The Canadian Liberators in the Netherlands
Canadian soldiers played an important role in the liberation of the Netherlands. With these walking routes, you will follow in their footsteps. From Zeeland, across the Netherlands to Groningen. With familiar and unfamiliar stories along the way.

Tragedy of 's Gravenpolder
historical

The inferno of Camp Ten Arlo
historical

NSB Leader in Almelo
historical

Oostburg - destruction and reconstruction

Canadians across the Zeegser bridge

Jewish people in hiding on P.C. Hooftstraat

The Deventer Twentol tragedy

Leo kept watch over ‘t Wilhelminahuis

Assener Stellung: impressive but useless

Canada - The Netherlands Memorialpark

A Hague evacuee's ‘Journey to Drenthe’ - Assen after the war - eyewitness report in two parts - part 2

Survival in a basement

The liberation through the eyes of Spar grocer Germ Waijer

'Sagging Susie' Bridge

Johannes Hovenkamp Memorial

Early Christmas for Dutch children

A bucket as a helmet

Canadian liberator died in Kloetinge
audiospot

The tragic death of 'auntie'
audiospot

The Village of Olst had now been cleared of all Germans

The robbery of the century

Jean Prosper Gautier and Piet Oberman in Museum Dokkum

Monument "Ride to hell"

Anton van der Waals, aka Joop van der Meer: double agent

Allied court of honour Wierden

Execution just before liberation

Liberation party on the Grote Markt

Schalkhaar forever connected to Frank Arthur Cherry

They're just people

The Canadians are coming

War Museum Switchback

Survival, despite everything: mother Roosje and daughter Ali

Abe's war, liberation beckons

A dying man

A bitter-sweet liberation

Clem Ervine's revenge attack

Thijs Poorta saw occupiers come and go

Joe Campbell, liberator of Bathmen village

Fire behind the Grollerholt as harbinger of freedom

De Oxerhof estate: the hidden concentration camp

Water from the wrong farm

The German defence line at Balloërveld

Execution within sight of liberation

War Graves of Allied Airmen in Wijnaldum

Boulder for steadfast resistance

The quick liberation of the province of Drenthe

Police School Schalkhaar

The war memorial in Staphorst
contemporary

Liberation monument Almelo
contemporary

Barka: from Nazi barracks to collaborators’ internment camp

Largest robbery in Dutch bank history

Canadian War Cemetery Bergen op Zoom
other

Heavy artillery and fierce resistance
audiospot

Easter celebration and parade

Camp Westerbork National Memorial Centre
contemporary

Nick Janicki and the Liberation of Deventer

Heavy fighting for Holten

Terror by the Einsatzkommando in Steenwijk

Middelburg - Estate Toorenvliedt

Partisans in Tjamsweer

Carpet of bombs for 'Fliegerhorst Havelte'

The fierce fighting for the Langerijp brick factory

Evacuation of Appingedam

Arms drops in Friesland - Haskerhorne

V1 sows death and destruction

Former labour camp 'Het wijde gat'

De Vereeniging Concert Hall

Battle for an ancient fortress

Arms drops in Friesland - Aalsum

Arms drops in Friesland - Akkrum

Mary protects het children

Makkum War Memorial

Bunkers of the Atlantikwall in Harlingen

Operation Veritable

Lichtmis under fire

Black Friday

Jonkerbos War Cemetery

Arms drops in Friesland - Witmarsum

The days before liberation in Harlingen

Hell Bill, let's take this damn'd place

Lieutenant Donald MacKenzie saves two lives

Dramas surrounding liberation

A german Wall

William Buddell fatally injured at Birdaard

Destruction in Harlingen to slow the Allied advance

From citizens to forced laborers

Midlum and the attack on Harlingen

Execution of schoolmaster Boldewijn

Would you please fetch the dust cloth?

Going into hiding at the Prangsma farm in Mossel

Staphorst - a void the liberation could not fill

The assault on the Walcheren Causeway

The Orange Hotel

One cannon proved too many

A bittersweet liberation

Camp Westerbork finally liberated

Full force for Rilland

Frisian resistance!

