• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE TO BYLINES SCOTLAND
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
Bylines Scotland
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Bylines Scotland Breaking News
    • Europe
    • King Charles III
    • Queen Elizabeth II
    • Scotland
    • War in Ukraine
    • World
    Scotland's Pro-EU

    Scotland’s leading pro-EU organisation will be in good spirits when it meets in Edinburgh on Rejoin Day 

    Front cover of Scottish Currency Q&A booklet

    Priorities for the SNP and the Scottish Government on currency

    Portrait of Humza Yousaf

    Humza Yousaf’s plans if he becomes the SNP leader

    Media distortion

    Truth and Trust

    Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

    Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

    Health service

    Funding the Scottish Health Service 

    Sunflower in watercolour for the one year anniversary of the war in Ukraine 2022

    Euromove Scotland Campaign Raises Donations for Ukraine’s Frontline Communities.

    Nicola Sturgeon portraiture

    Nicola Sturgeon and Jacinda Ardern – what two shock resignations tell us about good leadership

    BBC Scotland in dismantling letters

    The three minute read. Scotland must seek to reform its media

    Trending Tags

    • Democracy
    • Devolution
    • Brexit
    • Ukraine
  • Politics
    • All
    • Council Areas
    • Europe
    • Holyrood
    • Liz Truss
    • Rest of UK
    • Tories
    • United Kingdom
    • Westminster
    • World
    Demonstrator on the streets of London

    Eggs, black shirts and unsettled Britain

    Scottish flag with SYP (Scottish Youth Parliament)

    Scottish Youth Parliament in 2023: Facing the Future

    Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

    Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

    Ash Regan and Tim Rideout Currency launch

    Ash Regan backs Scottish currency

    blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

    Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

    A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

    Is Alister Jack sane?

    Image Malcom Laverty

    The Brown plan

    The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

    Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

    Trending Tags

    • Equality
    • Johnson
    • Scottish National Party
  • Business
    • All
    • Agriculture
    • Aviation
    • Corporations
    • Energy
    • Finance
    • Fishing
    • Natural Resources
    • Shipbuilding
    • Trade
    • Transport
    • Workers
    Bakkafrost Barge

    The Story of the Bakkafrost Barge Sinking

    Fish farm in Scotland

    A deeper dive into the history of Scottish fish farming

    Fish farms in a Scottish Loch

    How farmed salmon is produced – stage one

    Dead salmons

    Death in our waters

    Fish farming, Isle of Sky, Loch Ainort

    Fish Farming in Scotland 

    Offshore wind farm

    How will local communities get a fair share of record investment from offshore wind farms?

    Broadband optic fibres

    Scotland fulfilling its commitment to enable access to superfast broadband

    A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

    Saving Scotland’s tenements

    A large red researcgh vessel in the sea with ice sheets all around it on the water.

    Rosyth shipyard attracts UK Government contract to maintain fleet of scientific research vessels

    Trending Tags

    • Health
      • All
      • Assisted dying
      • Covid
      • Influenza
      • Polio virus
      • Respiratory
      • Scientific Research
      Slogan Still Home from Clinically Vulnerable Families group

      COVID-19 lockdown continues for many in the UK

      Tree representing lungs

      Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

      Health service

      Funding the Scottish Health Service 

      A goose surrounded by avian flu

      Who is knocking our doors? A putative new pandemic?

      A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

      The Ethiopia Medical Project

      Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

      “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

      Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

      Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

      A hospital corridor with trolleys on the sides.

      Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

      Two more unions reject Scottish Government NHS pay offer

      Trending Tags

      • Environment
        • All
        • Air Pollution
        • Biology
        • Climate Change
        • Wildfires
        Ardnish wildfire by Leslie Barrie, CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons'

        Fire threats in the Scottish countryside

        Wood stove at the foot of the bed in the Danish Blue room at Pig Hill Inn, Cold Spring, New York. Printed with permission and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

        When smoke gets in your eyes

        Opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt. Photo courtesy of the UNFCCC

        COP27 and the inconvenient truth

        Viscum album in trees

        Night of the strangling figs: a biological horror story

        Out & about with Charlie Mac: Cycling to the heart of Scotland – the National Cycle Network 7

        Scotland's mountain footpaths

        How do we care for Scotland’s mountain footpath network?

        climate science

        PM to be chosen by people with little grasp of climate science

        Trending Tags

        • Opinion
        No Result
        View All Result
        • Home
        • News
          • All
          • Bylines Scotland Breaking News
          • Europe
          • King Charles III
          • Queen Elizabeth II
          • Scotland
          • War in Ukraine
          • World
          Scotland's Pro-EU

          Scotland’s leading pro-EU organisation will be in good spirits when it meets in Edinburgh on Rejoin Day 

          Front cover of Scottish Currency Q&A booklet

          Priorities for the SNP and the Scottish Government on currency

          Portrait of Humza Yousaf

          Humza Yousaf’s plans if he becomes the SNP leader

          Media distortion

          Truth and Trust

          Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

          Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

          Health service

          Funding the Scottish Health Service 

          Sunflower in watercolour for the one year anniversary of the war in Ukraine 2022

          Euromove Scotland Campaign Raises Donations for Ukraine’s Frontline Communities.

