France and Flanders 2017
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TOUR BLOG

My Soldier Biography

7/21/2017

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This is my third soldier biography in my time spent at high school, in my small town of Smiths Falls. But this bio in particular was somehow more special to me than any other one I’ve done before. I always make very good connections to the soldiers I’m researching. By the end, the soldiers become more of a friend than a just a man who fought in a war 100 something years ago. For me, uncovering their stories and adventures and identities is the most fascinating part of researching a soldier. Sometimes I think we forget that even though these men are heroes, they were once just boys, some working on the family farm, some who wanted to attend college and start a family, some who maybe got into a little trouble here and there. They were people just like you and I, who put down all their future plans and dreams to go fight. Uncovering the stories that make them heroes might be captivating, but I think that the stories that make them just regular people are the most interesting.

So what if my soldier's story wasn’t a mystery? What if it had already been told to me before by my grandparents and aunts and uncles?

Here I was, going into my second tour and researching my great, great Uncle Bob whom my Mother’s side of the family held near and dear to their hearts. I was given  a photo of Robert and two of his brothers, and a box, packed with hundreds of beautifully handwritten letters from Robert to his mother, which my grandma so graciously helped me read because I was a little rusty with reading the penmanship in which he wrote in. I was told countless family secrets, some which had me laughing, in tears, or completely shocked about some of the things that had occurred in my family long before I was even thought of. Then it was time to meet him.
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I really couldn’t help but feel nervous, I was the very last person to read their bio, and even though all the teachers I had met on the tour had become such great friends in such a short amount of time, I was still so eager to impress them and excited to show them how proud I was of my uncle and the person he was in his letters to his mother. We arrived at the most beautiful cemetery that overlooked the valley. And I wandered through the graves, jittering with excitement upon meeting Robert, clutching on to my biography and one of his letters, typed, so I could read it. And the moment I saw him, I couldn’t help but fight back the tears that threatened to fall, because here, in France, in an unfamiliar place, was someone who was familiar, who was from home, who was my blood. Surrounded by my new family, I read his biography with a smile on my face and tears running down my cheeks. And then his letter, with laughter echoing though the cemetery while I delivered his love for his mother and the rest of his family. And with my final words “Love always, Robert” I bowed my head and smiled, so grateful to be a part of my family and to be able to share my uncle as the person he was. 

- Submitted by Emily
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The Eternal Optimist

7/21/2017

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As we pass through the various French towns and villages of Normandy over the past few days, there's a common theme prevalent throughout: each house has at least one Canadian monument, and one Canadian flag flying proudly in the centre. This is in recognition and remembrance of the Canadian allied forces, who liberated these towns and their citizens from German occupation during World War II. When I see our Canadian flag I am filled with pride, but also with grief, as it exists because of the war. What was happening around me in the very spot I am standing back in June-July, 1944? How many troops died here? Which side were they on? Did any civilians lose their lives in this spot? It saddens me deeply to think about it.

In one particular town we stopped at today, Bretteville, I met an elderly man who lived there. This man observed us gathered near the monument and approached us, wanting to chat. With Lorelei and Robert translating, this man told a few of us that he was just 6 years old when his town was occupied, and he remembers clearly when Canadian troops came to liberate them. He spoke of what life was like in 1944, and told us that he is now the town historian. He spoke at length about ideologies, and how universally, world leaders are corrupt. When my friend Lorelei asked him if there's anything we can believe in, then, he answered: "We can believe in the people we meet with the beautiful smiles."

To me, this comment speaks volumes about being human, and how we all share similar dreams, emotions and feelings. I think that every single one of us, regardless of age, sex, race, nationality, religion, or which side you are fighting on in a war, all dream of freedom, justice and safety. We all crave to be treated with compassion, respect and empathy, and we all have some element of inherent kindness. Although past history and current politics may cause most people to lose all hope in humanity and the idea of inherent kindness, I, like the 81 year old survivor we met in Bretteville today, remain optimistic about the world, have faith in the human spirit, and take comfort in the people we meet with the "beautiful smiles".