The ammunition depot near Hoog Soeren

Richard Jung

The Kallenkote execution

Anneliese Lehrmann

Gaele Visser

Stripes that never faded

Monument French paratroopers
monument

A war dance for the attack on Delfzijl

Fake Canadians lead to the murder of Renze de Ruiter

Liberation of Steenwijk in two phases

De Waldgraaf

Rijkswerkkamp Twilhaar

Hill 19.7

Initial, temporary resting place

The liberation of Aardenburg

Intense fighting in and around Posterenk

Advance on Walcheren

V2 launch site on the Eelerberg

Archem: fierce hunt for V2 rockets

Biervliet - Turning point in the battle

South Saskatchewan Regiment and the crossing of the Schipbeek

The tragic death of Herbert Dixen Stitt

Rabbi Philipson experiences the liberation in Lemele

A medal for Corporal William John Ferguson

A high price for the liberation of Wilp and the advance towards Twello

A German military hospital in the Catholic St. Joseph Foundation

Education in Ede after the liberation

The battle for the Kraneweg

Survival, despite everything: Jacob and Eddy van de Rhoer

The capture of the Broeksbrug Apeldoorn

The Beiler defence surprised

German forces fear of a "Normandy" in Harlingen

The battle of Woensdrecht
monument

People in hiding at the Schonenborg family

A fatal miss

Survival, despite everything: Jacob and Johanna van Esso

Camp Vught National Memorial

Ter Steege's farmhouse: hiding place and resistance spot

Safecrackers

Casemates Museum Kornwerderzand
museum

An open door for Geert

Freedom Museum

The brave action of Pop Dijkema

A Bronze Lion for Major George Ernest Bergeron

From exercise ground to largest Canadian cemetery

Canadians building bridges

The Thornsche Mill

Front line-crossers of the Biesbosch

Pointless battle for a small patch of land

Villa V1

The British Columbia Dragoons in Appingedam

Bridge to freedom

Liberation of Appingedam

Pingjum in ruins

The final battle, heavy losses

The last flight of a B-17

13 April 1949, an emotionally charged day

Canadian War Cemetery Groesbeek
other

Monument to Antonio Barbaro

Praying in the cellar

“Hands up !”

The battle for the Grote Markt

Ordnung musz sein

Flame throwers in the Noorderplantsoen

NSB members and English disease

A cup of coffee?

Chaplain Kock

Two liberators killed in action

The battle for the Rademarkt

Tragedy at Erve de Bolscher

Nurses on the front line

“It was like a giant was peeing”

And yet the Martinitoren is still standing

The Vissersbridge is blown up

The liberation of the Ernst Casmirlaan

Right on target!

I am a good person

With women's clothes through the German lines

Zipperplantsoen, a visible reminder of war and liberation

The Park bridge under fire

Are there any Krauts?

Grenades bounce across the Sloedam

“On 6 April 1945, I slept peacefully for the first time in two years.”

Memorial 40-45 Kapelle

Air warfare in Friesland - Offingawier

Women and the resistance: the night of the raid in Den Ham

US Division under Canadian command!

Dambuster Les Knight monument: self sacrifice for crew and village

The surrender of the Korvettenkapitän Wolter

The liberation as a birthday present

At the town hall, Ommen commemorates the war

The death of Fred Butterworth

Liberation by Royal Canadian Dragoons

V1 rocket crash in Rietstraat, Almelo

Maurice Collins Monument

Air defence 's-Hertogenbosch

Gunfight at the Vrieze Bridge

The forgotten liberators

​​Memorial plaquette T.G. Gibsonstraat Deventer​

War graves at ’t Groenedael Cemetery

Joure junction

Battle of the Vosseboer

De oorlog door de ogen van Rien

German prisoners of war transported to Germany via Harlingen

Missing in Action: the wartime mayor of Gramsbergen

Liberation from the parsonage

Like devils over a bridge

A special trade

Memorial for the Van den Berg brothers

​​Dutch war grave - cemetery Kerkbuurt

The head of the Afsluitdijk

Franeker liberated

The bacon boat of Keimpetille

Battle of the Twente canal and the liberation of Delden

Liberators in the backyard - Twickel Castle

Hostage in the Church

Bornerbroek in the line of fire, liberation in two phases

Nicht schießen, Kamerad

Liberation with a black edge

Princess Louise Fusiliers in Akkrum

The battle at Groote Slag

Den Heuvel Estate

Hearewei 13: school and schoolhouse 'Headmaster Klok'

