Other people travel too!

Good to feel safe.

makes some sort of sense. I suppose, I guess.

Now we are thinking INSIDE the box!

.Travel, putting the "T" back in "unravel".

Albert Canal 2007

Albert Canal, 1944

Bill getting the "straight story" from a fella who was actually there at the time. Thats his barge...the "Manhattan". He was five years old at the time all the excitement was going on, and he remembered the Canadians coming through. Us Canucks got the dirty job....taking the flooded land along the coast. Mind you, the Brits didn't have it easy either, plenty of mud to go around!, and the Yanks had their "Private Ryan" moments as well. These are the famous locks that the Canadians crossed. It wasn't an easy fight...the Sergeant that headed up the team to cross was recommended for a VC. Don't get THOSE for hanging about!

click on these pictures to enlarge.

The Calgary Highlanders were part of the great big push to take Antwerp back in '44, but the Germans fought for every inch of ground. They took advantage of the canals as they were natural barriers to movement. As you can see in the above picture, a very large canal, called the "Albert Canal" was blocking their way North. It went east west from Antwerp. Another Canal, the "turnhout canal" was another problem, to be dealt with later, it angled off north east from Antwerp, and is out of the picture. But the Albert Canal was a waterway that in the words of Hitler himself..."it is the barrel of a pistol pointing at the heart of Germany". So, the Canadians got the job of taking the Canal.

On either side of the canal are high banks which are made by the spoil from digging the canal. They provide really good cover for German 88's and other, heavier artillery. Everything the Canadians could do had to be done at night. You see that little lake in the above picture just south west of the locks? Thats a flooded part of the old fort that the Canadians used as their headquarters. Not all of it is flooded, in fact, most of it is actually now a shopping centre, and they have no idea! But you can see the remnants of the arrowhead shaped redoubts around the little lake.

Back in 1944, these locks were pretty much broken up and non-functional. But there was a couple of pipes (slippery in the rain and the dark) which Sergeant Crockett led his men over to attempt to take the buildings on the other side. Those buildings, particularly the blue quonset hut, contained a hornet's nest of well trained, well armed, and seasoned German troops, machine guns, and overlapping fields of fire.
When the first squad actually succeeded in taking the buildings, they pushed inland, allowing the rest of the Calgary Highlanders to cross un-opposed, in a hail of supporting artillery fire, to receive the brunt of the inevitable counter attack. Able, Bravo and Charlie companies were thrown back almost to the blue buildings, and Dog company, which was in reserve at that point, was thrown in to stiffen the defences. They succeeded, and the Canadians had taken the north side of the Albert Canal. All before daylight. My uncle Bill was in Dog Company, and he distinguished himself in that action, saving the lives of dozens of his fellow infantrymen as they tried to extricate themselves from the withering fire of the German Counter attack. Unfortunately, heroism has its price, and he fell in that action.
My uncle Nick, went back to the aid station to check on his brother and was told that "he's right there...under that blanket". And thats all that he would ever say about that! He was buried right there, in sight of the Canal the next day, and I have heard rumours that Nick participated in the burial party. I know Nick, you could not have kept him from it!, so it sounds reasonable to me.

It must have been like a movie, 'cept it was all real! The lock workers did not know how important their little "artificial island" was, and were a little surprised when I read the action reports I had photocopied from the archives. I'll have to scan these action reports in and put them up on these pages sometime in the next couple of days. They are really exciting!

Bergen Op Zoom.....the town.
This is the main square of Bergen Op Zoom. A tiny little town in the Netherlands. It has the look of being re-built, but maybe thats just because the Dutch are just so amazingly clean and tidy, always washing their bicycles and store fronts.

I would make a bet that this coat of arms dates back to sometime in the Middle Ages though! Its really neat!

A statue in front of the courthouse. As you can see, justice is not blind at all! Well of course not, this is Holland!

The old town is off limits to cars, and is cobbled throughout. Nothing special in the shops, but it was kind of nice to see stuff that isn't all touristy.
And full of drop dead gorgeous Dutch girls. Not that I was noticing you understand, ...

The cathedral lowering over the downtown like an evil presence. I thought the windows on the face had a sort of "Adam's Family" look to them. No doubt it was a fairly normal church inside, but of course, the door was locked.

The main square again. A lot more colour on the buildings than you would find in Belgium.
Of course, I would never have got to this pretty little village if my uncle Bill was not buried in a cemetary only about a mile north of town. The sheer normal-ness was much needed after a visit, gave me a chance to calm down, and get my head back together.

more tomorrow

Bergen Op Zoom

School

One of the things about being an armourer is that local teachers suss me out to give lectures to their class. Ontario has a unit of medieval as part of Grade Four. That would make it a class of 9 and 10 year olds.
Dress a teacher or a kid up in armour. Talk a little bit about different types of armour. Avoid all topics of politics and religion.

Actually the little fella looks kind of lost in amongst the armour.

The kids really seem to like it. They help to get the armour onto the more or less willing recipient.