​- Submitted by Karen

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Narratives

7/21/2017

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One of the central themes for this year’s tour is narratives.  This theme is timely with Canada celebrating its sesquicentennial with an abundance of activities across the country.  Inside Canada’s 150 is the Vimy centennial, Passchendaele battle and the unveiling of the Hill 70 monument.  Each ceremony comes with a specific story and these contribute to an overall national narrative.  
Narratives are important because they give citizenry an identity. But narratives can also be dangerous.   To work, narratives are quite often over-simplified which means that parts of the story that might not fit perfectly into the intent of the narrative are removed.  Emphasis is given to specific elements in an effort to overshadow other elements.  Each narrative has supporters as well as detractors.  Each narrative is promoted by groups with special interests and potentially economic benefit.   In relation to the WCE PD tour, participants explore several narratives but three are central to our work:  Vimy, Dieppe, and Normandy.  For Vimy, the dominant narrative given to Canada can be challenged by evidence.  The same is true for Dieppe.  The dominant narrative for Normandy emphasizes the first day – 6 June 1944 - which overshadows the other 71 days of the campaign where other issues and events that occur rarely get explored.  For me as a teacher, exploring and challenging these narratives is fertile ground for students to understand their complexity.
Narratives are important for students to understand because they are everywhere.   Challenging how they are developed, who benefits from the promotion of a specific narrative and what aspects are omitted to give a narrative greater prominence better prepares our students as critical consumers in this complex world.  Simply feeding a pre-set narrative to students that leads them to a pre-determined outcome minimizes potential student thinking around manipulation of facts, propaganda, perspective, evidence and other concepts of historical thinking.  Challenging narratives provides teachers with an opportunity to work with students and investigate competing narratives.
In his book on the American involvement in the Iraq war, investigative journalist Robert Woodward wrote about how easily the American public was persuaded to support the sending of troops. His message “Oversimplification is essential in a sound bite culture” means that we must foster in our students the ability to lead themselves to their own conclusions rather than lead them ourselves.  This is important when we consider that pre-set narratives dominate our history classrooms and quite often we lead students to adopting that narrative rather than investigating to develop their own.

​- Submitted by Blake


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Reflections on July 19

7/20/2017

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To start off Wednesday, July 19, we began the day with a group activity. We were first met by Lee in the Kingfisher which was a greeting to us. He began the day by placing us in the seats of a regiment that was on the verge of going into the fight. He treated us as his regiment that he was leading. We were told the plan was to go get a lookout in enemy territory. For the next couple hours, we drove to different locations that the Canadian forces would have gone to to get Intel and a perspective on the location in which they were and to learn the whereabouts of the Germans. We were told to locate ourselves on our syndicate's  maps without and help from out leaders. This part really have us some perspective on how difficult and tactical these attacks actually had to be. By being placed in the shoes of the soldiers, a sense of nervousness was cast upon the group which is shows that to actually be in that position as unimaginable. From there, we were placed into the shoes of the FOOs and were told to take some time to figure out where we would place our troops given to us in order to retain control of Caen. This was a very interesting activity as we had to debate and compromise with our groups as to where the smart locations would be to place our respected forces. From there, we all went to the Abbey d'Ardenne. This is a location in which 20 Canadian soldiers were taken prisoners of war by German officer Kurt Meyer. Meyer then murdered these men for reasons of a waste of rations. Meyer was later convicted of war crimes and was sentenced to a death penalty which was later reduced to life in prison but was then released after 9 years. The Abbey d'Ardenne was a very emotional location for the entire group as we could not help but feel for these soldiers that were killed in cold blood. It really hit me hard as my soldier was one of these men murdered; George Gill. After getting to explore the Abbey d'Ardenne, we left to the cemetery where we had four soldier bios. The emotional day did not get any lighter as we entered the Beny-sur-mer cemetery. Ben, Simone, Jennelle and myself all said our soldier bios and the day didn't get any less emotional. We finished off the day with a seminar by Lorelei. Lorelei's seminar was based off of the question I had composed during the presentation of my soldier bio. The question was: "When looking at this case, a question kept running through my head. In a time of war, is it necessary to abandon all human morals, vaLues and beliefs? Or is it possible to remain humane and follow international laws to sustain human values?". Now this question that I had composed during my bio reading was the focal point of Lorelei's seminar and this brought up a very deep and strong conversation involving all the teachers and students. In conclusion, this day was very emotional but it was very meaningful. I think it was one of my favourite days of the tour as so many elements that had not been explored were explored such as international law and ethical dimensions.

