The Blogging from A to Z Challenge is to post everyday (except Sunday) in the month of April 2018 starting with the letter A and going all the way to Z. The theme I chose is...
My Family Tree Places.
NEEDE, NL
My father, Thomas Seale, Canadian 15th Field Regiment, fought in the Battle for the Kaplesch Veer at the Maas River in the Netherlands during the Second World War. After the liberation he was billeted in Neede, Gelderland.
Dad was billeted with another officer at the home of the town architect and his wife and three children.
Dad with the Architect's three children, Neede
I've written some of this before in my Cigar Box series, but I write about it again, in case someone out there is related to any of these people.
It wasn't long before Dad and another officer from Montreal, Charles Lavallée, found the young crowd at the public swimming pool, just outside of town.
Charles Lavallée by the pool
They made friends there, including Nellie van der Woude.
Nellie and friends
There was not much to eat in Holland these days, and the people were making coffee with tulip bulbs. Dad took real coffee with him when he went for dinner at Nellie's grandparents house.
During time off they enjoyed watching waterpolo matches...
When Dad got back to Neede after leave, he was taken ill at Nelllie's house. The doctor was called, then the Canadian Medical Officer and Dad was sent to a military hospital in England. When he recovered he was sent to join his unit, now in Germany.
When I see their photos, I wonder what became of the architect's children, and of Nellie.
Nellie was a looker! No wonder your dad and Charles made friends with her and the others in the photo. HA HA. I wonder what tulip bulb coffee tastes like.
ReplyDeleteDad said the tulips were fertilized with the septic system, so not very tasty hahaha!
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