For the Dutch, the liberation of their occupied homeland by the Allies through 1944-45 proved the most anticipated time of WWII. To mark the 75th anniversary of that hectic and heroic time, acclaimed authors David O’Keefe and Ted Barris return to Festival Place theatre in Sherwood Park, Alberta, for an evening of unique history storytelling beginning at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday November 12, one night only, two of Canada’s most recognized military historians pay a return visit to present vivid accounts of Canadians in Operation Market Garden, “Black Friday” at Woensdrecht, Groningen and the “Door-Knocker” campaign, Operation Manna to end of the “Hunger Winter,” and how the Canadians ensured German surrender on May 5, 1945. Be part of the VE Day celebration we never had during the pandemic.

History Storytellers – the Liberation of the Netherlands in WWII, with Ted Barris and David O’Keefe, Friday, Nov. 12 at Festival Place.

https://festivalplace.ca/events/history-storytellers-liberation-of-the-netherlands/

Not a soldier, but the soldier’s storyteller, not a veteran, but recognized by vets as keeper of the flame, Ted Barris has now published 19 non-fiction books, a dozen of them wartime histories. For 50 years, he has worked as a broadcaster in Canada and the US. He taught journalism at Toronto’s Centennial College for 18 years. His book The Great Escape: A Canadian Story won the 2014 Libris Award for Best Non-fiction Book of the Year. And Dam Busters: Canadian Airmen and the Secret Raid against Nazi Germany received the RCAF Association NORAD Trophy in 2018. In 2019,  Rush to Danger was long-listed for the 2020 Charles Taylor Prize for Non-Fiction.