Veterans, ladies and gentlemen,
The 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade, which was under the command of General Sosabowski is deeply rooted into the hearts of all Driel inhabitants, one of the eleven villages of our Overbetuwe Municipality. Parents and grandparents have talked about their experiences to their children and grandchildren, who, in turn, will tell their own children all about it.
Not as an exciting war story, but to show their admiration and amazement for the fact that – mostly young – soldiers had the courage to be dropped in a country which was completely unknown to them. Many of them unfortunately did not live to tell the tale to their own children.
It’s very important that our own young people know the story, so they can understand a little bit about what happened here to give them the freedom they enjoy today.
And this is quite some task, as, after all, nowadays children don’t even know the threat of war or a lack of democracy.
They don’t know what hunger is.
They have no idea what it’s like to live in fear of war.
Yet these young people are the very people who need to keep hold of this memory of those September days in 1944 and propagate any lessons which can be learnt from this.
To make sure the bridge which was too far can become a bridge which will lead us to the future.
This is why it’s so important that we devote a great deal of attention to the annual Airborne International Youth Conference, which includes young participants from the partner towns of the four Airborne communities.
I took part in a formal event to restore the honour of General Sosabowski and his men last year, with a mixture of joy and sadness.
Sadness because it took so long for this to happen and many Polish people were no longer here to see it, and joyous that it did actually finally happen.
I was also very pleased that the English veterans were behind this decision made by the Dutch government, which was demonstrated by the plaque which was offered on behalf of the British Airborne Forces last year.
And when we commemorate the Polish landing, I also want to include the ground forces of the 4th Dorset Regiment, as they were the only regiment which managed to reach Driel from Nijmegen to support the Poles and who made the crossing to the other side of the Rhine. Again, very few of these men returned home.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The number of people who can still talk about the events during those September days from their own personal experience is constantly reducing.
The experience of the events back then, judging by the daily images of war and terror, were sadly not enough to prevent the violence in our world today.
No reason to give up the fight for peace and democracy. We must always continue to work at this.
We want to express our thanks and gratitude to those who perished, in the hope their fight and efforts were not in vain.