b.c. woman returns figurines brought home from war by her father, an army officer
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brooke webber of coquitlam, with three bronze figurines and an officer's trunk belonging to her father that she has donated to the museum aan de a in groningen, netherlands, on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of holland by canadians forces.
david carrigg
groningen, netherlands — one morning in the fall of 1945, canadian army officer david crandell webber woke up in northern netherlands with a hangover and three bronze figurines next to his bed depicting a man, a woman and a child.
webber, a lieutenant from vancouver, was one of thousands of canadian soldiers who had remained in the netherlands following the german army’s capitulation in may of that year. they spent their time playing sports, working on farms, rebuilding roads and dikes, and socializing with locals who had endured four years of intense hardship.
in december 1945, webber packed the figurines into his trunk, along with a nazi bayonet and flag, and began the long trip home, where a month later he married his high school sweetheart.
in every home that webber lived those three figurines — a farm woman holding a rake, a young angler and a man returning home — were front and centre in the living room, said his daughter brooke webber.
“he moved around a bit, but wherever he lived they were in the living room. they meant a lot to him.”
when webber died in july 1996, at the age of 77, the figurines were passed on to his daughter, who spent the next 29 years wondering what to do with them.
they had always intrigued her, but she never got a clear answer from her dad on how he came to own them. she only heard the tale from her mom about a night of carousing in the netherlands and waking up with them next to his bed.
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this caused her to wonder whether the figurines were looted or bought from a dutch family desperate for money or food. ultimately those thoughts led to her decision to return them to the netherlands — one way or another.
“about a year ago i just thought, ‘this is wrong. i’ve got to take them back,'” said the coquitlam resident.
brooke webber with a photograph of her father, david webber.
nick procaylo
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10109092a
david webber, who was born in vancouver in january 1919, was working at the family sawmill in haney when he joined the army in may 1940, at the age of 21.
he was assigned to the canadian forestry corps and shipped to the u.k. in may 1941, where he began logging in scotland to supply wood for military purposes.
in april 1943, webber, then a corporal, was selected for officer training at the royal military college sandhurst, in england, where he graduated as a lieutenant in november that year.
webber trained as a tank commander and in september 1944 was attached to the canadian armoured corps.
he arrived in europe on may 31, 1945 — 26 days after the german surrender — and was reassigned to the canadian forestry corps and sent to join canadians in the netherlands.
“the cfc milled timber and had a lot of repair work to do on bridges and infrastructure destroyed by the germans and by allied bombing,” said his daughter.
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“it was a time of chaos and confusion as the canadians were not officially an occupation force and shipping thousands of men home was difficult, in part because ships were being diverted to the war in the pacific. the canadians were just let loose in a large part of europe.”
around 7,600 canadians had died during the liberation of the netherlands, which began in october 1944 with the battle of the scheldt — a fight to open a vital shipping lane to antwerp.
canadian forces moved east, then north, liberating towns and cities along the way. the most populous cities in the west (amsterdam, rotterdam and the hague) were not freed until the germans surrendered to the canadians on may 5, 1945, with much of the population close to starving.
according to library and archives canada, after the fighting ended, canadian soldiers celebrated all summer with “singing, dancing and romance,” leading to 2,000 canadian servicemen marrying dutch women and 6,000 children born to canadian fathers.
“at least the months of anxious waiting to return home were spent in holland, whose citizens were immensely grateful to their liberators and anxious to do as much for them as possible,” the archives state.
“this took the form of entertainments, boating parties, and even free memberships in many clubs. canada, after all, had provided a refuge for dutch princess (later queen) juliana and her children during the war. strong ties between the two countries had already developed and, despite occasional frictions and irritations caused by the presence of so many restless and unoccupied troops who wanted simply to go home, warm relations would continue.”
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figurines taken from holland after the second world war by canadian officer d.c. webber that were returned in september.
nick procaylo
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10109092a
brooke webber’s search for the home of the three figurines began with a google search, where she learned the figurines were collectively probably worth around $2,000.