          Nicola Sturgeon portraiture

          Nicola Sturgeon and Jacinda Ardern – what two shock resignations tell us about good leadership

          BBC Scotland in dismantling letters

          The three minute read. Scotland must seek to reform its media

          Trending Tags

          • Democracy
          • Devolution
          • Brexit
          • Ukraine
        • Politics
          • All
          • Council Areas
          • Europe
          • Holyrood
          • Liz Truss
          • Rest of UK
          • Tories
          • United Kingdom
          • Westminster
          • World
          Demonstrator on the streets of London

          Eggs, black shirts and unsettled Britain

          Scottish flag with SYP (Scottish Youth Parliament)

          Scottish Youth Parliament in 2023: Facing the Future

          Kate Forbes, candidate for the SNP membership, official portrait

          Kate Forbes campaign for the SNP leadership contest 

          Ash Regan and Tim Rideout Currency launch

          Ash Regan backs Scottish currency

          blue background, A younf woman holding a large black sign that says VOTE ! in white letters

          Scottish elections: young people more likely to vote if they started at 16 – new study

          A scene of people demonstrating, holding Scotland flags. One man wears a tartan cap and holds a blue flag with both the Scottish cross and the EU stars on it.

          Is Alister Jack sane?

          Image Malcom Laverty

          The Brown plan

          The climate change impacts of Russia’s war with Ukraine

          Britain wastes £1bn on drones to monitor English Channel

          Trending Tags

          • Equality
          • Johnson
          • Scottish National Party
        • Business
          • All
          • Agriculture
          • Aviation
          • Corporations
          • Energy
          • Finance
          • Fishing
          • Natural Resources
          • Shipbuilding
          • Trade
          • Transport
          • Workers
          Bakkafrost Barge

          The Story of the Bakkafrost Barge Sinking

          Fish farm in Scotland

          A deeper dive into the history of Scottish fish farming

          Fish farms in a Scottish Loch

          How farmed salmon is produced – stage one

          Dead salmons

          Death in our waters

          Fish farming, Isle of Sky, Loch Ainort

          Fish Farming in Scotland 

          Offshore wind farm

          How will local communities get a fair share of record investment from offshore wind farms?

          Broadband optic fibres

          Scotland fulfilling its commitment to enable access to superfast broadband

          A row of tall houses on the left, with parked cars in front on the side of the street

          Saving Scotland’s tenements

          A large red researcgh vessel in the sea with ice sheets all around it on the water.

          Rosyth shipyard attracts UK Government contract to maintain fleet of scientific research vessels

          Trending Tags

          • Health
            • All
            • Assisted dying
            • Covid
            • Influenza
            • Polio virus
            • Respiratory
            • Scientific Research
            Slogan Still Home from Clinically Vulnerable Families group

            COVID-19 lockdown continues for many in the UK

            Tree representing lungs

            Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

            Health service

            Funding the Scottish Health Service 

            A goose surrounded by avian flu

            Who is knocking our doors? A putative new pandemic?

            A woman walking in a field with a jerrycan of water on her back, spraying water on the vegetation

            The Ethiopia Medical Project

            Healthcare word seen in a scrabble

            “Leave no one behind” – the Health Foundation’s report into health inequalities in Scotland 2023.

            Sign saying NHS Greater Galsgow & Clyde in front of a hospital building

            Concern over patients waiting in corridors for free beds at Glasgow Superhospital

            A hospital corridor with trolleys on the sides.

            Glasgow hospitals halt non-urgent operations due to pressure

            Two more unions reject Scottish Government NHS pay offer

            Trending Tags

            • Environment
              • All
              • Air Pollution
              • Biology
              • Climate Change
              • Wildfires
              Ardnish wildfire by Leslie Barrie, CC BY-SA 2.0 Creative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic — CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons'

              Fire threats in the Scottish countryside

              Wood stove at the foot of the bed in the Danish Blue room at Pig Hill Inn, Cold Spring, New York. Printed with permission and confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0.

