Photo of DeVries Family just prior to leaving for Canada in 1948.Back row, L-R: Siebolt, Marijke, Sjoerd
Front row, L-R: Auke, Moeder, Geert, Jan

Getting ready for the trip...

This photo was taken in 1947, just prior to our embarking on the ocean voyage which would deliver us to a welcoming port in Halifax, NS in 1948....

Scroll down this page to read more...

Our origins...Bantega, Friesland, The Netherlands...

The background image used on this page, is a photograph of a windmill located in Bantega, Friesland, a village about 1 KM from the farm owned by our family before we emigrated to Canada in 1948

Scroll down this page to read more...

Keep scrolling...

Our old home

Our farm home just outside of Bantega - as seen 56 years after we left.

Our old home

Audrey and Gord at the old home place. The current owners were gracious and permitted us to take pictures, as well as giving us a tour of the inside. The back part, beyond where we're standing, was the barn (in 1947), where the livestock were kept sheltered.

Where I was born....

The town where Gord was born.

Echten is about 5km from where our old home place was situated.

Our Arrival in Canada

And so our Canadian experience began. The family arrived in Halifax, NS on the 26th of March, 1948, on the 'Kota Inten' a ship which had served as a troop carrier to the former Dutch East Indies and was used for several trips to North America after World War 2. The accommodations were NOT glamorous. I remember that mother was deathly ill for most of the trip. I played with my brothers most of the time and probably had a great time. After our landing, we immediately caught a train bound for Uxbridge, Ontario .Our sponsor was the Luke farm in Uxbridge. They supplied us with a house and put Sy and George to work as farmhands. It must have been a great deal for them - one family, two strong, young experienced farmhands. (Sy was 26 George 24)