The Sweetest Spring

The museum had planned a large exhbition for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands by Canadian soldiers. However the Covid-19 pandemic forced the museum to switch over to a virtual exhibition.

An important anniversary will be observed next May in the Netherlands and in some quarters of Canada. The Dutch remember well that “Sweetest Spring” seventy-five years ago in May 1945 when they were liberated, mainly by Canadians, from five long and brutal years of Nazi occupation. Just under 7000 Canadians were killed liberating the Netherlands with more than 1300 dead in the last six weeks of the war.
Reverence by the Dutch for Canadians, who came from so far away to restore their freedom and asked for nothing in return, remains strong to this day despite the passage of time and generations.
Perhaps only those who know what it is like to have their freedom taken away and then restored can appreciate the magnitude of what the Sweetest Spring of Liberation means to the Dutch.

Expect Exceptional Theatre Company produced a play for the Sweetest Spring exhibition which you can enjoy here.

The Theatre BC 2021 Pandemic Pivot story Awards gave Expect Exceptional Theatre Company  the The Crossover engagement pivot award for their production of the Netherlands pieces and a play produced for the museum's Ioco festival.

The exhbition panels are now on featured in the trench display area located behind the musuem.