An unreal and exciting time

I then drove to Spijk with the Canadians.” From there he could easily reach his native village. Olinga calls the period of liberation "an unreal and exciting time", in which all kinds of things happened. Grenades were fired from all sides: from the direction of Nansum, from the island of Borkum. It was an inferno. “Everyone had enough to do with themselves”.

Olinga became a member of the Domestic Forces for some time and came everywhere in the municipality of Bierum. In a number of villages, the inhabitants had moved away. It became too dangerous to stay in their own area during the fighting. “After it was over, people came back, gradually. They wanted to make sure everything was safe.”

The battle in the former municipality of Bierum was fierce, especially around the German artillery position Nansum and the village of Holwierde. Many were killed and wounded on both sides. The material damage was great. Olinga: “At one point, five farms were on fire. There was no thought of extinguishing. Too dangerous." In total, no less than 28 farms were set on fire in the municipality of Bierum.

Source: Dagblad van het Noorden (2005)