On 12 November 2017 a group of Dutch students from Saint Canisius high school in Tubbergen, The Netherlands, laid a wreath at the Holten Canadian War Cemetery on behalf of the CMEA. They represented a larger group of students who have been involved in the ongoing Give Every Stone a Story, Faces to Graves and Lest We Forget projects. These efforts aim to provide a story for every soldier buried in the cemetery and they work hard researching each Canadian life that was given for the freedom of their country.
Our CMEA historian, LCol Ken Holmes (Ret’d), and Mr. Bill McVean have assisted these projects over the years by providing what records they can and by placing each soldier’s death in context. This year, among the three names selected for the wreath-laying ceremony, was a Sapper officer, Lt James Russell Martin, from Kingston, Ontario. The students gave an excellent verbal presentation on the life and service history of Lt Martin. He was serving in the 23rd Fd Coy when he was killed on 26 September 1944 during Operation BERLIN, evacuating British and Polish paratroopers from Arnhem. Photos of the wreath laid on behalf of Lt Martin credit the CMEA for their assistance in this work.