History around the corner
By Tjarco Schuurman
Europe is an open-air museum. Everywhere you go, you follow in the footsteps of our ancestors. It’s fascinating if you think about it; The things we cannot see are hard to imagine, but keep in mind that once people stood on that exact same location and saw things you cannot see now. And yet, you also see what they saw. Roads are still the same, houses are still there and rivers still there. The only difference between then and now is time. They lived in wartime, you live freedom.
We are the 'lucky' ones living in this digital age. We don't just depend on the stories of our grandparents; Stories about what it used to be like. Since the moment photo and video were invented, we have been able to actually look back into history. A video or photo is by definition history, whether you took it a second ago or a year ago. The risk is that a photo becomes a still of that specific moment. Without the story and context of what happened in that particular shot, it will just be a picture of the past.
The Archive contains many photos and videos from the Second World War. Each individual photo is taken in a specific place at a specific time and we like to find out where it was to bring back history to the corner of your street. It takes a lot of time and energy to be searching on Google, read the War Diaries and study the old maps. Sometimes you are lucky and others have done the work for you, but searching for the locations is a way of exploring the past which makes it an amazing journey.
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.
As a group of researchers, we work to commemorate the history of the Second World War for future generations. Together with many other groups and individuals, we believe it is important to keep history alive. The war was 80 years ago and the people who lived through it are fading away. If we stop telling the stories, we will forget the men who rest beneath those white limestone and marble headstones. All that's left is a name we don't even remember. A story that is forgotten. A history that is being erased.
Not a great way to thank the people who brought us the freedom we have.
Then & Now
Oisterwijk
We are taking you to Oisterwijk in South of The Netherlands. A town where Lieutenant William Alexander Gunn died when his company was shelled by the enemy. His unit, The Seaforth Highlanders, were filmed in Oisterwijk while advancing through town. William himself is buried in the local graveyard. They were part of Operation Pheasant, the liberation of the province of Brabant. After Oisterwijk the soldiers moved on to the west and a day later they entered the city of Tilburg.
Nieuwstadt
This video is taking you to Nieuwstadt in the South-East of The Netherlands. On the first IWM picture you see Lieutenant P. Bickepsteth of the 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade briefing his men during a patrol in the village. The Brigade was part of the 22nd Armoured Brigade, 7th Armoured Division. The pictures are taken on January 3rd, 1945 when Nieuwstadt was on the frontlines. We follow the path they took, step by step.
Sittard
Another one is the City of Sittard in the South-East of The Netherlands. In these streets, tanks were driving through town on the same street you are walking to go shopping. On this picture you see a Cromwell tank of the 7th Armoured Division (King’s Own Hussars) of the British Army.
The Division took part in what is known as Operation Blackcock. Operation Blackcock was an operation to clear German troops from the Roer triangle, formed by the towns of Roermond and Sittard in the Netherlands and Heinsberg in Germany. It took the British Army 2 weeks, from 13 January until 27 January 1945.
The area brings you lots of fascinating historical places. Many then & now pictures can be found there and when you read the war diaries you can follow these men step by step.
Bergen op Zoom
Four Canadians, Captain Alexander Carron Scrimger, Lieutenant Jean Marc Guyot, Trooper Tip Orlando La Foy and Trooper Dennis Hoare from the South Alberta Regiment (29th Armd. Reconnaissance Regiment) were among many others buried in a temporary cemetery in Bergen op Zoom in the South-West of The Netherlands. Nothing there reminds us of that temporary burial ground except the pictures taken. Nowadays it’s a parking lot with shops and houses. But history is still there. You just have to take a good look and remember.
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Faces of Bergen op Zoom
His FatherCaptain Alexander Carron Scrimger
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Faces of Bergen op Zoom
ButtonLieutenant Jean Marc Guyot
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World War Explore takes you back in history.
Our historians and researchers are working to give men and women a face and a story again. We're working to find the locations of historic photos so that history is right around the corner again. And we will continue to help you remember the past. We want to help prevent this from happening again. And we just want to say 'thank you' to the men and women who gave their lives for our freedom.
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Sources:
Operation PictureMe
IWM
Veterans.gc.ca
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