English version here
Deutsche version hier
My war stories are the memories of a young dutch boy living under
the German occupation and later finally liberated by the Canadians and
the British. I have collected them in a little book published in French
"La guerre dans ma cour" (the war in my backyard).
The war was very literally in my backyard with a German General's staff, his radio listening post, the allied airmen hidden far away in the garden, and later the Canadian military field hospital in our living room with blood and wounded soldiers around us. It was a strange, terrible and sometimes even exciting period for the 11 year old boy I was then.
My stories of the fall of 1944 are told from the viewpoint of a child and not that of a historian or a soldier. If you are interested you can read a few of them here :
- War Games: making believe...
- The crosses in the cemetery: suddenly, the reality.
- Air raids and School: which way will the walls fall?
Kees Vanderheyden
Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Canada
12th March, 1997
