Memorial Service at Wilp Gravesite - 26 April 1945

Wilp Memorial Ceremony – 26 April 1945 – 5 photos

5 photos of the last Memorial Service of the war for the 48th Highlanders. In this Regimental Cemetery on the banks of the dyke protecting the village of Wilp were buried LCol Donald Mackenzie Mackenzie, DSO, Captain Harold McCutcheon, Lt. John Williams and 16 NCOs and men, killed in in the final days of fighting between Wilp and Apeldoorn.

The top three pictures were presented by Mr. Hendrik Geerlings of the Village of Wilp. The lower pictures were taken at the time of the Memorial Service held on April 26th, 1945. To the left, LCol J.R.O. Counsell, DSO, Commanding Officer, 48th Highlanders and Brigadier J. B. Smith CBE, DSO, Commander of 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade salute their fallen comrades. To the right, the villagers from Wilp and area view the graves and the profusion of flowers placed there by the villagers as a grateful tribute to their Canadian liberators who paid the supreme sacrifice. After the war ended the graves were moved to the Canadian cemetery at Holten where they remain to this day. A 20th Highlander, Pte S. J. Motkaluk, who died 2 May, just one week before the end of the war, was buried with them at Holten. The citizens of of the area including those from Wilp, Twello and Apeldoorn, all liberated by the 48th Highlanders, pledged to take care of the graves in perpetuity and that the children would place flowers on the gravesites. They do so to this day, including a moving night-time, candle-lit ceremony by the children on Christmas eve.

Associated place
Wilp, The Netherlands
Associated event
Memorial Service – 26 April 1945
Associated name(s)
Mr. Hendrick Geerlings; Brigadier J. B. Smith
Era
1939 – 1945 (WW 2)
Location of artifact
Case 41 Mackenzie
Classification
Images

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