Dick Voneugen was 12 years old, going on 13, when the Nazis were driven out of the Netherlands.
The years prior to the May 1945 German surrender were marred by what Voneugen calls "nasty memories" - particularly memories of the hunger felt by himself, his parents and two siblings.
"I remember, especially the last two years of the war, if we got a slice of bread we would cut it in eight-by-eight pieces - 64 little square inch pieces - and chew on them all day," Voneugen said, adding there were also a couple of months where a Jewish family hid out at his home.
But Voneugen's eyes lit up when recalling the spring liberation reaching his town of Soest.
"We had some knowledge of it because we had a little crystal radio... and we could listen to the BBC. And, on the bombing raids to Germany, the Allied planes threw out little pamphlets," Voneugen said. "So we were kept informed of what was going on. And then I heard this rumble over the this little berm we had behind us and then the Canadian troops rolled in on their armoured carriers and it was awesome."
Prince George joined communities across the country in honouring the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands during Wednesday's Remembrance Day ceremonies.
More than 1,500 people packed the Civic Centre for speeches, tributes and laying of wreaths before a procession to the Cenotaph in front of City Hall.
Memorial Cross wreaths were laid by the families of Cpl. Matthew McCully, Cpl. Darren Fitzpatrick, Greg Matters and Pte. Kirby Tott.
During the service, Henk Bekkering recalled his own childhood in Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
"We were taught at that time to be afraid of anything in uniform," said Bekkering. "In fact, we would run like heck away from them."
Freedom, said Bekkering, is to see men and women and uniform now and realize that there's nothing to fear.
"We will never forget what you did for us and the sacrifices you made," Bekkering said. "We will make sure our sons, our daughters, our grandchildren and many others will never forget how much we owe to Canadian soldiers."
When Voneugen was making the decision to leave the Netherlands in 1956, Canada was at the top of the list (which included South Africa and Australia) and he said he never had a moment of doubt that it was the right choice.
"The fact (Canada) liberated Holland and we had that good connection and also from the reports of other people that had already gone ahead of us. Nobody laughed at our broken English, they were very helpful finding a job," Voneugen said.
"It was awesome."
