VANIER, Ontario, November 10, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Many bloody battles were fought on the European front during World War II. Some skirmishes are remembered and celebrated worldwide while others are forgotten. One of those forgotten battles, the Battle for Walcheren Island in Holland, is finally remembered in Belgium My Native Country Canada My Home (now available through 1stBooks), by Robert M. Van Trichtveldt.
Belgium My Native Country Canada My Home details the epic struggle to free Walcheren Island in October and November of 1944. Van Trichtveldt writes his vivid memories of the struggle that he witnessed through 13-year-old eyes. With docks already freed in Antwerp, Belgium in September 1944, the islands, which rested in the Scheld River estuary, were the last necessary waterways needed to supply landlocked forces in Europe. The battle that ensued was one of the "fiercest fights" fought in World War II.
Forces, made up of Canadian regiments and Belgian and Dutch resistance, dug in and battled heavily fortified German forces for nearly two months. The weather was deplorable as icy cold rain and sea storms thrashed the island. The troops trekked through thick mud and constant artillery bombardment and waded through chest-high waters and treacherous "polder" land, or reclaimed earth from the sea, and many soldiers contracted "polder fever." In all, 20,000 soldiers, of whom 13,000 were Canadian, died to free the country.
An important piece of history, Belgium My Native Country Canada My Home is the story of selfless sacrifices that deserve to be remembered in the tapestry of World War II.
Van Trichtveldt grew up in Belgium and immigrated to Canada. A hairstylist by trade, he owned six hair salons, two in Belgium and four in Canada, and is now retired. Belgium My Native Country Canada My Home, his tribute to the soldiers who died in battle, is his first book.
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