Page 12 == pA Features, December 16

In Lil

We are on the winning side
next. Don’t the Germans w

nothing worse than a Ger

FEW months ago,

the same idea, too.

‘in Vancouver were betting the
shooting would be over in Fur-
ope by September 15, this year.
In August, I saw two guessing:
sheets posted in field units. The
idea was to guess when the
war would end and win a bottle

_ of whiskey, 500 cigarettes or
Something equally as attrac-
tive. Very few of the contest-
ants thought the war would
last as long as it has, and very
few thought it would last much
longer.

But now I know the optim-
ists were wrong! Tt is Novem-
-ber 8 and I am in Holland.
somewhere in a sandy, treeless
Waste not far from the sea.
The cold wind blows day and
night, and sometimes TI wish f
Was back in Canada, even in

. the frozen north where it is
cold, very cold St this time of
the year.

From where I am back to the
frontier’ is nothing but flat
fields with an occasional copse
of small coniferous trees, and
a succession of battered and
razed villages. The Dutch people
are paying a bitter price for
their liberation. Food, clothes,
shelter and cigarettes are at a
premium in these parts. I
heard one Dutchman offer 10
‘Guilden for a hundred Canad-
lan cigarettes that a soldier’s
wite had bought for $1.00. At
the present rate of exchange,
10 Guilden equal $4.20 Ganad-
lan money.

The paymaster-sergeant of
this company went up to the
nearest city of any size. It is
rather bashed up a bit and the
‘people still seem dazed from
the shock of cannon fire, aerial
bombing and house to house
fighting. He went into a store
to buy some cooking utensils
for making snacks. “Sorry,”
he was told, “but we must save
what little we have for the
bombed out civilians who are
returning.”

Holland is a flat country and
_tdeal for cycling. Petrol short-
“age in the last few years has
increased the number if bi-
cycles. Previous to the arrival
of the-armies of liberation in
Holland there were four mil-_
lion push-bikes for a popula-
tion of eight millions. Legend
has it that the queen used to
ride one. There must be fewer
bikes in the country now, be-
cause a lot were destroyed in
the fighting that has taken place
to date, and the Germans stole
a large number of them to aid
their retreats. They did the
Same in Belgium and France,
often commandeerine broken

In a letter

‘ cafe and tayern

down old bikes with no tires,
at pistol point. They even
stole baby carriages and wheel-
barrows, to cart
loot and personal belongings.
Quite a come down for an army.
that was the highest mechan-
ized army in the world in
1940!

You see many men, young
and old, with orange armbands
and German rifles. They are

dressed in civilian clothes and °

are members of the Orange

Brigade. They guard strategic”

points and worl closely with
the allied armies. No doubt,
when their full story is told to
the world it will be a story of
ceaseless underground activity
against the Germans. I’d like
to find out more-about them,

but I can’t speak Dutch, and I
haven’t met one who can speak
English. In the meantime, I
feel sorry for them. They look
poorly dressed for their work,
cold and undernourished. They
like Canadian cigarettes. So
does every cigarette smoker in
liberated Europe.

We haven’t been getting very
much of fresh vegetables and
meat lately, but we have been
getting a lot of canned meat,
canned stews, dehydrated vege-
tables and harw tack biscuits.
So they are now issuing us one
vitamin pill a day. Parcels
from home are all the more
welcome.

WAS into Antwerp, Bel-

gium, a short time ago. The
center of the town is not dam-
aged to any great extent.© Saw
two companies of a famous
Highland regiment from Can-
ada parade down one of the
main streets, led by their pipe
band in kilts. Two pipers had
full Vandyke beards and arous-
ed the curiosity of several
flashily dressed women -stand_
ing in front of an ornate tav-
ern. They were well tinted and
wore sheer silk stockings that
an ordinary working girl can-
not afford to wear. I don’t
think they were professionals.
or daughters of the rich. You
find this type in nearly every
in Belgium,
and they seem to get acquaint-
td with strange men easily.

I was in a bazaar (depart-
ment store) and was surprised
at the large display of toys
and novelties. Prices for toys
were very reasonable compar-
ed with those prevailing in
Britain. Saw dolls for 90 frances
that would cost 300 francs
(about $7.50 in England.) Tf
bought an ice cream sandwich
for five franes about 12 1-2

erate

, if we do mot win this year we are sure fo win

away their —

ish they could say the same. | can think of —

man soldier making a last ditch stand.

