On this day in 1944, Nazi troops occupying Holland urged a truce by broadcasting Silent Night and 🇨🇦 Canadian soldiers answered with a withering hail of mortar fire. 
More than 7,600 Canadians died in the eight-month campaign to liberate the Netherlands, town by town, canal by canal, in a tremendous sacrifice for the cause of freedom.
The Dutch pay tribute to their liberators by lighting candles on Christmas Eve at all the war graves, below at the Canadian and British war cemetery in Bergen op Zoom. This year due to the pandemic there was no public audience, but the candles were placed and lit once again.
In Holten: "The Canadian soldiers who lie here are dear to us. They have become part of the community and that is why we must honor them. No candles on Christmas Eve is unthinkable," said Mark Fraser, chairman @SVNFholten.
rtvoost.nl/nieuws/2043638…
rtvoost.nl/nieuws/2043638…
Children of the Holten handball club, among others, placed candles at 1,394 graves. At each grave, the children pause for a moment after they have put down the candle. "Then I think about how they fought for us," said one of the children. rtvoost.nl/nieuws/2043638…
"All candles have been placed again! Thanks to all the volunteers and children."
https://twitter.com/SVNFholten/status/1474420720667185153
In Groesbeek, hundreds would normally attend the Christmas Eve lighting ceremony at the Canadian War Cemetery, helping to place candles on the graves of 2,619 fallen soldiers. This year due to the pandemic it was done by the memorial association. facebook.com/lichtjesavondg…
Though the pandemic prevented a public ceremony this year at the War Cemetery in Groesbeek, nevertheless Hans performed this tribute to the courageous 🇨🇦 Canadian soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice to liberate the people of the Netherlands from the Nazis.
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