A Second World War veteran shared his personal stories of battling on the front lines with Grade 2 students at Douglas Park Elementary on Monday.
Former British Army sergeant Bill Holliday, along with Langley’s Sam Omelaniec, arrived in Margaret Stewart’s classroom with stories and memorabilia from the war.
“We were always wet, cold and hungry,” said Holliday of what is was like to fight in the war with wet socks through cold, snowy winters.
The 87-year-old fought at Normandy with the British Army and helped liberate the south of Holland.
He was only 18 when he joined the army.
“What did I know at 18,” he told the class.
He said he was shot at in Hamburg, Germany. He said the Germans would drop explosives that looked like toys for the kids to pick up.
He was part of a group of units that took part in liberating a Nazi concentration camp in Bergen-Belsen, West Germany.
“We saw all these people in pajamas hanging off the wire fence. Bodies lying around and stacked in carts and we didn’t know what we encountered. We had never heard the words concentration camp before.”
Omelaniec, who has been reading to Douglas Park students for more than a decade through their reading program, brought memorabilia from the world wars, including a First World War helmet with a shrapnel hole in it, a German soldier’s belt that was taken from him after he died at Vimy Ridge, a dagger given to a member of the Hitler Youth, a scout-like organization, and several shells and bullets, as well as a grenade.
“For so many kids, the world wars is something so long ago, or maybe something they have seen a bit about on TV. We are hoping to bring it alive for the kids,” said Omelaniec, who served as a cadet in the Westminster Regiment and wore a green beret from that regiment to the presentation.
One student asked why the men were there.
“To teach you what Remembrance Day really means, so all of us have freedom to do what we want. For you to realize that Remembrance Day isn’t just another day off school,” said Omelaniec.
