B.J. Gerrits Family

My family is originally from Hardenberg in the Netherlands, and we immigrated to Canada in 1953. We left Rotterdam on April 15th of that year on the S.S. Waterman and arrived in Halifax on April 22nd, a day ahead of schedule. At the time, I was 10 years old, having been born in December of 1942. As the ship was entering Halifax harbour, I was in the bow of the ship, watching the approach to Halifax through the hawsehole: the opening in the bow of the ship where the anchor chain passes through. Unlike the grown-ups, I was not able to see over the edge of the bow, and so had found what I thought was a nice spot from which I got my first glimpse of Canada. Looking back, I realize that I was much closer to the hawsehole than was safe, and not surprisingly, it wasn't long before a woman behind me called to a man standing next to me: "Get that boy away from there" ["Haal die jongen daar weg"], which the woman then followed up with: "Where are the parents of that boy?" ["War zijn de ouders van die jonger?"]. Well, my parents had ten children, admittedly most of them older than myself, but understandably they could not keep an eye on all of us every minute of the day.