              When smoke gets in your eyes

              Opening of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP27 in Egypt. Photo courtesy of the UNFCCC

              COP27 and the inconvenient truth

              Viscum album in trees

              Night of the strangling figs: a biological horror story

              Out & about with Charlie Mac: Cycling to the heart of Scotland – the National Cycle Network 7

              Scotland's mountain footpaths

              How do we care for Scotland’s mountain footpath network?

              climate science

              PM to be chosen by people with little grasp of climate science

              Trending Tags

              • Opinion
              No Result
              View All Result
              Bylines Scotland
              No Result
              View All Result
              Home Lifestyle History

              My mother’s Scottish Sergeant

              Anna Schurer tells the story of her mother’s Scottish Sergeant, who was stationed in Deventer for a few weeks after his company liberated the city in 1945

              Anna SchurerbyAnna Schurer
              13-11-2022 14:23
              in History, World War Two
              The liberating regiment's armoured vehicle. All pictures from the author's family album, printed with permission

              The liberating regiment's armoured vehicle. All pictures from the author's family album, printed with permission

              Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

              We grew up hearing about my mother’s Scottish Sergeant, although we never knew his name or where he came from. My mother was born during the Second World War and lived in Deventer Netherlands with her parents and little sister at the end of the war.

              When she turned four in 1944, she went to kindergarten for a month, until the street the building was hit by a stray V2 bomb. The last winter was especially hard; not much food was available for anyone and the occupiers were becoming increasingly oppressive and scary as the war wasn’t going their way. These awful times became known as “de hongerwinter” or the hunger winter. Food drops originating from the already liberated South of the Netherlands formed a welcome respite every now and then.

              They all slept in the cellar, as you had the best chance of surviving a bombing in a cellar. At least you could hope to get dug out if anything happened, and the cellars tended to be strong enough not to collapse.

              Deventer’s liberation brought along the sergeant

              10 April 1945 arrived, and the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade – including the Canadian Scottish Regiment – rolled into Deventer and liberated the city in a few hours. Thus, 10 April became Deventer liberation day.

              The next day, my four-year-old mother met her Scottish Sergeant.

              A lot of the men from the regiment had left families and children behind and seeing these youngsters who had grown up in the war, unfazed by tanks and friendly soldiers, they quickly each picked a child to look after during the day, to feed them up and keep them safe.

              My mother’s protector was her Scottish Sergeant (my aunt had a Canadian soldier).

              The sergeant called her “Me Lassie” and allowed her to follow him around during the day. She would nap in the tank when she got tired (she told me there was always a soldier’s lap to sleep in, with your face against the rough fabric of the uniform).

              Enjoying baked beans with eau de petrol

              The children were fed; mum remembers being told to “stand back, dinnae move, hands behind yer back.” A few cans of baked beans would be lowered into a Jerry can of petrol, and the petrol set alight with a big whoosh. “Ye jumped, lassie, ye’re still scared!” The cans were taken out with a large pair of pliers, opened and an egg was broken into each can, congealing immediately. And as soon as it had cooled down, each child adopted by that particular tank’s men, got a can and a spoon and was told to “eat it all up!”

              That wasn’t always possible. After a winter of starvation the little ones couldn’t cope with a lot of food. And if they really couldn’t eat it all “ah weel, I will finish it.”

              Some days, there was a special treat after, depending on the soldiers’ supply line. A small piece of chocolate, a piece of white bread with sugar! A novelty for many of the children.

              For years, my mother would say she had never found “white beans in tomato sauce” like the Sergeant gave them, until I brought a can of actual “baked beans” over from the UK. That was it, that was the taste she remembered, even if the taste of petrol was missing.

              She would spend the day with the liberators, be fed at the end of the day, and then the children were taken home.

              Sometimes the men helped bathe them (hot water was only available for a short while each day, so the family had to wash clothes, dishes, and themselves in that short time).

              Bath, full stomach, jammies on, some Scottish tickles (toe to chin tickles) and off to bed.

              Picture from the author’s family album, printed with permission

              The true spirit of international humanitarianism

              These men were not just soldiers; they were humanitarians. They instilled in these children the knowledge that people from other countries come to help you and look after you.

              They even helped procure a manual wheelchair for my mother’s neighbour, and mum and the neighbour’s son Henk took the wheelchair over the (temporary) bridge over the IJssel to “test the wheelchair out for Henk’s mum.”

              Faith in other nations was firmly restored, laying the foundation for closer international cooperation.

              And for my mother it means that hearing a Scottish accent, especially when it is a man’s voice, has always made her feel safe and cared for. Is it any wonder her second husband was Scottish?

              My mother’s Sergeant is still anonymous

              We have tried to find a name for the Sergeant, but the Canadian Scottish Regiment has not kept any information on who was stationed where.

              So, for us, he will always be the anonymous Scottish Sergeant who fed my mother baked beans and egg with petrol fumes. And, according to my grandmother, mum gained a few kilos in the weeks the Sergeant looked after her.

