On Monday, April 20, 2015 Donald Somerville, and four other candidates came to the French Embassy, to receive out of the hands of Phillipe Zeller, Ambassador of France to Canada, the French National Order of the Legion Honour. One of the veterans came on behalf of his wife, who was granted the Legion Honour, but she passed away some time before the ceremony was held. It was a warm and emotional ceremony all around.

Along with a number of friends and family, Donald was also represented by a Lt.Col Paul Fredenburg of the Canadian Engineers, as well as Sgt Ripley and Spr McCambridge, the latter 2 were from the 23rd Field Squadron (named after the 23rd Field Company). The French contingent put on a very nice ceremony and it was truly fitting to what these Canadian Veterans deserved.

And so a long week of celebrations started. Donald was in his element, riding in the trailer, just as a half a year ago for the Market-Garden tour. One of the most impressive ceremonies was at the cemetery at Holten, on May 4. Here some speeches were made, among them, one from PM Harper of Canada. Donald was interviewed by the Canadian Global News near the grave of his former army buddy Corporal W.A. Martel. They were together in a Stormboat in April 1944, during the crossing at Leer, Germany. They decided to switch places, because Donald knew how to stear a boat. Martel, at the bow, got hit in the forhead, and died instantly,... which gave Donald 70 years of live extra,... Click below where the news clip can be seen.

Not only made Donald the evening news in Canada, one of the emotive pictures taken at the cemetery of Holton, where Donald thanks his buddy, was also printed in the newspaper 'The Globe and Mail' of Tuesday May 5, 2015. They printed the words as headlines that Donald spoke at the grave of Martel; 'You've given me 70 years,... Thank God,... Goodbye,... I'll see you when I get there,...'

And so the veterans drove through the east of Holland, the road of Liberation. Not all of the roads in Holland are made of smooth tarmac,... According to Darlene, Donald complained of a sore behind: 'They better start paving some of those cobblestone roads if I'm gonna be in this business!' To which Mario replied: 'This is what we call a "pre-war-bum", they don't make them like that anymore! It's been in all kind of nasty situations but it always came out fine! I'm sure this excellent bum will recover in no-time!'

On Friday May 8 there was a special day organised by Mario. Your author was also invited to tag along for this ride. Around 10.30 hours we all climbed on board of Mario's GMC, with in the trailer, and on the couch, Donald.

Mario had arranged that the private museum, The Glider Collection Wolfheze, run by Paul Hendriks, was opened up for our entourage (normally it is only open on specific dates, and groups by appointment). This museum is filled with artifacts found on the landing-and drop zones for the gliders and paratroopers, around these regions. Paul was on hand to tell the story of the gliders and paratroopers. Donald was all ears, but when he spotted the maps on the wall, he was more anxious to break in, and tell his story.

Donald told me a remarkable story he experienced at Grave, on the road to Nijmegen. He witnessed a dogfight between German-and American fighters. He recollected that a P-47 Thunderbolt was chasing a Focke Wulf, they were twisting and turning. It was quite spectacular, but the men on the ground were looking for shelter. During a dive towards treetop height, one of the men stuck his head around a corner, when the Thunderbolt opened up with his .50 caliber guns. The big bullets went everywhere, and one of these hit the man who was peeking around the corner, and it slashed his throat. Blood was squirting around, but at once, it seemed from out of nowhere, a medic jumped up, and put a clamp on the victim his throat. He was at once brought into a medical post, a couple of hundred yards away. Remarkable, he survived the ordeal. I asked Donald if he lost his voice afterward, and Donald confirmed, the man had later a voice box planted into his throat.

Then it was 'all aboard' again, next stop the landing-and dropzones west of Wolfheze. Here Mario told about the landing of the gliders, and where the 1st Airborne hit the silk, collected their gear and moved towards Arnhem. We would follow a route, along the Nederrijn, called 'Lion', once taken by the 2nd Battalion under command of Lt.Col. John Frost. When the GMC of Mario took the hill of Westerbouwing, the old lady moaned, but it reached the top. From the terrace one has a fantastic view all the way to Nijmegen, you can see the large bridge across the Waal river where the 82nd Airborne Division fought so hard to take the bridge.

Mario told the story of the Poles at Driel, and the struggle to get the 1st Airborne evacuated across the Nederrijn. Donald was impressed by the site, where the Germans had taken over, where they shot from at the Canadians during the evacuation. Because of the height, the Germans could not bring down the barrels enough of their heavy guns, so only machinegun fire and mortars where the main weapons that came down on the Allied troops.

Mario brought the GMC back down, to the river where the ferry had his landing birth. Here we would eat the famous Mario 'fried eggs on buns' (this time they were delicious made by Hermien, with help by Hein). The truck was there moments earlier then we reached it, because the majority chose to take the steps down from the Westerbouwing to the river’s edge,… even Donald chose for this option! Before we would eat, Mario spoke to the ferry driver if he could take this veteran across the river one more time, and he was more than willing. During the crossing, Donald was approched by a woman, with a bike, who spoke of the memories see had when the liberators came through here hometown. Once the ferry reached the other side, I bribed the driver with a tip, and low and behold,… the ferry not only returned, but moved further upstream, towards the memorial for the 23rd Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers. We could see the flags, but the monument itself was hidden behind the dike. We left Donald with his own thoughts as he was standing at attention and looked towards the place he only knew from darkness, rain, bullets, explosions, screams of agony, racing engines of Storm boats, and flairs, shot up by the Germans, that brightened the night more than scary,… But he made it,… against all odds.