“i was able to find the names of the artists and learned while they are not common, they are not unique, so not really that valuable in dollar terms,” she said.
she reached out to the london-based looted art commission, which recently helped in the recovery of a painting that was spotted in a real estate listing by an argentine family descended from a nazi who moved there after the war.
the commission, which mostly deals with jewish-owned art that was stolen or bought at well under market prices by nazis, had no record of the figurines and referred her to the dutch ministry of education, culture and science.
“they (the ministry) did a lot of research but didn’t come up with anything as we did not know exactly where dad was stationed. so they wished me well and said, ‘good luck,'” she said.
she was then referred to the rijksmuseum in amsterdam, which is actively working to reunite families with art stolen or purchased below market value. but they, too, were unable to help.
meanwhile, she had contacted archives canada and learned which sections of the army her dad had served in, but not the specific locations where he had served.
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exact locations can only be found in unit war diaries that are kept in paper form at the canadian war museum. from reading about the canadian army in the netherlands, however, she did conclude that webber had likely served in and around groningen in northern netherlands.
her luck began to change in august when she came upon liberation route europe, a web-based guide for people wanting to visit significant sites linked to the liberation of europe, which began on d-day, june 6, 1944.
she left a message on the website asking for help, and a few days later was contacted by a groningen-based liberation route volunteer and professional war historian and battlefield tour guide, joël stoppels.
from there things moved fast, as stoppels used his media and civic connections to get the word out that a canadian woman needed help.
the people of groningen have not forgotten the 43 soldiers who died liberating the city over three days in april 1945, including 22 who were killed at a bridge crossing by german soldiers who were using anti-aircraft weapons to attack infantry.
a forest of 30,000 maple trees was planted in 1995 outside the city in memory of those canadians, alongside a canal featuring a monument of a maple leaf containing 43 holes in honour of the fallen soldiers.
brooke webber of coquitlam stands in front of a bronze maple leaf at the liberation forest in groningen, netherlands, on sept. 30.
david carrigg
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within a few weeks, she had mailed her dad’s officer’s trunk to stoppels and a handover was arranged where the figurines would be displayed at a local museum while the search for their owners continued.
three bronze figurines donated by brooke webber of coquitlam are examined by the media and others at the museum aan de a in groningen, netherlands, on sept. 30.
david carrigg
on a beautiful early fall day in groningen, stoppels arrived in an army jeep outside the bed and breakfast where webber had spent her first night in the netherlands since arriving the day before from vancouver.
she had with her a box in which the three figurines were carefully wrapped. before taking the short drive to the museum aan de a for the handover ceremony, she produced a contract that transferred ownership of the figurines and army trunk to stoppels.
the ceremony, attended by journalists from two tv outlets and three newspapers, started with comments from museum director roos gortzak.
“today marks a moment of remembrance and connection,” she said. “after 80 years, three small bronze figurines, taken to canada in 1945, are making their way home. they are more than objects. they are silent witnesses of a turbulent time, carrying with them stories of war, liberation and of human lives touched across continents.”
webber, showing no signs of jet lag, explained the figurines’ journey to this point, and apologized that they had been taken in the first place.
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“take these and i am sorry,” she said. “i don’t know what the transaction was, but it’s not a tea towel to take home to your mom. it’s war loot.”
however, groningen deputy mayor mirjam wijnja steered her away from that thought.
“when he took these figurines with him, he could not have imagined that 80 years later his youthful mischievous act would make us take a moment to reflect on how the stories we share from that war can help us to do the right thing in our own time.
“a story has two sides and war is nuanced and we are still grateful. mrs. webber, thank you for bringing these figurines back and thank you for giving us this moment of reflection.”
back at home, a month after the event, brooke webber remained moved by the ceremony and the battlefield tour she took with stoppels later that day.
“i could feel the maple syrup in my veins,” she said. “they still think canadians are pretty darned special.”
she also returned with a different perspective regarding her dad’s actions.
“i was pretty cynical about his actions, i guess. but when you listen to them (the dutch), they are so kind and have a different attitude. the canadians there after the war were stowaways, and they cared for them until they were able to go home,” she said.
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“but ultimately i am glad they (the figurines) are home. they never really belonged in canada.”
brooke webber of coquitlam with battlefield tour guides sander hoving, driving, and joël stoppels in a restored second world war jeep in groningen, netherlands, on sept. 30.
david carrigg
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