              I will always be grateful to those who came to a foreign country, risked their lives, and liberated my family. Thank you, Scottish Sergeant!


              We need your help! The press in our country is dominated by billionaire-owned media, many offshore and avoiding paying tax. We are a citizen journalism publication but still have significant costs. If you believe in what we do, please consider subscribing to the Bylines Gazette 🙏

              Tags: CanadianDeventerHistoryhumanitarianismliberationNetherlandsScottish
              Previous Post

              Lest we forget the tragedy of the Maillé Brézé

              Next Post

              A Nightmare in Bosnia

              Anna Schurer

              Anna Schurer

              Related Posts

              Three women in medieval clothing looking at a ypung man in Viking dress with an axe and shield. A local man looks on from behind a tree.
              Culture

              St Brice’s Day Massacre

              byAnna Schurer
              16 February 2023
              Sketch of a town on a river edge
              History

              Finding Grandpapa Renfrew

              byDr Pam Jarvis
              12 February 2023
              Memorial to the Battle of Culblean; Mike Garratt licenced for use under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
              History

              Battle on St Andrew’s Day: Culblean and the Scottish Wars of Independence

              byDr IaIn MacInnes
              30 December 2022
              Sign commemorating the liberation of Bergen-Belsen and the those innocents who suffered at the hands of the Nazi culture of hate
              History

              My father burned his uniform

              byAdam Wetstein
              13 November 2022
              Gravestones at the Potočari genocide memorial near Srebrenica. Printed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported Licence
              Europe

              A Nightmare in Bosnia

              byMartje Rossand1 others
              13 November 2022
              Next Post
              Gravestones at the Potočari genocide memorial near Srebrenica. Printed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported Licence

              A Nightmare in Bosnia

              PLEASE SUPPORT OUR CROWDFUNDER

              Subscribe to our newsletters
              CHOOSE YOUR NEWS
              Follow us on social media
              CHOOSE YOUR PLATFORMS
              Download our app
              ALL OF BYLINES IN ONE PLACE
              Subscribe to our gazette
              CONTRIBUTE TO OUR SUSTAINABILITY
              Make a monthly or one-off donation
              DONATE NOW
              Help us with our hosting costs
              SIGN UP TO SITEGROUND
              We are always looking for citizen journalists
              WRITE FOR US
              Volunteer as an editor, in a technical role, or on social media
              VOLUNTEER FOR US
              Something else?
              GET IN TOUCH
              Previous
              Next

              LATEST

              Bakkafrost Barge

              The Story of the Bakkafrost Barge Sinking

              27 March 2023
              An open book with 3D drawings depicting storytelling

              Book Festivals Spring spotlight

              25 March 2023
              Demonstrator on the streets of London

              Eggs, black shirts and unsettled Britain

              24 March 2023
              Slogan Still Home from Clinically Vulnerable Families group

              COVID-19 lockdown continues for many in the UK

              23 March 2023

              MOST READ

              Bakkafrost Barge

              The Story of the Bakkafrost Barge Sinking

              27 March 2023
              Portrait of Humza Yousaf

              Humza Yousaf’s plans if he becomes the SNP leader

              13 March 2023
              Tree representing lungs

              Where are the areas in Scotland most affected by lung conditions?

              21 March 2023
              An open book with 3D drawings depicting storytelling

              Book Festivals Spring spotlight

              25 March 2023

              BROWSE BY TAGS

              Brexit Christmas ClimateChange Covid Covid19 Culture Defence Democracy Devolution FishFarms Glasgow Halloween health History Holyrood independence IndyRef2 Johnson Journalism Liz Truss Long Covid Monarchy nationalism NATO NHS Nicola Sturgeon politics Poverty Pro-EU Public Health Putin Russia Sars-CoV-2 Scotland Security Security and Defence shipbuilding SNP Sunak Tories Tourism Twitter Ukraine UK Supreme Court War in Ukraine
              Bylines Scotland

              We are a not-for-profit citizen journalism publication. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in Scotland and beyond.

              Bylines Scotland is a trading brand of Bylines Network Limited, which is a sister organisation to Byline Times.

              Learn more about us

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Network
              • About
              • Authors
              • Contact
              • Donate
              • Privacy

              © 2023 Bylines Scotland. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              No Result
              View All Result
              • Home
              • News
                • Scotland
                • World
              • Politics
                • Council Areas
                • Europe
                • Holyrood
                • Rest of UK
                • Westminster
              • Business
                • Fishing
                • Trade
                • Transport
              • Health
              • Environment
                • Climate Change
              • Opinion
              • Donate
              • Newsletter sign up
              CROWDFUNDER

              © 2023 Bylines Scotland. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

              Welcome Back!

              Login to your account below

              Forgotten Password?

              Retrieve your password

              Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

              Log In