This Remembrance Day two students will have a deeper appreciation for the sacrifices of those who fought in the First and Second World Wars.
Ponsonby resident Emily Oakes had the opportunity to stand in front of the massive memorial at Vimy Ridge in August when she was selected for the Beaverbrook Vimy Prize, a two-week journey studying the history of Canada’s role in the First and Second World Wars.
Hannah Hutchings, a Grand Valley resident and student of Centre Dufferin in Shelburne, will be standing at Menin Gate in Belgium this Remembrance Day, a trip she has been looking forward to for months.
Oakes, who attends Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, applied for the Beaverbrook Vimy prize four times.
Along with 15 other students from Canada, France and England, she spent two weeks touring memorials in England, Belgium and France.
To apply for the prize, students aged 15 to 17 must analyze a piece of First World War artwork in the Beaverbrook Collection, write a motivation letter, a reference letter, a resume and answer a question in an essay, video or artwork.
Oakes, 17, wrote an essay about the impact of First Nations individuals in Canada during the First World War. She found out on April 9, the 99th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, that she would finally be going on the trip.
The journey to Europe was more than just an opportunity to tour the memorials. It has a personal connection for Oakes. Her great-great-great uncle Wilfred Oakes fought in the First World War.
Wilfred, a Rockwood resident, enlisted with James Gamble in October 1915. Both fought at the Sommes, where Gamble was killed. Wilfred fought again in other battles such as Passchendaele. He did not fight in the Battle of Vimy Ridge due to tonsillitis but fought in Amiens, where he died on Aug. 12, 1918.
Both Wilfred and Gamble are memorialized on the Vimy Ridge Memorial.
Oakes left for her trip on Aug. 7, starting in England visiting the Imperial War Museum, parliament building and University of Oxford, where she took part in two lectures about women in the war and how memorials change over the years.
In Belgium, the group toured the Ypres Salient, visiting the Christmas Truce memorial, St. Julien monument to Canadians at the Second Battle of Ypres, Hill 60 and the Menin Gate memorial to missing British and Commonwealth soldiers along the Ypres valley.
“It’s crazy to see the impact that the war had on the landscape,” said Oakes.
“There was one farmer’s field I remember and it had six German bunkers lined up and the cows were using (them) as shelters.”
Oakes explained Menin Gate has 55,000 names on it.
“I’ve seen pictures of it, but until you stand underneath it, you don’t quite realize how big it is,” she said.
“The impact of the First World War is just crazy.”
Oakes participated in the last post ceremony at Menin Gate, which has been held every night since 1927 with the exception of a brief period during the Second World War.
Oakes also had to opportunity to visit Essex Farm Cemetery in Belgium, where a monument commemorating In Flanders Fields, written by John McCrae stands.
Visiting the cemeteries on her tour, Oakes took in the magnitude of the war.
“I just couldn’t believe the destruction and how many lives were lost,” she said.
In France, the group visited the Beaumont-Hamal Newfoundland Memorial, honouring the Newfoundland Regiment that was all but wiped out on July 1, 1916.
They also visited Thiepval, a memorial honouring the missing of the Sommes, Juno Beach and Maison Blache, an old chalk quarry used to house Canadian troops before the battle of Vimy Ridge.
The soldiers left their mark on the malleable chalk walls of the tunnels, a remarkable historical record.
“They all left a mark on the walls. Some of them had tributes to friends that they lost, some of them to their girlfriends, some of them are cheeky little jokes. Other times it was just other people writing their names in,” explained Oakes.
“If you close your eyes you could sort of imagine that you were there.”
She added, “I’ve never felt so close to the war.”
The group also had the opportunity to visit cemeteries dedicated to German soldiers who lost their lives in the war.
Oakes described the stark contrast between those cemeteries and the memorials dedicated to Allied forces.
In one memorial, aptly named the Ring of Remembrance, 499 panels list the names of the 580,000 who died in the north region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais (alphabetically without reference to rank or nationality).
When Oakes finally made it to the Vimy Ridge memorial, she admits she shed tears.
“It was really profound, I felt really humbled to be able to stand there … because of the sacrifices of all of our Canadian soldiers, I’m so thankful for everything that they’ve done,” she said.
The memorial, designed by Canadian Walter Seymour Allward, stands on the highest point of the 14-kilometre ridge.
