in the crowd was Pauline Hendriks. She was 13 years old when Canadian troops liberated Holland and she remembers German soldiers coming to the door looking for her brothers who were hiding in the ceiling of their house.
Albert Postma served in the Dutch Army from 1946 till 1948. He moved to Saskatchewan in 1950 and then to Manitoba for ten years before buying a farm in Ontario.
Postma says the Canadian winters can be a little cold but he loves the wide open spaces.