Five Brothers and a War

Operation Manna/Chowhound

Note that the two plaques, one in Dutch and the other in English do not actually say anything close to the same thing. The Dutch version says something along the lines of: “ On April 18, 1945, Canadian soldiers overpowered seven German soldiers who sought to destroy the tower (lookout). Thanks to these soldiers for saving the heart of our village.”

the war

The English version says:

“ Canadian soldiers from Princess Patricia Light Infantry prevented destruction of the parish church of Achterveld (used as an observation post) on 18 April 1945.”

For the meeting on April 28, many very high ranking Allied officers were present, aside from Maj. General de Guingand and Lt. Gen. Foulkes. In all, there were 13 generals, or equivalent. There were also 13 colonels, including one navy captain, the equivalent of an army colonel. One of the colonels was Russian. One of the general equivalents was HRH Prins Bernhard, who was by now Commander-in-Chief of Dutch forces. To say that the Allies brought more brass to the meeting would be an understatement. In the end, it became obvious that decisions could not be made in such a lop-sided negotiation.

Five Brothers and a War

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