We chat a bit about the difference between battle armour and jousting armour.

And we even get a chance to hold a real battle sword. With me holding the other end, you bet!

Fine, he's holding a sword...bit deal.

Now he's using the sword. I have their attention now!

I bring a large quantity of pliers and rings, and the kids try their hand at making chain mail. Surprisingly enough, their attention stays focused.
Of course, there is always lots of other armour around for them to try on! Mostly chain mail, but a some other armour. Most is too heavy of course.

This exhausting job is made worthwhile by big grins on people's faces!

Vintage Passendaele Pics

click on these images to enlarge. This was Arthur Currie's idea, make duck boards to float on the mud. Some were so big that artillery could roll on them. Unfortunately, the German artillery could see them too, and when you walked on these slippery sidewaks, you were exposed to shrapnel and sniper fire. What is it about Canadians and muddy battlefields?

This is the little village in yesterday's post. Before and after. This was the result of Canadian artillery, so it was no pic nic for the Germans either.

Mud, mud, glorious mud!

Tomorrow, I'll post something a little more cheerful. But for noe, my hat is off to these remarkable soldiers.

Passendaele

They called it Passendaele. Its not spelled the same nowadays, since Flemish is no longer the official language, and when you google the name, you come up with only WW I references. The name means "the valley in which God died". Seems appropriate, don't know that God really died there, but he musta been asleep to allow 5 thousand Australians, and 14 thousand Canadians to die in the mud of Passendaele.
It is a remarkably peaceful place here. Nothing much happens, though there is is a folk festival which is running every second year. Not the year I was there though...grin!
The only thing special about it is that it is the highest place in the area, and as you can see by the pictures, even that isn't very high! But everywhere else was mud, made really mucky by the overflowing scraventafel creek and since Passendaele was the only place where you could keep your socks dry, the Germans hung onto it. It took 14 thousand Canadian casualties to get that little town, and by the time we got there, it was pretty much mud covered bricks, no two on top of each other. There was a little farm at the highest point, and it was imaginatively called "farmcrest", and that is where we put this monument.

These names. They point towards battle sites which can be seen from up here. The last time I saw these names was on the battle honours (flags) of my old Regiment. St. Juliens deserves a posting in its own right, but then I didnt get there and don't know much about it.

The battle did not really have to be fought, but Sir Douglas Haig, the supreme commander, had had a few failures and was in line to get the boot, so he really really needed a victory if he was to keep his job. He had his eye on being a member of parliament, and you don't get there if you have been sacked from your position. So, it was darned nice of the Canadians to fight this little battle for him, just to make sure his career was saved, and he said so afterwards.

Course, once Haig had his position assured, they gave Passendaele back to the Germans with hardly a fight a couple of months later. We had fought enough. Our commander, Arthur Currie, went on to better things as well.

Canada Day

Passchendaele.

Doesn't look like much eh? But in that little churchyard, John McRae wrote "In Flander's Fields". 35 Canadians dead for every square yard of those fields.

Something to think about this Canada Day.

Algonquin College Chiv Course

Gotta love her pink katana over there on the left! Don't kid yourself, it hits just as hard as a "normal colour" katana! Wonder why the gap in the middle....and Shayne, you just look mean. Back still hurting I bet! And as usual, the armour made it difficult to kneel down. But hey...I WAS at least wearing it!

Jean trusting to the "force" and considerable skill to make up for the lack of armour. It seems to work...pain is an amazing teacher!

I must be slow for him to dodge this one. Unless I had already backhanded him, and was coming back for the coup d'grace. Naaah...I think I was just slow...

I have got to stop laughing that manaical laugh when I fight! Armour looks good though.

Greg outfitted in his dad's armour. Hope he will drop in on Saturday to finish his cuirass.

This is a good pic, from the swordman's perspective. The sword had just slanted downwards from the left to the right, and the swordsman is crouching to recover from the miss.

Greg taking on a hot fighter. I'm keeping my guard up, even though I am the referee!

Always nice to see the sensei's going at it. Their fighting styles have both calmed down in the last few years, more solid, more definite. Good to watch.

Don't do it! Its a trap!

And so ends the spring session of the Algonquin College Chivalrous Handling Course. Started with twenty one, and finished with, what....eight! Oh my! Do you think it was my breath?

Actually, the retention rate is pretty much in line with most martial arts and fitness clubs, so I am not as worried about it as I might have been a few years ago. Several people contacted me to tell me that life just got in the way, and they felt that they were missing out by not being there, and they are all hoping to repeat the experience in the fall. Well, can't ask more than that!

Plant Baths Basic Chiv Course

Bill still light on his feet!
The tough ones, the ones who stuck it out! Way to go!

Catherine and Lorne going at it like Energizer Bunnies.

Shane was hurting that day from a pulled back muscle. Doesn't seem to have slowed him down any.

I think we are both pretty light on our feet!

ditto.
I love this pic! Looks like the march of the tin soldiers!