The long road ahead: Nijmegen-bound CF marchers hear words of wisdom

By Lieutenant Karina Masse

OTTAWA; 15 July 2009 — A crowd of well-wishers and dignitaries at the Canadian War Museum witnessed the send-off parade of 71 Canadian Forces members heading to the Netherlands for this year’s Nijmegen Marches. Kitted up in their CADPAT uniforms with the rucksacks they will carry through 160 km if walking, the troops heard how the joyful misery they have chosen to undergo carries with it a personal and collective significance that they will come to appreciate only after their return.

In the traditional address to the troops, Major-General Mark McQuillan, commander of the Canadian Forces contingent deploying on Operation NIJMEGEN 2009, spoke of how the Marches will test their individual fitness and endurance while building core military values of leadership and teamwork. The Marches “offer the rare opportunity to test one’s fitness and determination; 160 km over four days, carrying a few extra pounds just to ensure you enjoy the experience.”

Although their movements today seemed unencumbered by the weight on their backs, the rules of the Nijmegen Marches stipulate that these military participants carry at least 10 kg of weight, not counting food and water, during their 160-km trek. This rule does not apply to the 40,000 civilians from around the globe who will also walk at Nijmegen. All 190 CF members participating this year will likely step off each morning of the four days carrying more than 30 pounds of supplies — plus extras such as the Canadian souvenirs so popular with the Dutch children who line the streets eagerly seeking out the marchers with Maple Leaf flags.

The CF marchers have also taken on the task of keeping alive the memory of the events that made Canadians so popular with the Dutch in the first place. At the parade, the marchers received three poppy wreaths to be laid at Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery on the third day of marching. This symbolic gesture is heavy with remembrance for the 2,300 Canadians interred at Groesbeek and the thousands more who fell in combat in Europe during the 20th Century.

Most of this year’s CF marchers are going to Nijmegen for the first time, so the speakers at the send-off parade had a special message. “It is only upon your return that you’ll appreciate what you accomplished,” said retired Lieutenant General Charles Belzile, Honorary Grand President of the Royal Canadian Legion. “Once you have lived with the extreme kindness of the people of Holland, once you have seen the monuments to those who died for freedom and democracy in the last century, once you achieve your own personal goal of taking part in this event, you will never be same.”