A rescue and reunion: Ottawa veteran to reunite with child he saved during Second World War

A special reunion will take place in Ottawa next month and it’s been 80 years in the making.

It was in Holland in 1944 when Dr. Roly Armitage, who once served as mayor of the former West-Carleton Township, saved two kids he spotted on the side of the road late at night.

"I was driving the Jeep in 1944 in Holland near the Eindhoven airport," he recalls. "I thought I saw movement as I went by, I thought it could be soldiers… so I backed up and there's two little kids in the ditch."

Armitage figures the boy was around six years old and the girl around three.

"So I dug them out. It was cold, cold, cold," he said. "I took them to the field kitchen and I said to the chef, 'Get yourself help, look after these kids, clean them up and warm them up.'"

He says the boy ended up going home but they took the girl to a nunnery. Armitage had to move with the troops and never knew what happened to the girl.

Armitage went on to have a distinguished military career. He was also a veterinarian, member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and is the recipient of the Order of Ontario and Ottawa’s Key to the City.

But he says he still couldn't get the girl out of his mind. This spring, Armitage told his story to Dutch media in the hopes of somehow finding out who the little girl was.

"All of a sudden this guy came forward and he said, 'I know a lady that could maybe fit that bill.'"

Armitage said at first he thought the children may be brother and sister but it turns out that wasn't the case.

"When I seen the newspaper and I read it I knew immediately that was me because I told that story so many times in my life," said Sonja Jobes, who is now 83 and living in Minnesota.

Sonja Jobes says she was the young girl rescued by Dr. Roly Armitage during the Second World War in Holland in 1944. (Katie Griffin/CTV News Ottawa)

Jobes saw the post detailing a familiar story online. While not everything from many decades ago is clear, she's certain she's the one Armitage was looking for.

"I remember going in the kitchen, I remember it wasn't a kitchen like in a home. It was a kitchen in a tent. I remember me and him [the boy] hiding in the bushes because there were soldiers marching on the other side… I remember being on somebody's shoulders being carried."

Jobes grew up in Holland and married an American soldier. They were married for more than 50 years. She too has never forgotten the man who saved her that night.

"It was amazing, it's like a miracle to me that this happened and when I talked to him… it's unbelievable…80 years down the road it's crazy."

Armitage said the boy he helped has also been identified as "Jan" who is now 85.

Armitage and Jobes have spoken on the phone a few times and will reunite in Ottawa next month.

"I'm gonna say thank you and I'm going to give him a big hug and maybe I won't let go and I'm sure I'll be crying because it's been very emotional for me," Jobes said.

"She says in four words 'I am the kid' so the kid is coming to visit me on the first week in August this year and I'm delighted and excited," said Armitage.