Canadian WWII war veteran’s uniform found in the Netherlands
By Joan Janzen
joanjanzen@yahoo.com
MAPLE CREEK - You never know what unexpected information will show up on Facebook. It certainly was the case for Maple Creek resident Shirley Jans when she read a recent post that said, “Hello! I am a Canadian WWII military collector from the Netherlands. I have a battle dress in my collection of the Regina Rifles. This jacket belonged to Gottlieb Heine. I am searching for more information about him. He was born in Maple Creek.”
The collector’s name was Thijs Coopman, and he had included a photo of the uniform, a picture of Gottlieb Heine, and his service number. Shirley immediately responded, saying Gottlieb was her uncle and he had died in 1977.
Shirley’s son, Glen Jans, said, “I was shocked to see the jacket show up in the Netherlands. From what I’ve found out, the jacket was bought by a collector in the Netherlands. I had it in my closet here and didn’t know what to do with it.” Eventually, he sold it, not realizing its actual worth. The jacket was later sold to a collector for $600.00 more than Glen had received for it.
“I never dreamt it would go back overseas,” he said. Glen inquired with some local veterans but couldn’t find out more details about Gottlieb’s time spent overseas.
Glen also would never have guessed that the WWII military collector from the Netherlands is only sixteen years old! This is not an activity that many North American teenagers would pursue, but Thijs Coopman lives in Usquert, situated north of the Netherlands.
“I have a lot of interest in the Canadian liberators of the Netherlands. I do research on Canadian soldiers and collect Canadian military items from WWII,” the young man said in an email message.
He’s been collecting for a couple of years and has accumulated quite an extensive collection. Besides Gottlieb Heine’s uniform, Thijs has additional uniforms from Alberta and New Brunswick, Canadian badges and field gear, and a lot of paperwork from a veteran from Winnipeg.
Photos submitted
WWII Veteran Gottlieb Heine was born in Maple Creek and still has relatives living there. He passed away in 1977.
The battle dress of Gottlieb Heine now belongs to a 16-year-old collector from the Netherlands.
