WWII Canadian soldier(s) in Belgium

With all the commemorations now with the WWI centennial and almost 70 years after the end of WWII, this is a perfect time to post my blogitem.

Recently I was browsing through some old photos of my parents and grandparents. My grandparents passed away a long time ago. We found this photo of a young Canadian soldier known to my father and my grandparents as Johnny. I don't know if they ever knew his last name.

It must have been in the period between september 1944 and the end of the war, when he and two companians would stay for the night at my grandparents. During the day they were stationed in the town school of Terhagen (since 1977 merged with the town of Rumst).  At one occasion Johnny took my father to visit the school and meet the other soldiers. But this was a one time event.

My father was born on 18/5/1938 and must have been about 6 or 7 years old at the time when Johnny would sleep at his house in Terhagen. The towns of Boom and Terhagen were liberated in september 1944.

Both towns border each other and are separated from the town of Willebroek by the river Rupel.

Some WWII historytelling is essential in this case:

The town of Boom was liberated on 4/9/1944 and it was with the help of an engineer from the town of Wilrijk (Antwerp) that my home town Boom and eventually Antwerp (his main objective I believe)  could be liberated.  An intervention which changed the course of the war importantly !

Coming from Brussels (on the direct road to Antwerp, now A12) , Boom could be reached crossing two bridges.  The main one  (built 1939)and another old one (built 1857),  between the town of Willebroek (Little Willebroek) and Boom.  (This old bridge is not there anymore, except for the bridgehead and arch). A tank replica marks the significant history.

Back to WWII: Robert Vekemans, the engineer, knew that both bridges were undermined and that only the main one was guarded by German soldiers. The latter  turned out to be a huge mistake for the German soldiers. The old bridge was strong enough to carry a reconnaissance vehicle and a threesome of Sherman-tanks of the 3rd Batallion Royal Tank Regiment that came from the south on the A12, led by Col. David Silvertop. Vekemans awaited the allied forces near the Fort of Breendonk and informed them of his special plan to lead a few tanks through the town of Willebroek and to reach Little Willebroek alongside the canal.  The rest of the regiment had to wait in Breendonk on the A12. Everyone agreed to this shrewd plan.
(In those days, not anymore now,  the canal Brussels-Willebroek flowed into the river Rupel at Little Willebroek.)

People of the resistance, had already dismantled the explosives on the old bridge.The German soldiers on the main bridge was just a small rearguard and had no idea whatsoever that there was something going on.  Strangely enough they didn't seem to notice the few tanks coming over the old bridge, although this bridge was clearly visible from the main bridge. The tanks rolled through the town of Boom in the direction of the A12 and they could easily surprise the German rearguard and attack them in the back.  Luckily the German soldiers seemed unable to detonate the explosives on the main bridge. They surrendered almost instantly and very soon after,  the rest of the tank regiment  could come over the stronger main bridge. In the town of Boom, subsequently Terhagen, other towns and eventually Antwerp, the people welcomed the English and Canadian soldiers euphorically.
Vekemans sat on the front of the first tank.

Maybe Johnny was a soldier of this batallion that crossed the river Rupel on that historic day. My father does not know what his age was, but I'm afraid Johnny is no longer with us.