A black sunday just before liberation

The surrender of the German commander Miczek

The battle for Wons, Witmarsum, Zurich, Kornwerd and Pingjum

Liberated but robbed

Weapons in the hay

Tragedy at the Woudpoort bridge

Fighting at the locks of Dokkumer Nieuwe Zijlen

Execution on the Woudweg

Citizens build an emergency bridge at Oude Schouw

Artillery near Herbaijum

Valuable cargo

Fighting after the liberation

'Murder Den' Crackstate, the end of terror

The liberation of Friesland

After the liberation: the Irish Regiment of Canada in Heerenveen

Killed on liberation day

Frisian cheeses for starving Holland

Drunk on Mussert's drink

A slit throat

Attack on the port of Oostmahorn

Paratroopers around Grolloo, support from and for the resistance

Bombs without a target

The shelling of a villa full of Germans

The liberation of Almelo starting at De Riet Station

A Silver Star for Lance Sergeant John Alexander Bullions

The prisoners from Wilhelmshaven

Inundations around Overschild

Canadian soldier photographs retreating German soldiers

Clearing mines under artillery fire

Hide from the war

Infocentre WW2 Nijmegen
other

Risky reconnaissance in Zwolle - Help at the Van Gerner farm

Frisian Resistance Museum
museum

Liberation Forest

Sacrifice for freedom

Detonation of an ammunition train

Bridge to the final opposition in Knokke

The raid on the Blokhuispoort

Stretcher-bearer Charles Joseph Harte

War divides Holwierde

Executed for a handful of nails

Noorderbegraafplaats (North Cemetery)

Fliegerhorst Leeuwarden

The babies of Limburg

Occupying forces tricked with fake explosives

Resistance until his last breath - A.F Lancker

Freedom Museum Groesbeek
museum

An unreal and exciting time

After Hitler's death there were still victims in Holwierde

Flags out twice

Liberation of North Groningen

Bram became Jan

Flugwache Warffum, an unknown position in the Noordpolder

A Sunday that didn't seem like a Sunday

The fierce battle in the Noorderplantsoen

Appingedam a few days in the front line

The last battle on Dutch soil

Too late for the boat to Emden

Frisian Maritime Museum

Explosion near De Blesse

Arms drops in Friesland - Tjerkwerd

Arms drops in Friesland - Tritzum

Air warfare in Friesland - Greonterp

The battle for the Tjonger bridge in Mildam

Raid in Abbega

The attack on Heveskes without radio contact

Battlegroup Beatty – Liberation of Haren

Canadian Tank Regiment '8th Hussars' in Eelde

The bombing of Terherne lock

Seventy evacuees from Arnhem and Limburg

Execution of ten Dutch collaborators near Oldeberkoop

Noordwolde the first village to be liberated by land

John Gordon Fraser, in hiding in Tjalleberd

Memory Museum

War memorial 'grieving mother and child'

Monument to Allied Airmen

The battle of Wierden

That black thursday before Easter

Memorial stone for Fallen Canadians

Jitze Pieter van Dijk

Christmas songs from the front line

'Sinterklaas' celebrations

The somewhat late liberation of Havelte

Intercepted en route to Berlin

Jewish Monument Meppel

The Canadians are coming - liberation of Meppel

Former resistance takes control

Hoogeveen's defence failed to arrive

Fierce encounter at the track

How things went wrong on Wijsterseweg

French occupy Spier

A Canadian beech tree as a liberation memorial

The liberation of Grolloo through the eyes of an evacuee from The Hague

Caught off guard

Museum Stoottroepen

Liberation with a twist and a sad aftermath

A Hague evacuee's ‘Journey to Drenthe’ - Assen after the war - eyewitness report in two parts - part 1

Memorial Ruinerwold

Symbol of eternity

Unguided missiles

Bloody battle for a bridgehead

Christmas celebration with the Liberators

Canadian soldiers amongst Brabant nuns

Rollsperre in Harlingen

Civilian casualties at Harlingen during the liberation

​​The liberation of Olst

Hotel Paping on fire

Camp Erika

"Silence in the forest": the Vroomshoop resistance group

Bells stolen from the towers of Harlingen

The last skirmishes in Harlingen

The shelf of the organist

Resistance monument in Stegeren

“In remembrance of the heroes who died for us” Monument

A German commander's strategy during Liberation

A dramatic example of 'collateral damage'

The Devastated Corner

Operation Schultz

More than a rearguard action

Dintelsas: temporary end to the Canadian advance

Crash of a German fighter

Lincoln Bridge

The dark side of the Canadian liberators

The explosion in the Stoeldraaierstraat

Liberation with a mourning edge

The capture of Delfzijl station

No joyful liberation in Zuidzande

Smoke screen saves lives

German Cannoneers in an impossible position

Flame-throwing tanks chase off the last occupiers

The railway bridge over the IJssel

First lesson in 'Polder Fighting'

