Monday 4 May 2015

Feeling Liberated !

Faint sound of bagpipes coming over the river ... ?  It must be Liberation Day . 

Well , Leeuwarden was really liberated in 1945 with the rest of Europe but it's still being celebrated with the same enthusiasm each year and veterans from the Royal Canadian Dragoons are always welcome .


To make them feel even more at home a Dutch association of vintage army vehicle enthusiasts have set up camp outside the High school for five days


 

and everyone's wandering through admiring the tiny chaplain's tent , the sandbags , the sleeping arrangements ( "modern conveniences such as beds and fridges only permissible if kept out of view ", according to their website ) , a stage where English singer Lola Lamour and a Barber's Shop Quartet entertain each night


and the camp cook who posts the day's menu every morning on a blackboard and then strides about impatient to start .





The VE day tea waits again for a group of mothers and children like in the town archive's original photo . This years marble cake looks a bit dry though . Someone must have gone the whole hog and used reconsituted egg .

Today when I cycled home there was a group of men sword dancing and even more old codgers mooching about



admiring the tank and small landing craft and doing that man thing of peering in fascination at pistons and handy extras .

And through it all , this woman busily crocheted a wavy blanket .


Perhaps she's facing a long summer of similar reenactment weekends with her husband and , while hoping for good weather , doesn't intend to freeze .

7 comments:

Annie Cholewa said...

I have a similar photograph of a woman knitting, sitting by an old car at a vintage vehicle rally here. I'm sure you're right, while the boys look into engines on summer weekends the girls find something productive to do.

English Rider said...

Your grass is such a saturated green. (pun intended). It's good that some are passing along these visual memories to future generations.

Maria said...

I have a theory about those who are into reenactments. I think they were there in past lives and feel "unfinished." What do you think?

Liz Hinds said...

Sounds fascinating. Boys and their toys. Not at all like women and their mice.

Mrs Smith said...

We have just tempered ANZAC day. Its strange - it was one of the biggest stuff ups of the war. It walks the fine line between respectful remembrance and jingoistic nationalism.

love those cupcakes said...

WW2 veterans make me cry. There have been various VE day anniversary events here and I'm wrung out like a wet rag.

Marcheline said...

As a former reenactor myself, I can vouch for the benefits of having hand-made crafts at the ready. Love those old vehicles!!