Citizens build an emergency bridge at Oude Schouw

The blowing up of the bridge at Oude Schouw on 14 April came as no surprise to the resistance. Even before the occupying forces had the bridge blown up, the resistance had made a plan with the road inspector of the Department of Public Works Rijkswaterstaat to repair the bridge as soon as possible. They ensured that manpower and equipment was available at the shipyards in Terherne and Akkrum when the signal came to repair the bridge. And on 15 April, this plan was carried out when the 7th Reconnaissance Regiment Duke of York´s Royal Canadian Hussars were stranded near Oude Schouw.  

This motorised reconnaissance regiment was looking for a suitable route to Leeuwarden for the Canadian main force. 

The Canadians were not immediately convinced that morning when they heard the civilians' plans. They considered retreating to Joure and waiting there for the Royal Canadian Engineers so they could build a Bailey bridge later in the day.  

But when it became clear that virtually no German resistance was to be expected between Irnsum and Leeuwarden, the Canadians decided to let the civilians do their thing. Additional timber was brought in by water, and together citizens of the surrounding villages set to work to make an emergency bridge. 
 
By the end of the afternoon, the civilians had got it fixed. The emergency bridge was ready. Meanwhile, the Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars had managed to get four motorcyclists into Leeuwarden. They were transferred to the Jirnsummer side with the help of civilians. Resident Anneke Gritter-De Vries wrote about it in her diary: 
 
"And then came those four motorbikes. I will never forget those four Canadians with their serious faces [...] The first was black with a black moustache, the second had red hair. Who had to smile for a moment because of the spontaneous cheer. ‘You are welcome’ I tried to say, and I had to cry for a moment." 

The man with the red hair was Sergeant George Dunlop, and the black man with the black moustache was Marshall Richardson. Both had volunteered. The Canadian units that liberated Friesland consisted almost entirely of volunteers. And World War II was the first war in which Canadians served side by side in the army. regardless of origin.  
 
The citizens' help was extremely successful. Dunlop and Richardson's patrol could confirm that there were indeed no more Germans between Oude Schouw and Leeuwarden. And because the bridge had been repaired, the Duke of York's Royal Canadian Hussars could drive their heavy equipment to liberated Leeuwarden. Immediately thereafter, part of the Canadian infantry with almost all their equipment was able to advance as far as Wytgaard. 
 
The bridge and the later Bailey Bridge, which replaced the emergency bridge, were intensively used by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in the following days. Dunlop and Richardson would liberate many villages in northern Friesland in the following days.