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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday May 9, 2008 - 7 Don't Pay Retail! Factory Outlet Sale Installed by Professional Finish Carpenters Columns Wainscoting CHANTAL AYOTTE / OAKVILLE BEAVER SHARING MEMORIES: Second World War veteran John Harvey speaks to New Central Public School students about what he experienced while he was in Holland during the war. War a sobering experience By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The role Canada played in liberating the Netherlands from Nazi oppression was brought to the ears of the young, on Monday, as Oakville Second World War veterans and a survivor of wartime Holland presented the students of New Central Public School with a special gift to promote remembrance. Flanked by the veterans, Oakville resident Arnold Manders, who immigrated to Canada from Holland in 1954, gave the school three memorial posters commemorating May 5, 1945 when the Canadian Army and other Allied Forces drove German occupiers from Dutch soil at the close of the Second World War. The price Canada paid to accomplish this mission of mercy was a heavy one with around 7,600 Canadians killed during the campaign. Veteran John Harvey talked to about 100 students, assembled in the school's gymnasium, about the strangeness of living in a time when virtually the entire world was at war. "When some of us were in school, like you are now, there were some pretty rotten and nasty things happening around the world," he said. "Over in the Far East, the Japanese were attacking China, in the Mediterranean the Italians under Mussolini were trying to take over parts of Africa and in Germany, Adolf Hitler was trying to take over parts of Europe. When they took on Poland, that's when we came in, along with the rest of the British Commonwealth." Harvey noted that he did this willingly with he and many of his fellow soldiers volunteering to leave their homes in Canada and travel half way around the world to fight in the most horrific war the world has ever known. Even though it was more than 60 years ago, Harvey still remembers the first casualty he came into contact with. Having just arrived in England, Harvey was called to help sift through the rubble of a shattered building following an air raid. "All of a sudden I was handed the body of this young boy and he was dead," said Harvey. "That was a real sobering experience for me." Many blood-soaked years followed as Germany made the Allies pay for every kilometre of territory taken back. Canada would help chase the Germans out of the bulk of Italy and Normandy before coming to the Netherlands, where around 200,000 Canadians participated in that country's liberation. Archie Izatt was one of them and continues to hold onto heart-pounding memories of his experiences, which include being strafed by an enemy plane. "I was driving a Jeep, I had a co-partner with me, and we were heading towards the front lines and the next thing we knew this airplane came over," he said. "He went out the one side (of the Jeep) and I went out the other into a ditch." Beyond that Izatt said he just took the campaign in Holland and the rest of the war one day at a time. "You were just on the go all the time," he said. "It was just a matter of fighting your way on through. You lose a lot of buddies." As the Canadian and Allied Forces fought their way into the Netherlands, behind the lines the Dutch people were suffering. With the Allied invasion of Over 70 Smooth or Patterned Profiles WWW.ELITEMOULDINGS.COM Visit our website or showrooms for prices, design ideas. In home design consultation available. 201 Millway Ave., Unit 6, 416-245-1115 (One light north of Hwy. 7 & Jane) Showroom Hours: Mon-Fri 9-5, Thurs until 7, Sat 10-3 The Body Shaping Fitness Studio For Women S Specialists in Women See Soldiers page 13 Carpet Cleaning Specialists Since 1952 Spot! RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL WALL TO WALL FURNITURE & UPHOLSTERY AREA RUGS PERSIAN & ORIENTAL Truck Mount In-Plant Service Water Damage Restoration S Summe Shape-Up SUMMER MEMBERSHIP - May 1-Sept.1, 2008 ludes all classes 25% Drop-off Discount! Only $199.00 months - May 1-Sept.1, 2008 Up to age 25. Student card required) STUDENT PACKAGE Includes all classes Personal Training Session FREE 250 ml SPOTTING BOTTLE Only $149.00 www.onthespotcleaning.ca 1446 WALLACE RD., OAKVILLE, ON Bronte t 183 Lakeshore Road W. Oakville (just east of Dorval Drive) For more information, please call 905-825-4256 QEW W Speers Wallace (905) 849-1919 www.bodyshapingstudio.com