In October 1944 the Dutch city of s-Hertogenbosch was liberated from German occupation by the brave men of the 53rd Welsh Infantry Division.
After the end of the Second World War a Davy lamp was found on the battlefield, near the city, which is known as Den Bosch.
A flame was lit in the lamp, dubbed “the torch of freedom”, and it has been housed in the chapel within the British war cemetery grounds in Uden.
A team of cyclists, made up of civil servants from s-Hertogenbosch and led by Harry van de Bor, brought the lamp to Cardiff to mark Armed Forces Day on 28 June.
They presented it to the National Assembly’s Presiding Officer, Dame Rosemary Butler AM, at the Armed Forces Day event at Coopers Field, Cardiff, and the lamp will now be displayed in the Senedd.
“The flame burning inside the lamp represents the sacrifice made by many young Welsh men on the battlefields of northern Europe during the Second World War,” said Dame Rosemary.
“So it was very poignant to receive the lamp from a team of cyclists from the Dutch city liberated by the 53rd Welsh Infantry Division.
“It is fitting, therefore, to commemorate the sacrifice of young Welsh men by displaying the lamp in the Senedd.”
Dame Rosemary Butler AM, Presiding Officer, with Harry van de Bor and the “torch of freedom”
