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1945 Allied Occupation Urwald Forest Race Presentation to Lt. St-Arnaud

$1,200.00

On September 23, 1945, less than five months after Germany’s surrender, a German sporting association in Neuenburg, Oldenburg, held its traditional Urwaldlauf under Allied occupation.

This two-piece presentation group records the part played by Lieutenant St-Arnaud, described by the association as the sports officer of the Allied occupation troops in Neuenburg. The larger document is an honorary certificate recognizing his contribution to organizing the Urwald Villages Relay. Mounted with it are a faded winner’s ribbon and a cluster of preserved oak leaves, with “1945” still visible on one ribbon tail.

Sixteen days later, on October 9, the Turn- und Sportbund “Friesische Wehde” formally thanked St-Arnaud for his generous assistance. The accompanying letter explains that the ribbon was ordinarily presented only to athletes for outstanding performance. Here, it was given instead as a visible mark of gratitude.

The letter closes with a hope that “peaceful sporting competition” would further strengthen relations between the Allied occupation army and local German sportsmen. That language gives the group its particular historical force. This is not a battlefield award or military decoration, but a record of what followed the fighting: an occupying officer, a local civilian association, and the tentative restoration of public life only months after the end of the war.

The recipient is attributed with high confidence to George F. St-Arnaud (1921–2009), a Canadian Second World War veteran who later had a long career with Johnson & Johnson. The attribution is supported by the Quebec provenance of the group and by additional St-Arnaud material reportedly offered alongside it. His exact wartime unit remains unconfirmed.

Date: September 23 and October 9, 1945

Place: Neuenburg in Oldenburg, Germany

Issuing body: Turn- und Sportbund “Friesische Wehde”

Recipient: Lieutenant St-Arnaud, attributed with high confidence to George F. St-Arnaud (1921–2009)

Materials: Two paper documents; textile winner’s ribbon; preserved oak leaves; later or undated black frames

Dimensions: Letter frame: 8.25 × 10.25 in.; certificate frame: 13 × 10.25 in.

Provenance: Purchased from Galerie Pomme Grenade/Pomegranate in North Hatley, Quebec, where the documents were offered with additional material relating to George F. St-Arnaud. The earlier family or estate chain is not documented.

Condition: Both documents remain in the frames in which acquired and have not been examined out of frame. The certificate shows toning, folds, spotting, minor tears, surface wear, and a dark rectangular strip physically present over part of the recipient line; its original purpose is unknown. The ribbon is faded, creased, frayed, and locally stained. The oak leaves are heavily dried, brittle, cracked, and subject to small losses. The letter shows pronounced toning, extensive folding and creasing, upper-edge tears and losses, staining, edge wear, and general brittleness. The frames show surface wear and are not established as contemporary with the documents. Please review all photographs closely.

On September 23, 1945, less than five months after Germany’s surrender, a German sporting association in Neuenburg, Oldenburg, held its traditional Urwaldlauf under Allied occupation.

This two-piece presentation group records the part played by Lieutenant St-Arnaud, described by the association as the sports officer of the Allied occupation troops in Neuenburg. The larger document is an honorary certificate recognizing his contribution to organizing the Urwald Villages Relay. Mounted with it are a faded winner’s ribbon and a cluster of preserved oak leaves, with “1945” still visible on one ribbon tail.

Sixteen days later, on October 9, the Turn- und Sportbund “Friesische Wehde” formally thanked St-Arnaud for his generous assistance. The accompanying letter explains that the ribbon was ordinarily presented only to athletes for outstanding performance. Here, it was given instead as a visible mark of gratitude.

The letter closes with a hope that “peaceful sporting competition” would further strengthen relations between the Allied occupation army and local German sportsmen. That language gives the group its particular historical force. This is not a battlefield award or military decoration, but a record of what followed the fighting: an occupying officer, a local civilian association, and the tentative restoration of public life only months after the end of the war.

The recipient is attributed with high confidence to George F. St-Arnaud (1921–2009), a Canadian Second World War veteran who later had a long career with Johnson & Johnson. The attribution is supported by the Quebec provenance of the group and by additional St-Arnaud material reportedly offered alongside it. His exact wartime unit remains unconfirmed.

