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For my Oma and Opa, Theodora Van Possum and Lambertus Van Den Berg

My grandparents lived in a town called Herpen in South Brabant in Holland. They had a family of 16 children (not all survived). My mother, Theresa Vandenberg, told us a lot of stories about war time. The most shocking story happened when she was 7 years old – on the night of Thursday, July 20, 1944, an American bomber just returning from Germany was attacked by German fighters above Herpen, and crashed right in front of their house. Two American soldiers died. There were other stories of evacuation, fear of German soldiers and lack of food. My grandparents were always very thankful to Canada and the Canadian soldiers. Also attached is a letter from Canadian soldier, Scotty Adams, who was in Herpen during the liberation of Holland. The letter was written to my great aunt in Herpen. My mother’s family eventually left Holland in 1949 to live in Ottawa, Canada. The attached picture was taken in 1947 in front of my grandparents’ home in Herpen. The family left on June 17 1949 and arrived in Canada on June 27 1949, my mother’s 12th birthday. My mother’s family is depicted in Forging our Legacy: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/cic/forging_our_legacy-e/html/chap-5a.html#chap5-8.

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For my Oma and Opa, Theodora Van Possum and Lambertus Van Den Berg

My grandparents lived in a town called Herpen in South Brabant in Holland. They had a family of 16 children (not all survived). My mother, Theresa Vandenberg, told us a lot of stories about war time. The most shocking story happened when she was 7 years old – on the night of Thursday, July 20, 1944, an American bomber just returning from Germany was attacked by German fighters above Herpen, and crashed right in front of their house. Two American soldiers died. There were other stories of evacuation, fear of German soldiers and lack of food. My grandparents were always very thankful to Canada and the Canadian soldiers. Also attached is a letter from Canadian soldier, Scotty Adams, who was in Herpen during the liberation of Holland. The letter was written to my great aunt in Herpen. My mother’s family eventually left Holland in 1949 to live in Ottawa, Canada. The attached picture was taken in 1947 in front of my grandparents’ home in Herpen. The family left on June 17 1949 and arrived in Canada on June 27 1949, my mother’s 12th birthday. My mother’s family is depicted in Forging our Legacy: http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/cic/forging_our_legacy-e/html/chap-5a.html#chap5-8.

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