Zonnebeke 5

[steveatv]

Johan and his wife Nathalia have been in Australia since Christmas day and has visited the Hunter family in Nanango Queensland, toured the War Memorial in Canberra, then hire a car and drove to Melbourne to see the relatives of Sgt George Calder. Next stop is Perth, were they meet up with the relatives of Pte George Storey...more info and photos can be found at: www.polygonwood.com

The media in Australia have also been covering Johans progress, The Courier Mail Brisbane & The Canberra Times....

Photo below was at taken in the Bunya mountains with the Hunter Family..

[SiegeGunner]

Does this mean that Johan has finally finished digging his tunnel to Australia, then ...?

Good to see him meeting descendants of those he helped bring in from the cold.

[J Banning]

Hi Steve,

Great to read about Johan’s trip and his invitation to visit the families of the three identified men of the Zonnebeke 5. I am so glad that the Australian press has covered his visit and he is getting the recognition that his care and devotion for the Zonnebeke 5 warrants. I'm sure he is having a well deserved great time.

Regards,

Jeremy

[Fedelmar]

I spoke with Johan last evening and with David Storey. Sadly their calendar is rather full and there is little time to meet up with them. Today they are going to the beach ... a swim in the ocean is needed as it is rather warm here at the moment. Friday they journey down the south west for a few days and then they fly out.

It was a pleasure to speak with Johan and David

Bright Blessings

Sandra

[Peter and Ellen]

Walked into Johan's establishment one day in September 2007 to be "roped in" once he found out we were Aussies. What was to be a 15 minute stop turned into an hour long discussion, mostly from Johan's direction. Was shown two general images the exhumations being conducted, at my request, and it was sooooo creepy to look at the images but one cannot look away no matter how confronted by them.

We were leaving before the burial of the five but I am now back there regularly with Tour Guests and I tell them of the story as told by Johan and whilst talking, I see those images still.

What I do not like is that I hear talk of Belgium Telecom and other Utilities telling their employees to put body parts back into their holes and cover them up so that the work is not delayed. It is my opinion that workers, nor their employers, do not have the right to determine what is a war casualty or what perhaps could be a murder victim from times past, there should be a law against it, such as Obstruction of Justice". I intend to take it up personally with the Australian DVA and Foreign Affairs.

God Bless and thanks that someone like Johan is there. We can feel comfortable that he will do his best to have them recovered, recognised and treated with dignity, regardless of Nationality.

Peter

[steveatv]

Thanks for the responses so far, and yes I do agree that the media coverage has been good and effective during Johan's and Nathalia's trip so far. I am also awaiting a news clip from The Canberra Times to add to the website..so keep visiting. The most exiting news that Johan announced during his visit, is to establish a memorial in the Zonnebeke area, this memorial will be dedicated to all those Brothers-in-Arms, and like any proposal there are many obstacles to cross over, but we are very hopeful of a positive outcome, especially with the response from here in Australia...

The photo attached was taken in the grounds of the Nanango Cemetery Queensland, Johan and I are standing next to the Hunter grave site, with the memorial plaque to Jack Hunter, (John) below the headstone:

[Lummox]

What a bloody nice bloke Johan is!

 

Does a fantastic job with our war heroes and to see him well up while talking about John and Jim Hunter just shows the passion of the man.

 

Lets hope he gets all the funding he needs for the Brothers In Arms Memorial he's working for.

 

Phil