After the liberation: the Irish Regiment of Canada in Heerenveen

After Germany's surrender, Canadian troops remained in the Netherlands for a long time. The last troops would not leave until February 1946. Getting all the troops home from Western Europe was a huge logistical challenge and took a lot of time. In the meantime, these troops had to be accommodated, cared for and entertained. This also applied to the tens of thousands of Canadians in the Netherlands. 
 
The Irish Regiment of Canada was accommodated in Heerenveen and the surrounding area in mid-June. All kinds of activities were organised for them to make their stay as pleasant as possible. Together with Canadian military authorities, Heerenveen residents who had joined the Entertainment Committee of the Netherlands arranged for dances, tea afternoons and film evenings to be held. The contact between the residents and the Canadians was very good:  

"The folks at Heerenveen as in the other locations were just great. I never knew a single man in the Regiment that did not praise the people he stayed with. However I insist that I stayed with the very best. Several of our chaps married Dutch girls and as far as I know all the marriages turned out to be excellent". 
 
In the Heerenveense Schouwburg, the soldiers had their own theatre, the Garry Owen after the title of the Regiments March, their own dancing, the Green Hackle, and their own clubhouse, the Irish Corner Club. And a magazine, the Green Bonnet, was printed.  

The regiment itself made sure that there were plenty of sporting activities. In Joure and Heerenveen, there was a baseball competition on the sports fields that were renamed Mitchell Field and Ulster Stadium respectively. In October, a Canadian-Frisian weekend was organised, during which baseball and korfball were played. 
 
Both the Canadian military authorities and Dutch citizens' initiatives made every effort to keep morale high among the troops. Yet more than a thousand Allied soldiers died in the Netherlands after the war. From injuries sustained in battle, disease, and accidents. But also by suicide. Many had had traumatic experiences. And there was hardly any attention for mental health or help with traumatic experiences at the time. 
 
The repatriation of the regiment began on November 29. Heerenveen said goodbye with a word of thanks in the local newspapers. After a long journey, they set foot on Canadian soil again on 16 January 1946. Only then was the war really over for these men. Most left the army and returned to society.  

Long after the war, contacts with Heerenveen continued. In 1995, thirty veterans returned to Heerenveen. Although much to the men's regret the Irish Corner had been demolished, the relationship with Heerenveen was still as cordial as fifty years previously.