- Submitted by Andrew

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Reflections on July 18

7/18/2017

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On this day of the tour we started out by going to Omaha beach and the American war cemetery. Knowing what had happened on that beach years earlier it was strange to see people just spending a normal day at the beach there. Walking back up to the cemetery from the beach made me realize how difficult it must have been for the soldiers who stormed that beach to actually get up onto the land. From what I heard other people say about the cemetery it was very different from the Commonwealth cemeteries that we had been to. There were rules posted on signs, music playing and people telling you to put you shoes on. Later on in the day we went to Pegasus bridge that was taken by the British. In that area they have things that will appeal to the tourist who go there like the first house to be Liberated. Thorough out the day I wondered how the people who organized what country would be given which beach, how they decided to take their areas and why the cemeteries of different counties designed there cemeteries the way that they did.

- Submitted by Janelle

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Robert's Reflections

7/17/2017

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Another exciting and emotional France! Today’s objective was to visit the reality and narrative of Canada’s role in D-day. The drive towards Courseulles-sur-Mer was intriguing and special. I’ve always had a big heart for our soldiers of Normandy, even though I had no family active in the war. Seeing the terrain and the difficulties that they would have to endure is saddening.
The beach of Juno was quiet with a few children, adults and animals running in and out of the water so freely. Did our Canadian soldiers have such a free run? What was it like to land on the beach not knowing your faith? Was that going to be the last time you would see your comrades that you trained with for so long?

As I walked down the beach to the waterline, it was low tide, I tried to picture the ships and soldiers coming towards the beach. The soldiers must have been so scared. Then I began to think, what was the purpose? What would we as Canadians gain from the June 6? Was it necessary? Were they able to achieve the goal of June 6? I’ll leave it up to you.

The liberation of many communities and cities from the Germain’s has left us with many dead and injured. 160,000 Allied soldiers participated in the D-Day Invasion. It was a force of unity. It is estimated that 4,413 of them died. One can only imagine the energy, the courage, the fear, and the prayers that were uttered on that night, this night, in l944.

- Submitted by Robert

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July 17th, 2017

7/17/2017

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Another exciting and emotional France! Today’s objective was to visit the reality and narrative of Canada’s role in D-day. The drive towards Courseulles-sur-Mer was intriguing and special. I’ve always had a big heart for our soldiers of Normandy, even though I had no family active in the war. Seeing the terrain and the difficulties that they would have to endure is saddening.
The beach of Juno was quiet with a few children, adults and animals running in and out of the water so freely. Did our Canadian soldiers have such a free run? What was it like to land on the beach not knowing your faith? Was that going to be the last time you would see your comrades that you trained with for so long?
As I walked down the beach to the waterline, it was low tide, I tried to picture the ships and soldiers coming towards the beach. The soldiers must have been so scared. Then I began to think, what was the purpose? What would we as Canadians gain from the June 6? Was it necessary? Were they able to achieve the goal of June 6? I’ll leave it up to you.
The liberation of many communities and cities from the Germain’s has left us with many dead and injured. 160,000 Allied soldiers participated in the D-Day Invasion. It was a force of unity. It is estimated that 4,413 of them died. One can only imagine the energy, the courage, the fear, and the prayers that were uttered on that night, this night, in l944.