After the ferry ride, it was time for some relaxing. Hermien and Hein fried up some eggs for the passengers. The weather was warm and we had a great time at the edge of the river. It was hard to imagine te horror of 70 years ago. Then it was all aboard again, and Mario headed towards Arnhem. A short stop was made at the famous church of Oosterbeek. I told Donald of the heroic men of the 1st Airborne, he would soon be retrieving from here. I also read out the speech, to Donald, Major Dickie Lonsdale gave to his men in this church. Lonsdale would repeat his speech, more or less, in the movie 'Theirs is the Glory', the first movie on this part of Market-Garden.

Mario moved the truck towards Arnhem and made a short stop under the famous John Frost Bridge (THE bridge too far). Here the family and friends of Donald left the trailer, and climbed aboard the GMC, and left Donald alone with his thoughts when Mario turned the GMC onto the bridge, and headed for Driel on 'The Island'. Once passed underneath the railway bridge, Mario had to stop for a few minutes, because he was to early for the arrival at the Engineers Monument. Donald was put into his jacket with the medals, and of we went towards the monument.

At the monument were some people already waiting, among them some officials of the British Legion Branch Holland. Donald, Darlene and Ryan were put up front of the monument, and a nice speech was given by one of the officials of the British Legion. He read also the lines that Stanley Maxted spoke after his rescue on BBC radio; (see for the text also this page, and scrol almost down).

After the first speech, Donald was given the opportunity to tell his story of that horrible night. He told the story, we already knew, but it was nevertheless full of drama. My mind wandered of to a story Donald told me earlier that day. A day or so after D-Day, June 6th 1944, when Donald was still in England, waiting to be transported to Normandy, he ran into a paratrooper of the 101st Airborne Division, a colored man who was called with affection ‘Blackie’. Donald asked him why he was not ‘over there’, meaning Normandy. Well it seemed that his C-47 plane overshot the Drop zone, and he jumped into the cold water of the Channel. Luckily, he was rescued and transported back to England, waiting for new orders. ‘Blackie’ noticed at that moment the jacket Donald was wearing, a jacket with a lot of pockets for tools and ‘whatnots’. ‘Blackie’ suggested a swap of jackets, because in Donalds jacket he could carry more ‘pineapples’ (hand grenades). The swap was made, and both men parted ways. I asked Donald if he ever saw his jacket back,.. ‘no’,.. came the reply, ‘he got killed’. And at that, he walked of, hands on his back. I was stunned, because of the ‘matter of fact’ the words ‘got killed’ were coming out of this veteran his mouth,… I had heard 'got killed' more than once this day. I realized how many young men Donald had known, were killed in a relative short time. How did he cope with all that dead and mayhem on his mind,…? I looked at Donald, strolling away from me and I felt humbled and proud to know a veteran as Donald,...

And so, the day was running towards the end. After a bunch of pictures taken by everyone, it was back on board, and back to Oosterbeek. Mario made one last stop, at the former medical aid station, the former Hotel Tafelberg. We were all invited to have a look in the great hallway, where some artifacts from September 1944 were held in display cabinets. Last stop was at another former medical aid station, now Italian Restaurant Schoonoord, where we ordered our diner. After diner, we all went back into the truck, and Mario brought everyone back to the parking lot at Papendal, were we shook hands and said our goodbyes. Until we meet again!

These pages could not been written without the help of Ryan Barr and Mario van Gerwen. Mario introduced me once to Donald and was the motor for the construction of these pages. Also a thank you to John Sliz, author of 'The Storm Boat Kings', who suggested some corrections during the process in making these pages. But Ryan, who also supplied me with some pictures, is the one who knows Donald best. The grandfather of Ryan was also an original member of the 23rd, as a demolition expert he was also present during the evacuation night of the stricken paratroopers at the Nederrijn near Driel.

Harold Barr died in 1999, and Ryan began searching afterward the history when he stumbled on some old letters which were addressed to Harold Barr ‘The 23rd Field Coy’. Ryan made contact to John Sliz, and through John he was introduced to Donald,… and the rest is, as they say, history,…
In Ryan his own words:
'Donald has become pretty special to me, as he has to hundreds/thousands of others. Our relationship started a few years ago, after I read "Storm Boat Kings" and decided to contact him looking for any information on my grandfather. I thought when we would meet, he could tell me what he knew....and that would be that. Well, after that first meeting I knew I really wanted to get to know more of Donald... it was no longer just finding things out about my grandfather, it was a desire to listen to his stories and soak in all of the lifetime experiences he had to offer.'

Ryan took Donald out for excursions. During these 'War-Walks', as Ryan calls them, the two men talked of days gone by,… but days from someone’s lifetime that must not be forgotten. Thanks to men as Donald Somerville, we in Europe live in peace, and are forever grateful to our liberators,…

These pages on Donald Somerville began a short time after they were put online, a live on their own. I received a mail from the Canadian Military Engineers Association, if it was okay if they used some of the text on their own site.

Donald Taylor Somerville would never return to Holland after his last trip in 2015. On 16 September 2017, three days short of his 95th birthday, Donald passed away. On 22 September 2019 there was an intimate ceremony held at Oosterbeek,
where the ashes of Donald were placed to rest,...