Erwin Ureel, a former soldier with the Belgian army and a volunteer with the Passchendaele Society, leads a tour group near the site of the Battle of Messines, in Belgium, in late 2024.
As Jeff Purdy retraced the steps of his great-great-grandfather, Sam Glode, in Belgium during the First World War, he marvelled at the depth of the tunnels dug by his own flesh and blood beneath German lines.Erwin Ureel, a former soldier with the Belgian army and a volunteer with the Passchendaele Society, leads a tour group near the site of the Battle of Messines, in Belgium.
"Unfortunately they didn't get the recognition they deserved during and after the war, so we want to give them now, that respect, and give them our eternal gratitude for what they did for our region," said Veerle Viaene, co-ordinator of heritage for Visit Flanders, an organization that works to attract international visitors to the region.
Corps Sgt. Major, Christa Laforce, a member of the Edmonton Police Service, with which Decoteau served, will on Wednesday unveil a plaque honouring him near the Passchendaele New British Cemetery, where he is buried. One of his descendents will be present. Being in Belgium for the ceremonies "just gives you a deeper appreciation of reconciliation, respect, honouring," said Andrea Paul, Nova Scotia Regional Chief for the Assembly of First Nations.Their guide, Erwin Ureel, a former soldier with the Belgian army and a volunteer with the Passchendaele Society, hadn't heard of Glode prior to learning about him from Canadian organizers about the tour.
Glode, who was in Belgium for about a year and a half, digging tunnels toward the enemy — deep under no man's land, the perilous and unclaimed territory between the opposing forces — planting explosives and waiting for just the right moment to detonate them.
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