Heritage Minute - Liberation of the Netherlands
 

Historica Canada recently released their latest Heritage Minute with a story which deals with the Liberation of the Netherlands; whcih is told through the eyes of Canadian Lieutenant Wilf Gildersleeve of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and of Marguerite Blaisse, a Dutch civilian. This Heritage Minute commemorates the sacrifice of Canadians who fought and celebrates the bond formed between Canada and the Netherlands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiMyZW1Y02I

The story is sound, the production values are pretty good but sadly the uniforms can only be summed up as abysmal. The credits list the this work coming from Aetios Productions in Montreal who apparently have never seen a single book or any of the websites which cover wartime Canadian uniforms and insignia.

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Considering the production only called for dressing what appears to be half-a-dozen people in uniform, there is no excuse for the poor fitting BD, incorrect insignia and mishmash of cobbled together U.S. and Canadian webbing. Most shocking was how a Canadian military 1980s Mk III Combat Boot featured so prominently in the video.

Attachment 113991

What is particularly puzzling is the marked disparity between this Heritage Minute and the one released in 2019 to mark the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. Although there were still some inaccuracies in the uniforms and equipment in the D-Day video, it appears that the producer, Bamboo Shoots Inc in Calgary at least did their homework in trying to achieve a slightly more historically correct video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AuKXAftIts

Clearly there is more work to be done with respect to accurately representing Canadian wartime uniforms in these Heritage Minutes, with perhaps the first step being to have Historica Canada realize that there is more to history than just a heartwarming story.