50th anniversary of liberation WHEN THOUSANDS of Canadian Second World War veterans return to Holland to celebrate the 5Gth anniver- sary of the country’s liberation this month, North Vancouver’s Richard O'Hara will be among them: By Ian Noble News Reporter _- O'Hara spent four months in Nijmegen, then a badly bombed town about 85 kilometres ' (33 miles) east of Rotterdam. Now 73, O’Hara remembers Nijmegen as a town in misery whose residents were hos- pitable to Canadians in the fall of 1944, “They were pretty happy to see us but they ' had a hell of a time,” O'Hara said. _”. “ft.was kind of rough watching people suf- “fer and you couldn’t do much for them,” he added. “The Germans Stole everything,” “O'Hara arrived in’ Nijmegen about fve “months after his unit landed on Normandy Beach. He and the -2nd- Canadian Infantry Division: had advanced along ‘the English Channel’ coast to. Antwerp via Dieppe. : Boulogne, Calais,'and Cape Griz Nex. While the division was assigned with hold- ing’ the line along the: Mass and Nijmegen Saliant in November, O'Hara's unit was billet- ed with families in Nijmegen. ~ O'Hara’s hosts were members. of the. Fest family. They had a daughter Bep, who O'Hara — fell in love with. With the threat of German bombs falling, O’Hara slept with the family in the basement. . He was allowed to sleep beside Bep when her * father began to snore, | : 0 Hara, a Signalman, remembers spending most of his free time in the town walking . around parks, picking flowers. going to church, skating on the canal, and attending the odd dance. “There wasn't a heck of a lot to do,” he said. On one memorable occasion, he sat “smooching” with Bep while they watched Allied anti-aircraft fire, which he said resembled streams of fireworks. “Beautiful,” he said. On a few weekends, he and friends went to Antwerp to play hockey, but such excursions were not all fun and games: the war followed them wher- ever they went. O'Hara recalls walking along a street in Antwerp ‘while the Germans rained: rockets onto the city. One rocket landed on a theatre and exploded. “Body parts were laying all over the tele- phone wires,” he said. “Terribie.* The rockets traveled so fast, explosions occurred before the rockets could be heard, O'Hara said. During his days in Nijmegen as a member.,” of the signal corps O’ Hara attended to wireless duties, trying to maintain communications between various units and headquarters. While at camp, O'Hara would be. fed, but essentials such as food were in short supply in the Fest household. If he received: meat, he took it home and shared the meat with his hosts. The Fests also needed fuel to ‘heat their Wednesday, Aprit 19, 1995 — Norin Shore News - 3 home, so O*Hara/and the father of the Fest family crept under wires and stole coal from a former German stockpile. In Nijmegen in 1944, money was worthless, said O'Hara. Instead, traders wanted some- thing, useful like cigarettes, chocolate or soap. “That was money,” he said. “In town, no stores remained. The only com- _merce seemed to be a milkman who brought “his wagon around! O'Hara cannot recall anybody going to work, and by that time, all the schools were closed. Locals also faced transportation difficulties. Tires for bikes — an important mode of trans- portation in Holland — were scarce, Cyclists peduled their bikes on stect rims, which even- tually broke, O° Hara said. “ Even though the Dutch suffered much hard- ship. they treated Canadians with great kind- ater fil Photo submitted SIGNALMEN RICHARD O'Hara . (right) and M.J. Gendron study a well-concealed anti-tank gun position, one of many built in Holland by the Germans to halt the Canadian advance. Now a North Vancouver resident, O'Hara will return to Holland to celebrate its liberation 50 years ago. ness, O° Hara said. He said he had been through France and Belgium, but never met French or Belgian peo-- ple. “But the Dutch were altogether different,” he said. “They sure were great.” In the spring of 1945, O'Hara and his unit left Nijmegen and headed for Germany. Now, he looks forward to going back to Holland to participate in the celebrations of Holland's liberation. He plans ‘to visit Nijmegen and his host family, who he has kept in touch with for the past 50 years. .’ Last year, on the, 50th anniversary of D- Day, O'Hara travelled to Europe, where he retumed to Normandy and visited Bep.. . While’ at Normandy, the North Vancouver Legion member mused to a friend that the beach had changed, “Not so/many bloody Germans.” O’ Hara laughed. tration A year tater! the businessnian was charged with six counts under. the Income Tax Act, After’ three. years of legal manoeuvering, the government lost its case even before making it to tial. “ Provincial court Judge Edmond Cronin issued a judicial stay of pro- ceedings fast July.: The judge ruled Revenue Canada breached Sander’s right to be tried within a reasonable time. The Crown’s case crumbled in a double-knockout no-hitter. [t first refused to disclose documents on ‘the’ basis of privilege, claiming the papers were confidential to Revenue Canada. Judge Cronin cried foul. . | set for Seymour proposal poses more problems . | and the approval process will take ; “Certainly a more straightfor+ longer, Marr said. ward test-bed for these types of The GVWD stili has not partnerships is unlikely to present. decided * what. kind. of ‘filtration itself” stated the water, district’ method it wants to use at the - report. Seymour plant. Marr wants the’ Cleveland . “But we know’ we will be ; Dam project to go to at least the _ building the plant,” Marr said, proposal stage to see what comes The. water district cites the back. Sydney, Australia; water. board’s “The” Cleveland Dam one__ private-sector contracts to devel- : looks pretty good to me,” he said. op four water filtration plants.as’ | Janice Harris, North an example of such a partnership.’ Vancouver District’s water com-" / But the water district. also (mittee member, said she agrees as’ acknowledges the filtration-plant . long as environmental-impact ‘ partnership may go against the - and socio-economic studies show :. grain closer to home. the hydro project will not be “In Canada...., surveys “indi- harmful. ‘- cate a general reluctance to have She said the water district © ‘for profit’ organizations involved |. could use the hydro project as a __ in the supply of an essential com- lever in negotiations with B.C. modity,” the report said. — : Hydro for rights to water. in the Harris agreed the public is. cleaner Coquitlam watershed. loathe to privatize fundamental B.C. Hydro owns the rights to parts of :service. infrastructure. about 83% of ‘the water in the such ds filtration plant. : Coquitlam watershed, Harris. “It: wouldn’t ‘fly like the: millionaire. dies WEST VANCOUVER: multi- millionaire “+ philanthropist - Stephen’ Sander has won‘a con-~ clusive victory against the tax-" ‘In: a’ unanimous ‘decision. the. Cc. Court of Appeal gave three’ thumbs down to Revenue Canada’s i last-gasp ‘attempt to resurrect its Bo ron. five-year-old case against the devel- PHILANTHROPIST . STEPHEN per." _ Sander’s right to be tried with- Revenue Canada then’ claimed The three-judge court agreed the in reasonable time breached. «public-interest immunity protecting ax department | breached ! the ; « its non-disclosure. The Crown won Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in unreason-__ the first round in B.C. Supreme Court, then lost again. ably delaying its prosecution of Sander. > The B.C. Court of Appeal ordered. the Crown last ‘The decision, released last’ week, lifts a lingering May to turn over its files. cloud that haunted the businessman for years. Two months later, Judge Cronin issued a stay. which ““It means there’s no shadow on his life and reputa-_. killed the Revenue Canada case. tion,” his lawyer, Thomas Berger, told the News., However, Revenue Canada gave’ it one last chance ppeal court Chief Justice Allan McEachern and and appealed to B.C.’s highest court. After a two-day Justices Lance Finch and Hugh Legg agreed Revenue hearing in March, the court gave its support to Judge Canada destroyed its case by refusing to disclose docu- ' Cronin. As'Sandes’s case never made it to trial, no evi- ments ‘legally’ requested. by. Sander’ s lawyers, which, “dence was ever presented. The merits, if any, of ‘aused a two-year delay... ~ Revenue Canada’s prosecution were néver considered. said. Capilano hydro- electric | Project ‘Armed with a search. warrant, Revenue Canada :. “He has worked hard to build up his business, and The Séymour fi fi ttration plant will fly,” she said. “investigators searched Sander’s office j in June 1990 and . now he wants to share what he’s got with the less fortu- - : . 4 eized documents. ; nate, " said Berger.