Video: "Left of the Line" Advance, from Canadian Army Newsreel 69, April 1945.

Remembering WW2

sneak attack on Pearl Harbor

When war broke loose, I didn't even think about joining. I've heard terrible things about WW1 from my brother who till this day, still haven't fully recovered from the war. All that stuff about for king and country.... I knew it was all nonsense. They tried sucking us in with propaganda just like they did 25 years ago in WW1. I knew better than to fall for all that absurdity. Besides, my studies are going very well as I plan on becoming a lawyer, and life was overall good. There was absolutely no reason for me to join the war.

But it was that day, where the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. My dad and brother worked in one of the battleships, in charge of doing daily inspections of the engine room. They were killed instantly when type 91 aerial torpedoes were fired at the battleship. Knowing that the Germans were allies with the Japanese, I joined solely to fuel my revenge. I wanted to get my hands on the Japanese, but I knew that the Germans would suffice. Many of my comrades say I was too rash with my decision to join the war. I'm still questioning myself till this day. What made you guys join the war?

Remembering Holland

A celebration of the liberation of Holland

We were finally starting to close in on Germany and our next move was to liberate Holland. Our army greatly outnumbered the German army, so we were pretty confident with this operation. When we got there, the locals were shells of their former selves; The Germans shook up pretty badly and it was evident that Hitler was growing desperate. Every city that we arrived at, the Dutch would enthusiastically welcome us. Along the way, we provided as much help as possible like air dropping food supplies to feed the civilians. But man, liberating Holland wasn't as easy as we thought it would be. Winter arrived, and our progress slowed down drastically. Even so, we were able to liberate the northeastern and western parts of Holland. We gained ourselves quite the reputation; it makes me a proud man to call myself a Canadian.

Eventually New Years arrived and we made the final push and was able to force the German Army to surrender the rest of Holland. So after 9 grueling months into the mission, we won. The Germans put up a hell of a fight though. It took many divisions from places i didn't even knew existed to take them down. I heard from the higher-ups that a staggering 450 000 or so allied soldiers participated in that battle. Unfortunately, over 7000 of us were killed. What's worse is that 200 000 Dutch civilians....including men, women AND children.... were killed. It's just not fair. Involving the helpless and the unarmed is just foulplay. I guess that's the sacrifice that we have to make to gain freedom. Do you guys believe in sacrifices for the greater good?