| Original caption: “Dutch civilians celebrating liberation of Utrecht by units of the First Canadian Corps.” Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit (CFPU) photographer Alexander Mackenzie Stirton (1915 – October 22, 1996) accompanied reconnaissance units of 1st Canadian Army as they entered occupied Utrecht and liberated that city. The United Kingdom 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division, the “Polar Bears,” at that time attached to 1st Canadian Army, led the way into Utrecht. Stirton set up on a lamppost on the Biltstraat to get a high angle on the celebrations. In this view, Dutch men, women and children have crammed onto a 49th (West Riding) Willys MB Jeep. Dutch civilians, deliriously happy after 5 long years of occupation, showered Allied soldiers with tulips. There’s now a Polar Bear monument dedicated to the regiment on Biltstraat in Utrecht. Stirton had left Wageningen the day before, where he photographed the Nazi German surrender in the Netherlands. Nazi German Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz and the Canadian General Charles Foulkes met in the Hotel de Wereld on May 5, 1945; but, since a typewriter could not be found, the agreement could not be signed until the following day. Stirton’s photo of the surrender was issued as a 0-Euro commemorative banknote in 2020. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0529.jpg |
| Image Size | 360.07 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 1500 x 1461 |
| Photographer | Alexander M. Stirton |
| Photographer Title | Royal Canadian Army |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 7, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Utrecht |
| State or Province | Utrecht |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Archive | Library and Archives of Canada |
| Record Number | 3200836 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
Author of the World War II Multimedia Database