Date: September 23 and October 9, 1945

Place: Neuenburg in Oldenburg, Germany

Issuing body: Turn- und Sportbund “Friesische Wehde”

Recipient: Lieutenant St-Arnaud, attributed with high confidence to George F. St-Arnaud (1921–2009)

Materials: Two paper documents; textile winner’s ribbon; preserved oak leaves; later or undated black frames

Dimensions: Letter frame: 8.25 × 10.25 in.; certificate frame: 13 × 10.25 in.

Provenance: Purchased from Galerie Pomme Grenade/Pomegranate in North Hatley, Quebec, where the documents were offered with additional material relating to George F. St-Arnaud. The earlier family or estate chain is not documented.

Condition: Both documents remain in the frames in which acquired and have not been examined out of frame. The certificate shows toning, folds, spotting, minor tears, surface wear, and a dark rectangular strip physically present over part of the recipient line; its original purpose is unknown. The ribbon is faded, creased, frayed, and locally stained. The oak leaves are heavily dried, brittle, cracked, and subject to small losses. The letter shows pronounced toning, extensive folding and creasing, upper-edge tears and losses, staining, edge wear, and general brittleness. The frames show surface wear and are not established as contemporary with the documents. Please review all photographs closely.

  • The Urwald Villages Relay was held on September 23, 1945, only 138 days after the end of the war in Europe. At that moment, Allied troops remained in Germany as occupiers and local civic life was only beginning to re-form.

    The documents do not describe a formal reconciliation program. They record something smaller and more immediate: a local German association working with an Allied officer to restore a traditional community sporting event.

    The October 9 letter makes that meaning explicit. Its writer hoped that peaceful athletic competition would deepen the good understanding developing between the occupation forces and local sportsmen. The group therefore survives as unusually early evidence of civilian contact during the transition from defeat and military occupation toward ordinary public life.

  • The certificate identifies the event as the Urwald-Dörfer-Staffel, or Urwald Villages Relay, held as part of sporting competitions at Neuenburg. “Urwald” refers here to the nearby Neuenburger Urwald and the surrounding Friesische Wehde region, rather than simply to a generic forest.

    The presentation letter describes the attached textile as a Siegerschleife—a winner’s ribbon—and states that it was normally reserved for athletes of outstanding achievement. St-Arnaud received it in recognition of his organizational assistance rather than as a competitor.

    The faded ribbon and preserved oak leaves are therefore not later decoration. They are the physical presentation elements explained by the accompanying letter. Their fragility is a conservation concern, but their survival gives the group an unusual material completeness.

  • The recipient is attributed with high confidence to George F. St-Arnaud (1921–2009), a Canadian Second World War veteran who later worked for Johnson & Johnson until his retirement in 1986.

    The identification rests on several converging details. The documents name St-Arnaud and place him with Allied occupation troops in Germany in 1945. They were later found in Quebec with other St-Arnaud material, reportedly including a Johnson & Johnson certificate. George F. St-Arnaud’s obituary independently confirms both his military service and his later career with that company.

    The strongest military hypothesis is that he served with, or was attached to, the 3rd Battalion, Le Régiment de la Chaudière, which was mobilized specifically for Canadian occupation service in Germany in June 1945. No officer roll or service file currently confirms that assignment, so the unit connection remains plausible rather than established.

  • The following is a faithful English translation of the original German letter. Paragraph breaks have been added for readability. The handwritten signatory has not been identified; the title beneath the signature appears to mean “Acting Association Leader.”

    Gymnastics and Sports Federation

    “Friesische Wehde”

    Neuenburg in Oldenburg, October 9, 1945

    To the Sports Officer of the Allied Occupation Troops in Neuenburg, Oldenburg

    First Lieutenant St. Arnaud

    Neuenburg

    Dear First Lieutenant,

    For the generous assistance extended to us in conducting the traditional Urwald race, I wish to express to you, in the name of the Gymnastics and Sports Federation “Friesische Wehde,” my most sincere thanks.

    As a visible token of our gratitude, I hereby present you with the winner’s ribbon and certificate in recognition of your contribution to the 1945 Urwald race.

    May this simple ribbon, which is otherwise presented only to winners for outstanding athletic achievement, bring you a modest measure of pleasure.

    I hope and wish that we will soon have an opportunity to further develop the good understanding between the Allied occupation army in the Friesische Wehde and our sportsmen through peaceful sporting competition.

    I remain gladly at your service at any time.

    Respectfully,

    [signature]

    Acting Association Leader