INNISFAIL – When the announcement came that the special 14-minute-long cenotaph ceremony to honour the 80th anniversary of VE-Day was over, Ann Vanderham said she needed to see Mary Huntly.
The 92-year-old Vanderham is just a year older than Huntly, and both had stories of war to share from the Netherlands.
Huntly’s older brother Tom Morton was a 21-year-old Innisfail-area Canadian soldier who was killed in combat in 1945 during a protracted mission with his unit to help liberate The Netherlands.
Vanderham experienced the Nazi occupation of her lowland European country in 1940, a witness to five years of brutal tyranny.
“I was eight when the war started,” said Vanderham, adding daily living in the Netherlands was challenging under occupation, noting her mother braved daily long walks just to get milk for her family.
“Just before we were liberated, bombs or grenades were shot over our house,” she added. “We used to sleep those days in the basement where you stored your stuff.
“We were all on top of the potatoes.”
Vanderham briefly chatted with Huntly. They exchanged warm smiles.
Huntly remembered Ann and her husband George used to own and run the bakery in downtown Innisfail.
Huntly’s appearance at the Innisfail Cenotaph ceremony was to lay a wreath for the Netherlands, which had been a special request to her from the local Royal Canadian Legion.
“It was touching. It was quite an honour,” said Huntly, whose family members escorted her to the ceremony. “I think about him (Tom) a lot. You never forget.”
And that is always the sacred message for all ceremonies at the cenotaph; to never forget and to always remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
The ceremony on March 8 was organized by Arno Glover, executive member of the Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion Branch #104.
It was an important local event to mark the 80th anniversary of VE-Day, a memorable date when all the guns and bombs of the Second World War in Europe fell silent for the first time since Sept. 1, 1939.
The Innisfail ceremony began right at 6 p.m. with the Parade of Colours.
The flags waved high. The skirl of the bagpipes from piper Michael McLetchie filled the air.
Padre Jonathan Klein said a prayer for the fallen, all heroes.
It was followed by a Silence of Remembrance, and McLetchie’s Piper’s Lament.
Legion president Lester Nickel then read the Act of Remembrance.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.”
There was another prayer before the placing of wreaths on behalf of the Royal Canadian Legion, all veterans, Royal British Legion, Town of Innisfail, and the Netherlands.
Mary Huntly, sitting in her wheelchair, was escorted slowly and gently to the cenotaph to lay the wreath for the Netherlands.
Her wreath was adorned with a small flag of the Netherlands.
Her brother Tom had given his life for that country’s freedom, along with many, many others.
“It was particularly gratifying to have present here today individuals who directly lost relatives in that war,” said Glover. “And who today were given the opportunity to pay a personal tribute to their loved ones.”
Immediately after the 14-minute ceremony, both Huntly and Vanderham went inside the legion for a refreshment.
They each sat with family members, alongside their memories.
It was a long time ago; forever remembered and never forgotten.
