Students from 3 P.E.I. schools set to travel to Europe for a 'more personal' history lesson
A group of students from Three Oaks Senior High School will be travelling to Europe later this month to commemorate Canadian veterans who served in Europe as part of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands.
And they've certainly done their homework.
Each student picked an Island soldier or veteran to research in order to prepare for the trip. Grade 12 student Ian Sharpe chose a relative who died in the Second World War.
"I had the privilege to do my project on my great-great-uncle, Pte. Lawrence Bulger, who was born and raised in Portage, P.E.I.," Sharpe said during an interview with CBC News: Compass.
"He served as a stretcher bearer for the Canadians during World War Two."
Grade 12 student Ian Sharpe did his project on a relative who died in the Second World War. (CBC)
As for Grade 11 student Hannah Heyman, she researched a veteran with whom she shares a special connection.
"I live in the old house of the veteran I chose to represent," she said.
"I had the honour to represent and interview in person a Royal Canadian Air Force veteran named Barry Copeland. He served as a navigator for 14 years and worked in military intelligence for 16 years."
Grade 11 student Hannah Heyman did research on a Royal Canadian Air Force veteran who worked as a navigator and served in military intelligence. Her family lives in the house he used to occupy. (CBC)
Those were just two of the stories told at the Three Oaks Senior High library on Wednesday as about 50 students from three schools shared their research, in front of an audience that included 10 local veterans.
It was all leading up to the 18-day trip the students are taking at the end of the month, starting off in France before heading to the Netherlands.
They will start by sightseeing around Paris before heading north to war sites including Vimy Ridge, where Canadians were recognized for their valour in a key April 1917 battle. Victory against the Germans came at a steep price: Nearly 3,600 Canadians were killed and about 7,000 were injured.
A wounded soldier is transported by stretcher at Vimy Ridge, France, in April 1917. (The Canadian Press)
"While we're in Vimy Ridge we'll be visiting Thélus Military Cemetery, which is a cemetery which our school has unofficially adopted," Sharpe said.
Another stop they're making will be at Bergen op Zoom in the Netherlands to honour a fallen Canadian soldier and leave a memento at his grave.
"This plaque is dedicated to Alvah Ray Leard, who was killed during World War Two," Sharpe said, displaying the item during the Compass interview.
"His family has only ever visited his grave once since the war happened, so on behalf of them, we will be bringing this plaque to them to carry on Alvah's legacy."
Students from Three Oaks will place this plaque on the grave of Alvah Ray Leard in Bergen op Zoom on behalf of his family. (CBC)
When they reach the grave, the students will FaceTime Leard's family back in Canada.
"We thought that that would be a great opportunity for the family to see where one of their own veterans was buried and where he lost his life," said Heyman.
For eight months near the end of the war, Canadian troops advancing across the Netherlands gradually pushed back Nazi soldiers, freeing Dutch villages and towns one by one, to the great gratitude of the starving residents.
About 7,600 Canadians died in the campaign.
Dutch civilians and Canadian Army troops in Utrecht, Netherlands celebrate the liberation of the country from Nazi Germany in May 1945. (Alexander M. Stirton/Canadian Department of National Defence/Library and Archives Canada/PA-134377)
Heyman said she was interested in this trip because it would make the history of the war real in a vivid and personal way.
"I've always been a bit of a history buff, and I thought that this trip to Europe and to visit the memorial sites was not only a great way to get to travel but also to learn about history in a much more personal way," she said.
Sharpe said he found researching the stories of local veterans in advance very meaningful.
"It's been so many years since the war has happened, there isn't as much of an opportunity for the veterans themselves to share their stories," he said.
"So we as the group have taken on the responsibility of telling their stories and passing the torch on to the generations below us, and our fellow students."
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