Corporal Leo Major and the liberation of Zwolle

The Christmas train from Wierden

Flushing Station; terminus of the city's liberation

Good whiskey instead of destructions

Like ducks, Canadians paddle to Hansweert

The Sleutelberg brothers – Murdered just before the liberation

Monument for the Twentol tragedy

Headmaster Jakob Klok in the resistance

Double battle at Scharsterbrug

Cross Road Vector - Holten as a final resting place

War memorial Schalkhaar

Ambush at Oldeholtpade

SD and SS men flee from Zoutkamp to Schiermonnikoog

A costly liberation for Vroomshoop

Canadian War Cemetery Holten

The phone call that saved the Emma Bridge in Groningen

The courageous action of Captain Walker

Children of the hollow

Poem 'Graf te Blauwhuis'

Remembrance of the Canadian liberators in Colmschate

British bomber crashed in the center of Almelo

The final, tense night before liberation

Fatal accident during a V2 dismantling

Cowardly executions at Spier

Memorial for Clayton L.Mitchell

War monuments in Wierden

The German defensive line in Diepenveen

‘El Feri’ is free

Henk Beernink and the Zwolle resistance group “De Groene”

"I remember that really well!"

Monument to resistance leader Albert Ferdinand Lancker

Homeless on the last day of the war

Twente War Museum Vriezenveen

Gaston Nadeau – a war victim in peacetime

Monument for resistance fighters from Overijssel

V-1 launch site near Almelo

Church resistance in Mariënberg

They looked like Easter eggs

Monument to resistance pastor Frits de Zwerver

Moonlight battery

Liberation of IJzendijke

De Zuidmolen flour mill

Battle for the Walcheren Causeway

Canal through Zuid-Beveland, crossing at Vlake

Capitulation on the Dam square

Execution in Dronrijp

Eavesdropping in the Burmania House

The liquor is also liberated

Air warfare in Friesland - Makkum

A medal for Corporal Jean Marie Beaulieu

The bakery of the Rembertus family

A 'banging' liberation of Sneek

Liberation of Holwierde

Occupation of the Blesse bridge by the NBS

Everyone was silent

Psychiatric care in war conditions

We won’t give up, make a break for it!

The liberation of Leeuwarden

Leeuwarden and the Royal Canadian Dragoons

Museum Warkums Erfskip

A long journey to the hospital

The liberation of Zuidwolde

The danger is not over yet

We Do Remember Monument

Ernest David Harrison Monument

Monument Havelte Jewish labour camp

The sinister past of Stationsweg 18

The Pesse conflagration

Conflagration along Oranje Locks

Deadly betrayal for Klaassens father and son

Cycling enemy under fire

REFOOT Canadian route
Length: 12.88 km
Route from None

Groningen Walking Knots
Length: 1.66 km
Route from Routebureau Groningen

REFOOT Canadian route
Length: 12.02 km
Route from None

REFOOT Canadian route
Route from None

Groningen Walking Knots
Route from Routebureau Groningen

Airbornepad
Route from OLAT

Segment Overijssel-Friesland

Westerborkpad

Pieterpad 1
Route from Wandelnet

Hiking Knots Overijssel - western route

Operation Market Garden
Route from Tulip Cycling

Trekvogelpad

Delfzijl 1945
Route from LRE Foundation

Route - 24 januari 2024

Verbinding 28 en 83

Route - 25 maart 2025

Lus Midlumerstraat en Riedstraat

Rijk van Nijmegen
Route from Federtrek

Rondje Franeker 3380

Rondje Wolvega 3375

Hörsteine Kranenburg - Groesbeek

Hiking Knots Gelderland

Rondje Heerenveen 3377

Marskramerpad

Liberation Route volledige lijn, incl. alternatieve routelijnen

Schotse bevrijdingsroute gemeente Loon op Zand
Route from

RVN

Olst new
Route from

Operation Market Garden

Route - 9 juli 2023

Nijanderstraat

Brabantse Walpad

Grenslandpad

HT-ZLD-7 (Walking Knots)
Route from Province of Zeeland

Hiking knots Brabant
Route from Visit Brabant Routebureau

Groesbeek Landing Zones

Rhineland Offensive Route

Dropzone Ede
Route from Municipality of Ede

Rondje Zürich 3379

HT-ZLD-9 (Walking Knots)
Route from Province of Zeeland

Hiking Knots Brabant - connecting Ravenstein and Grave
Route from Visit Brabant Routebureau

Hiking knots Brabant

HT-ZLD-1 (Grenslandroute Leg 6)

Reichswald

Length: None km

Westerschelde Ferry
Route from Westerschelde Ferry

Liberation of Groningen

Route - 22 mei 2025

Canadian Trail - Groningen deel 2

Route from

Staphorstnew

Route - 13 mei 2025