Return trips to Holland

Ed Busby, Synopsis by Jacob Miller, University of Windsor student volunteer.

With the help of the media, present day society loves heroes. Men and women, who put their lives on the line for the common good in the name of their nation, receive the utmost recognition by comrades and citizens alike. Edward Busby was one of these heroes.  To those suffering from starvation and malnutrition as a result of the Nazi occupation of Holland, Busby undertook his duty to rekindle the dreams the Dutch held for a free Holland.

Like many heroes, Busby appears to be humbled by the reception men and women like him receive at the hands of those they liberated.  Despite the highly preferred treatment Canadians receive while in Holland, it may be easy to forget that the liberators are no less mortal than the often-defenseless civilians under their care.  

The humble beginnings of Edward Busby start with his career as a truck driver for Hiram Walker. Much like his co-workers he soon found himself in England as a Lorry driver; rehearsing landing drills for the eventual mass-invasion of the continent. As was common with many Canadian soldiers during the Second World War, Busby discovered romance with a young woman with whom he would eventually spend nearly his entire post-war life.

However, war was not an ordeal full of praise and romance. Busby’s unfortunate discovery of a woman’s relationship with a German soldier that eventually led to her death, depicts the stark reality of lives shattered by war.  Busby’s further illustration of pure luck’s role in survival and bitter reaction to a German war cemetery, serve to outline the mental burdens in the backdrop of commemoration.  Busby serves as a prime example of a serviceman whose obligation towards those he protected fueled a return to the land he was instrumental in preserving. His children’s preservation of their father’s military legacy through their own service prompted Busby to bring his daughter and granddaughter to Holland for the nation’s liberation commemoration.

Busby’s extensive travel records illustrate the hardships and fatigue that hinder most veterans’ return to the places in which they served.  Health, distance and the radical change of urban geography often hide the world veterans fought to preserve.  Nonetheless, those thankful, champion the return of their liberators while the liberators champion the ability of those who never forget.

Synopsis By:

Jacob Miller, University of Windsor student volunteer. March, 07