- Submitted by Robert
 

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Reflections on First World War Monuments

7/16/2017

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Facing these iconic monuments, so many emotions arise.  These monuments so carefully and meticulously designed by men to evoke emotion and, what else... Respect? Reverencee? Admiration? There remains another monument maybe not as often considered - the land itself.  As we make the drive to see the much anticipated  Vimy monument, does the land itself not stand as a testament? If you didn't know  the reason behind the irregular appearance of the fields you could convince yourself that it was an enchanted space with little hills and valleys  - a fairyland. But the reality of those hills and valleys, those pock marks on the French landscape, is not so enchanting.  The trenches that  zig zag through Vimy and Beaumont-Hamel tell the awful truth of trench life in World War I.   As you look at those tunnels that were home to so many  soldiers - the land itself speak if its horrible memories. The scars it bears tell me that the war will not be forgotten.  Though crops now grow in fields that have been recovered, the ground remembers that young men died there; that people did unspeakable things to each other on those fields.  

The land forgives though. Fields are restored.  Roads are rebuilt.   Towns are brought back to life and in sharp contrast, children run and play in glorious innocence where humanity once devised plans to annihilate one another.  I can't help but think that the soldiers who once trod upon it, smile contentedly while children run innocently over.

Psalm 19: 1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God."   What then does this land declare?

​- Submitted by Kathryn
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Dieppe

7/15/2017

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Upon arriving in Dieppe, one can observe a pleasant port town with tourists and beaches. We arrived on Bastille Day so the town was full of people enjoying the fine weather and beautiful scenery. Relating this to the historic significance of this town in the Canadian narrative is difficult on first encounter.
The geography is severe; it is difficult to imagine how or why it was chosen for an assault.  The sheer walls on either side of the beachhead offer a commanding view of the landing site.  We were asked to simulate charging the beach.  When looking up from the high tide mark to the beachhead and the heights above it is hard to imagine how any troops were able to get across. The emplaced guns would have an amazing vantage point from which to fire on the troops attempting to cross. Observing this it is clear that no permanent landing could have been imagined, and a tactical success could not have been the goal.  

The strategic importance of the raid was clearly the motivation behind the operation. Offering hope to those suffering under German occupation and giving notice to the Russians that their western allies were committed to putting pressure on the Germans at any cost must have played a central role in the objectives of the raid. The evidence of the effect of the strategic importance is the number of Canadian flags hanging in the city.  If Dieppe was so pointless and a failure as many Canadians have been taught, why are we so valued here?  Speaking to locals here, they still appreciate our effort.  Clearly the Canadian sacrifice was appreciated and at least the objective of lifting morale for the people of occupied Europe was successful.
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I still struggle with the number of our casualties and the high chance of mortality for those committed, but at least now I understand the significance of the effort.  I hope that the operational knowledge gained from this venture that was employed in later amphibious assaults was worth the grave price paid by our men in arms. 

​- Submitted by Mike

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Reflections on Vimy Ridge

7/14/2017

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Yesterday was an emotional day for a lot of us. Visiting Vimy was an experience I never thought I would have in my lifetime; however, it was emotional in more ways then one.

Part of our assignment for this PD is creating a soldier profile. We are given a name and it is up to us on how to present our soldier. We have immersed ourselves in these files, finding letters, war diaries from our service man's battalion, pictures etc. For most of us it has been an overwhelming experience. You come to know these men whose graves we visit, and we begin to feel as though we know them. I know at the end of mine I teared up a little. You spend so much time researching you can't help but feel a connection.

Many of us have found personal and community connections to our soldiers. Some have done it on the solider their school is named after, others great-uncles and to see their graves, row on row or some even where they fell on the battlefield.

We have visited various different graves and vastly different presentations have unfolded. Mine was a history of the battle, which I knew nothing about about, whereas others have done it as a first person narrative or an entry in a diary. We have even had a shot of Whiskey in honour of one at his grave.

To say connections haven't been forged has been a lie. Many connections have been made between the past and present in these cemeteries that span the regions of France and Belgium where the wars were fought. As we enter into our second week of study, I look forward to hearing more of these stories and making more connections with men whose memory will live on forever through us.

- Submitted by Jessica

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