Netherlands school adopts graves of two St. Vital WW II soldiers
CBC News | Posted: April 23, 2018 10:00 AM | Last Updated: April 23, 2018
Doug and Ernie Tod were shot down twice during bombing raids over Germany
They were twins whose plane was shot down over the Netherlands during the Second World War.
Now the graves of St. Vital brothers Doug and Ernie Tod will be cared for by a nearby elementary school, a "thank you" for their sacrifice.
The brothers' niece, Sharon Tod, will make the trip to Holland in the Netherlands this week to be there for the adoption, where Het Koggeschip school will hold a ceremony.
"In my grandmother's scrapbook I came across a little article … quoting a gentleman from the Dutch resistance who talked about how, going forward, the people of the Netherlands would look after the graves of the servicemen," said Sharon.
The article states the people were thankful for the Canadians' sacrifice to defend their land, and would take care of the graves "like they were our own sons or husbands," said Sharon.
While the school in the Netherlands takes care of the graves of her ancestors, Winnipeg's Hastings School has partnered with Het Koggeschip school to learn more about her uncles' story, said Sharon.
"Hastings is the closest school to where the boys grew up," she said. Both schools will do joint programming on Remembrance Day.
Shot down twice
The boys were only 23 when their plane was shot down, crashing near Ijsselmeer. Doug's body was discovered first, but when Ernie's body was later found near Medemblik, both were moved to a cemetery there at the family's request, said Sharon.
They are two of only three Royal Canadian Air Force members buried there.
The boys didn't grow up wanting to be pilots, but they did everything together, said Sharon. They asked for and received permission to fly together, learning to both be wireless operators and gunners.
They were actually shot down twice during the war, she added.
"In April of 1943 … they were under fire after a bombing run over Germany," said Sharon. "They were running low on fuel.
"They actually ended up ditching in the English Channel, and those actions won [Ernie] the Distinguished Flying medal because he happened to be the wireless operator on that particular mission."
The remarkable thing is they were rescued within 15 minutes by another soldier who grew up with the boys, said Sharon.
"The door opened, and it was a gentleman … they grew up with in St. Vital."
The family was devastated to learn both boys had been killed two months later, said Sharon.
"I have read a letter that was written by my Aunt Dolly, to my dad … She talks about how my grandmother was out [in the garden] when the telegram came. And she writes about how my grandmother was screaming when she got the news."
Sharon expects the ceremony to be an emotional ordeal.
"I'm doing it on behalf of my family. And ultimately I thought, this would be important to my grandmother and my father," she said.
"I'm very grateful. You know, we live in an amazing country and we live in peace and to me, their sacrifice was for us."