There are three large cemeteries in the Netherlands that are filled with fallen Canadian soldiers.

The war cemeteries throughout the Netherlands were created right at the end of WWII, because they didn't want fallen Allied soldiers to be buried in German soil.

So, they created cemeteries dedicated to Canadian Soldiers who were killed near or in Germany.

The biggest of these is the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, which contains 2331 Canadians, 256 British, 3 Australians, and 1 New Zealander.

Since 2015, a Dutch foundation called Faces to Graves has been collecting information and photographs of those buried at the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery, so they can do something special.

"The goal is to write life stories about those Canadian soldiers, fallen soldiers, that are buried in the Canadian War Cemetery graveyard in Groesbeek," explained Faces to Graves volunteer Henk Mostert.

There are about 30 volunteers with Faces to Graves, and it is their job to collect the information and write the soldiers life stories.

These volunteers have already written about the lives of about 900 of those in the Groesbeek Cemetery and are hoping to have them all completed by May 2025, which will mark 80 years since the Netherlands was liberated from German Occupation.

"The chairman of this foundation gives out, every time, two names that the volunteers are working on," says Mostert. "In our case, it was Harvey Gordanier. Then we find his service file and further on we try to find out all kinds of information that is available on the internet."

From their research, they found out about the cenotaph in Okotoks, which contains Gordanier's name.

It also contained the names of three other gentlemen from Okotoks who are buried in the Canadian War cemeteries in the Netherlands that still need their life stories told.

Their names are James Prosser Rowles, Murray Hicks, and Frank Fennessey.

Because of this, they reached out to The Eagle 100.9 for any additional information we may have on them.

All of those from Okotoks who gave their lives for Canada, including these four men, have brief write ups about them on the town of Okotoks website, have their names engraved on the town's cenotaph, and their photograph mounted on the Veterans Memorial Wall along Veterans way.

But Faces to Graves is hoping for a bit more information.

If anyone has photographs or more information they wish to share about these four soldiers, feel free to reach out to Faces to Graves.

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