By Sgt. Jack Phillips

when we were chasing the Germans across France.and into Bel- -
gium, we dreamt of an early ending of this war, this fall.
I received from my wife in France

People back home had
she told me the people

cents. I strolled about town
and saw a lot of jewellery and
novelties, some at reasonable
prices and some at exorbitant
prices. Saw a lady’s rayon slip
in a window for 389 france
(more than a working-man

earns in a week.) Bought some _

Stationery, picture postcards
and two novelty purses for my
two little daughters. The purses
cost me 26 frances each. Stop-
ped in a fruit store and bought
a lolo of grapes. Paid 32 franes,

_controlled price. (A kilo is two

and one-fifth pounds.)

I went into another bazaar.

No sooner in than all the lights
went out. The clerks started to
cover the counters and asked
the customers to leave. Got as
far as the door and the lights
went on again. Fiye minutes
later they went off again—and
Stayed off.

Went to the Empire Cinema
where the best seats, in the
balcony, were only 15 francs
for civilians, and half price
for troops. There was a class
“C” Hollywood picture on the
Sereen, starring Basil Rath-
bone. It was an English talkie
with French and Flemish titles
dubbed in. The theater was
clean and modernistic. The
house lights ‘were on but there
Was no juice to run the pro-
jector. After three false starts,
we got under way. During one
of the lulls, I struck up a con-
versation in my limited French
with three of the usherettes.
They asked me if I had any
cigarettes, canned meat or
cheese to sell. I told them
“no” but gave them a Ganad-
ian chocolate bar each. It was
their first chocolate in years,
and they were very pleased.

The picture bored me and I
left early. Around the corne>
I saw a big crowd queued up
to see a “Tarzan” picture. The
front of the cinema was a
cardboard replica of a spot in
the jungle, all done in gaudy
colors. The ticket office was
camouflaged to represent an
opening: in ‘the jungle. TI was
disappointed not to see a tiger
or a reptile from the zoo on
display, but no doubt the man-
agement would have a hard
time finding food for such a
creature. ;

There were Canadian and
British soldiers everywhere,
and a few Yanks. In the big
square in front of the station,
with the entrance to the zoo
flanking one side, were many
military trucks, jeeps and
staff cars.

re

‘tary vehicle for a ride.

‘Hollan

Be patent aa MN ae

Letters and parcels from home are very welcome t-
Canadian forces in Europe, where the shortage of foc
-and other essentials make it difficult to supplemen

army rations.

I went imto a cafe and had
a beer. There was a juke box
there and some couples were
dancing. The records were all
English. Must have been hid-
den during the occupation. Put
two 50 centinie (1-2 franc)
coins in the slot and the-ma-
chine obliged me by playing
“In The Mood” and “We'll
Hang Our Washing on the
Siegfried Line.”

It is
people speak English in Ant-
werp. If a soldier is looking for
information or advice, all he
has to do is to find some one
wearing a white star. That
man, woman or child speaks
English.

Britain is very popular in
this country. Saw many Union
Jacks flying high in Antwerp,
also some Stars and Stripes
and Soviet flags. The bazaars
have many clever patriotic
novelties. Saw little ribbons
of the three big nations, with
small pictures of Roosevelt,
Churchill and Stalin. Saw the
Same three on a poster along
with Chiang-kia-Shek in many
store windows. =

The= tiny trams were over-
crowded at 5.30 when I decided
to make my way to the other
end of town and catch a lift
back. There are less trams
than in 1940 and more passen-
gers. "

‘Caught a lift in a jeep. There
were hundreds of people in the
suburbs, flaegsine every. mili-
There
was no juice for the suburban
trams.

Surprising how many _

‘driver in each, and a so.

You see some queer unifc
on the Dutch highways. ¢—
of them make you stop s-
for a moment. They look

Nazi uniforms  accordin;
Hollywood. Put a swastiky
the arm of one of these —
and you’d swear he was au
stapo officer, unless you  ~
a Dutchman who knew bet —

Saw a convoy of white
man ambulances the other
going down the road to x
glum. There was a Ger

in khaki beside him. Sc
times there was a second
man in the front seat, i
nearly every hack had ~
mans in the back, prob —
wounded. The drivers di
look any too happy.. Me
they were lads who seribl |
“We'll be back!” on Fre
Belgium and Dutch Wi
Well,- they're back, all Tl,
but not the way they expect

Hope there is-a show in —
Auxiliary Service tent to
Their pictures are kind of |
cient and the boys don’t 1|
them very high, but one ©
of getting warm for a whill
to sit in a tent with a la
body, of men—and  sometii |
they show a picture we hay
seen.

Ok -well, what’s the use
kicking? We are on thew
ning side and if we don’t s
this year we’re sure to ~
next year! Don’t the Germ
Wish they could say the san)
I can’t think of anything w
to be right now than a Germ
soldier making a last ditch —
the Fuhrer and the Fatherla