Student Tour Blog

Written by Nelaya Boyd

Today we traced the path of the Algonquin Regiment and the South Alberta Regiment through Steenbergen and Welberg. Here, we combined historical narrative with driving and walking the spaces that we are learning about. In this way, we were able to imagine the movement of troops, Canadian and German, and investigate important land features of defences to deepen our understanding of how and why the battles played out in the way that they did.

Towards the end of the day, we had the honour of being welcomed by representatives of the Liberation Monument Welberg working group. We learnt about the development and importance of ‘bottom-up’ commemoration to honour and remember the complicated history of the occupation and liberation of Welberg. We explored the tensions and frictions that exist in living memory. In the same way, we discovered the bridges in community and transnational relationships that are able to be fostered through this legacy. We are grateful to have been able to participate in a commemorative bell-ringing ceremony along the path that Canadian liberators marched. This was followed by a dinner gifted by the people of Welberg where we had food, drinks and meaningful conversastions.

We would like to give a sincere thank you to the people of Welberg for their continued dedication to our Canadian memory. You inspire us.