Biography & Autobiography Historical
The Little Coat
The Bob and Sue Elliott Story
- Publisher
- DriverWorks Ink
- Initial publish date
- Nov 2009
- Category
- Historical, Military
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780981039435
- Publish Date
- Nov 2009
- List Price
- $19.95
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9780987964366
- Publish Date
- Nov 2009
- List Price
- $10.64
Add it to your shelf
Where to buy it
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 10 to 18
- Grade: 5 to 12
Description
Sussie Cretier was only 10 when she met Bob Elliott, a Canadian soldier assigned to help protect her area of the Netherlands from the invading German army during the Second World War. To the Canadian soldiers, brave little Sussie became a glowing example of the innocence of youth and a beacon of hope for the future. On Christmas Day 1944, these battle-weary Canadians honoured their little adopted soldier by giving her an Army-style coat made by a Dutch seamstress. Sussie held on to that coat as the most special gift she had ever received.
Decades later, Bob and Sue reconnected, their relationship blossomed and Sue’s little coat became a treasured artifact at Canada’s War Museum.
About the authors
Awards
- Commended, Honourable Mention, BiographyHollywood Book Festival
Contributor Notes
Alan Buick is a carpenter, musician and songwriter who came to Canada from his New Zealand birthplace 28 years ago. He lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, with his wife Carol and their family.
Excerpt: The Little Coat: The Bob and Sue Elliott Story (by (author) Alan J. Buick; edited by Deana Driver)
Prologue – August 1944
“What is this garbage?!” the German officer barked at Willem Cretier, his face contorted with rage. “Don’t you know that Prince Bernhard is nothing but a bum? And this is the bum’s mother-in-law!”
Willem’s wife Geert and their three children had been watching this scene in a state of terror. They did not move.
“Where did you get this thing?” the soldier yelled as he waved the offending poster at Willem. “You will tell me or I will shoot you right now!”
Willem remained silent but his mind was racing. ‘Is this the end?’ he thought. ‘Am I about to die for placing a picture of my beloved queen on the wall in my own home? I have done a lot of things to thwart the Nazis, but this is crazy. I should have listened to Geert and Sussie. They said it would be risky pinning that picture in our living room. I didn’t think the damn Germans would see it!’
The officer drew his pistol and ordered Willem outside.
Form a firing squad!” he shouted to his men. He shoved Willem up against the wall of his own workshop and proceeded to arrange the execution.
Ten-year-old Sussie felt like she was having a nightmare. The kind where you try to run from something terrible but your legs won’t work and you feel frozen to the spot. This couldn’t be happening. But it was.
Sussie saw the fear in her father’s eyes and frantically started to scream at the Germans. “You can’t shoot my father! You just can’t. He didn’t do anything wrong! He didn’t put that poster on the wall! I did! I found the flyer! I found it by the dyke!”…..
Editorial Reviews
“The Little Coat is the story of two families – the Cretiers, a Dutch family who lived in Rossum, the Netherlands, and the Elliotts who lived in Calgary, AB, - and how World War II brought them together. It is a war story with a difference. There are the usual topics of fear and excitement felt by all soldiers contemplating battle, but there is also a great deal about irrepressible human kindness and joy in the face of adversity. The Netherlands under German occupation, as described in this book, reminds one of the famous quotation by Martin Luther King Jr. that “no lie can live forever.” The occupation was evil, and it was wrong, and it was eventually, like segregation, overcome. The little coat in the title of this book is proof, in this case, of the King quote.”
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