War Junk finds Edmonton connection to abandoned WWII helmet

A Second World War helmet once worn on the battlefields of Holland has been reconnected with an Edmonton man, the son of the original wearer, 70 years after it was left behind.

Doug Armstrong's father Frank W. Armstrong was a military chaplain who served with the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders of Canada. He spent the last three weeks before VE Day stationed near Groningen, Holland.

Following an epic battle on April 13, 1945, Armstrong walked amongst the dead and dying, administering last rites.

The Nazis surrendered soon afterwards.

Armstrong's father survived the war, and returned home to Canada in January 1946.

His helmet, like so many other soldiers' possessions and battle artifacts, remained behind, its whereabouts largely unknown until it eventually fell into the hands of Erik Zwiggelaar, a Dutch collector.

Enter filmmaker Wayne Abbott and historian David O'Keefe, who have spent more than a decade traveling the battlefields of Europe.

TV show tells history of battles through objects left behind

Abbott and O'Keefe had pitched a new show, War Junk, to the History Channel in 2012. Based on that success, they were planning four new episodes to be released in 2015.

"Part of our show, of course, is all about telling the story of war through what's left behind, so in Holland we did a massive search for different artifacts and we came across numerous helmets," Abbott said. "It was the first time ever in a battlefield thatwe came across so many helmets in collections and museums."

But the helmet that stood out in Zwiggelaar's collectionhad some legible writing left on its rim. The show's researchersquickly got to work to try to find the identity of its original wearer.

One of the show's researchers finally tracked down Doug Armstrong in July, telling himthat theyfound an artifact they believed had belonged to his father.

"He said 'Well, would you like to come to Holland?' and that was the beginning," Armstrong said with a chuckle.

Armstrong, who was recovering from surgery at the time, was eager to fly out to Holland as soon as possible, but had to wait a month to get the all-clear from his doctor. Thenhe was off to Groningen.

"It was a profound experience," he said of the moment he saw the helmet."Realizing my father was dodging bullets along with all the other Canadians.

"He did not talk much about the war, so when I saw this artifact with his name on it, it brought back a lot of memories of a man who was dedicated to serving others, and in this particular situation, in a difficult place to be in a war, when you're a man of peace."

As for why the helmet, along with so many other personal items, was discarded, Abbott suspects many soldiers simply wanted to leave the war and everything that reminded them of it behind. What was scorched in their minds was bad enough, he said.

"(The objects)represented that time, the horrors of war ... and Doug's father would have just seen maybe the worst of the war."

War Junk will air on History Channel over four nights leading up to Remembrance Day. Holland: The Road to Liberation will air on Nov. 11.