WWII veteran honoured as poster boy on Dutch stamp

Anonymous soldier turns up in Vancouver

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Seaforth Highlander veteran, former Capt. William L. Roberts who served with the Vancouver regiment, still has difficulty believing that his emergency search on a motorcycle in Amsterdam in May 1945 for missing brengun carriers ended up on a commemorative Dutch postage stamp. Roberts who had borrowed the motorcycle from a sergeant, which was interrupted in his search by civilian revelry and clowning around.

News of the release of the stamp, earlier this year, endeared the Dutch still more to Canadian WWII veterans who continue to be amazed at all the attention showered on them by appreciative Dutchmen here and in the Netherlands.

Once Roberts who was among the liberators of Amsterdam, was identified as the nameless Canadian motorcyclist who on the picture was being mobbed by young Dutch woman clamoring for a short ride, the Canadian media ran with the story too.

Since then, Roberts met with the Consul General of the Netherlands, Mr. Aart Jan Verdegaal who invited him to the recent consular Queen’s Birthday reception where he also was put in the limelight.