1,000 Canadian flags for 1,000 fallen Canadian soldiers
The Second World War commemorative ceremonies, marking the liberation of Knokke-Heist, are just round the corner.
This year, the municipality will once again welcome more than 100 Canadian servicemen, teachers and pupils who will take part in the events in our seaside town, at Adgem Canadian War Cemetery and in neighbouring Zeeland.
Some highlights: on Friday 6 November in Eede, Aardenburg and Sluis,
on Saturday 7 November at 8.45 am, a floral tribute at Verzetsplein, the Commemorative Mass at the Church of the Sacred Heart at 9.30 am, and a tribute at the Canadian Military Cemetery in Adegem at 11.15 am.
All the ceremonies will be accompanied by the For Freedom Pipes & Drums, our local pipe band, led by Pipe Major Franky Leyseele.
The 52nd Canadian Liberation March will take place on Sunday 8 November, running from Hoofdplaat to Knokke-Heist. It is a 33-kilometre march along the battlefields where Canadian and British soldiers fought in October 1944.
During those days in October, fierce fighting took place in harsh weather conditions, and the sacrifices were incredibly great, both amongst the military and the civilian population.
The liberation of our region claimed the lives of a thousand Canadian and Allied soldiers, most of them very young, who found their final resting place at the Canadian War Cemetery in Adegem.
During Canada Week (the autumn half-term), the residents of Knokke-Heist show their gratitude to their liberators every year by decorating their homes with the Canadian flag, the ‘Maple Leaf’.
This initiative is consistently supported by the entire municipal council, led by the mayor.
It all began in 2008, when the For Freedom Museum was under construction. Mayor Count Leopold Lippens and First Alderman Maxim Willems, both of whom have sadly since passed away, were the driving forces behind the initiative from the very start. Knokke-Heist was to be decked out en masse with the Maple Leaf.
A fitting commemoration in honour of all those young Canadians who gave their lives, 82 years ago now, to secure the liberation of Knokke-Heist, the Zwin region and West Zeelandic Flanders.
Now, in the 19th year of this initiative and with more than 1,300 Canadian flags already purchased by our residents, we are once again calling on the public to decorate their façades, balconies and gardens with the memorable Maple Leaf flag. This is a sign of respect for the sacrifices made in days gone by.
Knokke-Heist will once again become ‘Maple Leaf City’; no other town or municipality in the world is adorned with so many Canadian flags, something of which we, as residents of Knokke-Heist, are particularly proud.
We will be flying the Canadian flag from Saturday 24 October to Wednesday 11 November.
Canadian flags (€25) are available from:-The For Freedom Museum, Ramskapellestraat 91–93, Ramskapelle, Knokke-Heist, tel. 050 68 71 30
-Knokke-Heist Tourist Office, Zeedijk 660, Knokke-Heist, tel. 050 63 03 80
- CC Cultural Centre Knokke-Heist, Maxim Willemspad 1, Knokke-Heist, tel. 050 63 04 30
-Continental Tours, Lippenslaan 8, Knokke-Heist, tel. 050 61 10 01
-Vervarcke Interieur, Natiënlaan 213, Knokke-Heist, tel. 050 60 10 72
