May 5th Liberation Day
SLIDESHOW: No Celebration Without Commemoration
Why we remember! Why we celebrate
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Why we remember! Why we celebrate
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Liberation Festival
My hometown, being one of the towns were a Liberation Festival is held.
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Generations between them
High five!
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Thanks for Canadian Veterans
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Silent March Groesbeek
Silent march to the Canadian War Cemetary
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American War Cemetary Margraten The Netherlands
The Netherlands is unique amongst its neighbours in having two national holidays stemming from the Second World War:
May 4th: Remembrance of the Dead – (Dutch: Dodenherdenking)
May 5th: Liberation Day – (Dutch: Bevrijdingsdag).
NO CELEBRATION WITHOUT COMMEMORATION
This has been the motto through the years,
so Remembrance Day will always fall before Liberation Day.
Rememberance of the Dead:
(see my post on it)
http://www.sodahead.com/living/may-4th-rememberance-of-the-de...
Liberation Day :
The Prime Minister launches the day’s events, traditionally from a different province each year.
There follow cultural readings and exhibitions reflecting that year’s topical theme. The big event of the day in many Dutch towns is an open air pop festival featuring top acts.
These events are designed to get young people involved. In the evening, there is an official, televised concert at the Amstel Bridge in Amsterdam, attended by the Queen and government ministers.
Although the war continued in the Far East and the Netherlands was not fully liberated until August 1945, it was soon decided that Liberation Day should be held on 5 May, the date of the German army’s capitulation.
It used to be the poor relative of Remembrance Day, only being celebrated once every five years from the sixties to the late seventies.
Nowadays it is a popular, festive occasion whose stated aim is not just to celebrate The Netherlands liberation from the German occupation between 1940-45 but also to cherish freedom and democracy domestic and worldwide.
Festivities to say thank you!
Festivities to celebrate all that what freedom is about and how precious it is.
Festivities to celebrate the joy of freedom!
The 21st Army group
The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation consisting primarily of British and Canadian forces. The Army Group was an important Allied force in the European Theatre of World War II. It was established in London during July 1943 under the command of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) and was assigned to Operation Overlord, the invasion of Europe. The 21st Army Group operated in Northern France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany from June 1944 till the end of the war in Europe in 1945, after which it was redesignated the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).
he First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the Second World War.
The Army was formed in early 1942, replacing the existing unnumbered Canadian Corps, as the growing number of Canadian forces in the United Kingdom necessitated an expansion to two corps. By the end of 1943 Canadian formations in the UK consisted of three infantry divisions, two armoured divisions, and two independent armoured brigades. The first commander was Lieutenant-General A.G.L. "Andy" McNaughton, who was replaced in 1944 by Gene...
The 21st Army group
The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation consisting primarily of British and Canadian forces. The Army Group was an important Allied force in the European Theatre of World War II. It was established in London during July 1943 under the command of Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) and was assigned to Operation Overlord, the invasion of Europe. The 21st Army Group operated in Northern France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany from June 1944 till the end of the war in Europe in 1945, after which it was redesignated the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).
he First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the Second World War.
The Army was formed in early 1942, replacing the existing unnumbered Canadian Corps, as the growing number of Canadian forces in the United Kingdom necessitated an expansion to two corps. By the end of 1943 Canadian formations in the UK consisted of three infantry divisions, two armoured divisions, and two independent armoured brigades. The first commander was Lieutenant-General A.G.L. "Andy" McNaughton, who was replaced in 1944 by General H. D. G. "Harry" Crerar. Both had been senior artillery officers in the Canadian Corps in the First World War. Allied formations of other nationalities were added to the First Canadian Army to keep it at full strength.
The Army's strength was 177,000 in all ranks at the end of 1942. One year later it had grown to 242,000. At the time of the invasion of Normandy on 31 May, 1944, it was 251,000, of which 75,000 were in Italy.
The 104th Infantry Division was an Infantry division of the United States Army. Today, it is known as the 104th Division (Leader Training) and based at Fort Lewis, Washington, as a training unit of the United States Army Reserve.
Activated in 1921, the division was created as an infantry unit with a focus on nighttime combat operations. Deployed during World War II, the division saw almost 200 days of fighting in northwestern Europe as it fought through France, Belgium, and western Germany, fighting back several fierce German counterattacks as it advanced through the theater throughout late 1944 and 1945. This was the only combat duty that the 104th Infantry Division has served during its history. At the end of the fighting on 7 May 1945 (V-E Day), this division was in central Germany opposite the troops of its allies from the Soviet Army.
After World War II, this division was reorganized primarily as a training division for Reserve forces. After several decades, the division then expanded its role to conducting entry-level training for soldiers of all branches of the Army in the northwestern United States. Its role and size have expanded over that time due to consolidation of other training commands, and the division subsequently took charge of a number of brigades specializing in various entry-level training for soldiers of all types.
These are just 3 of the army's/divisions that took part, our liberation was a combined effort of American, Canadian, British, Polish and Dutch combatants. We thank them all
"These are just 3 of the army's/divisions that took part, our liberation was a combined effort of American, Canadian, British, Polish and Dutch combatants.
We thank them all"
The picture you placed is that what courage is abou!