Guert Van Lambalgen

His is him in the second world war. (Me. (Me.))

My great Grandpa on my mom's side. His name is Geurt Van Lambalgen. He is my hero because he fought in the war against Hitler, or known as the Second World War. He got sent to become part of the army. He had no choice. He started to protect Holland against Germany in the year 1939. He slept in a bunker on a dijk near the Atlantic Ocean about 30 miles from Germany. A dijk is like a dam that keeps the water from coming inland. (I went to go see the dijk and it was very cool, most of stuff that was there in the Second World War and is still there today.) We went in the bunkers and where they slept was bunk-beds and where the kitchens were they had a kitchen set. (A couple of guns were still there and you could touch one of them!) Also you could see through a telescope that was there during the war! My Great Grandpa escaped the army without anyone knowing. He was sick of all the fighting so he left and never ever went back.

This is him. (Me. (Me.))

He was a carpenter by trade, specializing in woodwork. But he also was a artist. He painted a lot in his free time. Some of his paintings are hung in the University of Saskatchewan. Its still there today. Two books were published about Dutch immigrants and he was written about as well as his art was featured in books. The one book was called, 'Transplanted Lives' by, Hendrika Ruger. The book was published in the year 1988. The other book was called, 'Grass Roots' by The University Of Regina, Saskatchewan. It was published in the year 1976. Also his work is in the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery. In his interview he said, "Been painting all my life for 40-50 years."

This is him in the second world war. (Me. ())

Note, also very strict. He had trouble speaking English when they moved to Canada in 1956, so he had trouble making new friends. (That would be sad for me!)

His life, He thought moving to Canada would make the family happy. It would have made the family happy if they moved the family earlier in their kids lives. My grandpa was thirteen when he moved. His sisters were fifteen, five and nineteen years of age. His brothers were two, five, seven, nine and eleven years of age! That's nine kids! Once they got to Canada, my Great Grandpa wanted to go back to Holland. But my Great Grandma sold all of their stuff, plus she didn't want to buy boat tickets again! My Great Grandpa's ears weren't even. One was bigger than the other. One was a bit smaller than the other. Not by much though. Every day he would slick back his hair. It looked very distinguished, but the family was very poor. When they went to Canada, they had to cross the Atlantic Ocean. They took a boat because it was cheap and they had eight people to bring. Two of them went ahead to find jobs and a home for the family. The two people were my Great Grandpa and his oldest son. Eight people came later after the two went ahead.

Every weekend they would have people over for tea. If my Great Grandpa wanted more tea he would tap on this teacup with his teaspoon. Then my Great Grandma, (Oma is what we call her. She is still alive, she is turning 102), she would fill up his cup with nice warm tea! I wish I could meet him! That's why he is my Hero. The End!