On April 9, 1917, all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together, storming the ridge to capture it from German forces. Almost 3,600 Canadians lost their lives in the battle.
“It’s a really moving place,” said Oakes.
Jennifer Blake of the Vimy Ridge Foundation said how the students experience the trip is important.
“It being 100 years ago, we don’t have any veterans left from that conflict,” Blake said.
“For a lot of young people today, the war can feel like a million years ago. But for the people who are 15 to 17 … when they go over, in a lot of cases they’re the same age that the soldiers would have been when they originally fought 100 years ago.
“We really think that reaching young people at that age can have a huge impact on how they see Canadian history and how they see the impact of the First Word War.”
The group toured the memorial during the early morning and returned when the sun was setting over the valley.
“I felt a lot of things honestly. I don’t think I’ve had such a strong emotional connection to a piece of stone,” said Oakes.
“The thing that comes to mind most though is that I am so thankful – so thankful for the opportunity to go there, but also so thankful for everything that our soldiers have done.”
The names of more than 11,000 Canadians killed in France but whose final resting place is unknown, are carved onto the walls of the monument, including Oakes’ great-great-great-uncle Wilfred Oakes.
Seeing his name carved into the stone meant a lot to her, Oakes said, adding it is important for students her age to learn about the war this way.
“You can’t learn some of the things you learn in a classroom,” she said.
“You learn a lot about the magnitude, obviously the size of the war that you can’t comprehend here (in Canada).”
On Nov. 11, Oakes will once again stand solemnly at the Elora and Salem ceremonies, remembering the service of her relative.
“(The trip) put the sacrifices of our soldiers into perspective,” she said.
“If it’s possible, I have an even deeper respect now than I had before.”
Remembrance Day in Belgium
Hutchings knows where she will be on Nov. 11.
Along with her classmates of the digital historian project, she will be standing in front of Menin Gate in Belgium for Remembrance Day to honour not only those who fought in the wars, but her veteran great-great uncle.
The digital historian project is experiential learning with the opportunity to study history and math while completing archival research.
“We’ll work our way from Amsterdam doing the Canadian Second World War experience in Holland through the First World War experience in Belgium and France to our ultimate destination, which is Normandy,” explained Neil Orford, head of the program.
Orford said students, which included Hutchings in her Grade 11 year, create a digital biography.
Now in Grade 12, she will be making the trip over to Amsterdam, Belgium and France to be immersed in First and Second World War history.
Students have to raise funds for the trip themselves. Hutchings received a $500 donation towards her trip from the Arthur Legion.
She explained that Grand Valley does not have a Legion, so she reached out to the one in Arthur.
“I’m really happy about it … I’m just really honoured,” she said.
Part of the digital historian project includes researching a Dufferin County veteran. Hutchings chose her great-great uncle Herbert McDougall.
Her research opened up a novel of family history that she said she was excited to learn about.
McDougall enlisted in 1916 but didn’t see the front lines of war for at least a year. He fought in the 100 Days Offensive, a battle near the end of the war.
Her research found he was one of the first soldiers who contracted the Spanish influenza and was sent to a camp to recover. Other soldiers in those camps rioted out of frustration because they were not able to return to Canada.
“He ended up getting better, which was actually pretty rare,” said Hutchings.
McDougall returned to Grand Valley where he became a postmaster.
While McDougall survived the war and the Spanish flu, it did take a toll on him. Hutchings said his hair turned stark white at the age of 25 as a result of shell-shock.
She was able to connect with McDougall’s grandson. He attended her presentation in June.
Hutchings will be dedicating a brick in honour of her great-great uncle at a ceremony on Juno Beach in France.
“A lot of the generation now are starting to forget and are not really taking an interest in preserving the history of the war and what (soldiers) did, so going on this trip, we’re able to experience it and then tell (the story) to people,” she said.
She added she wanted to go on this trip to “visit the beaches … of the battle areas and get a sense of what (the soldiers) felt and what they saw, and go to the cemeteries to see where they are buried.”
Orford said it is important for the students to learn about the impact of the World Wars this way.
“I think it’s important for all Canadians, but in particular for young people,” he said.
“The further we get from the great moments in Canadian history that defined our nation both in the First World War and Second World War, as well as the great moments that defined ourselves in peacekeeping activities, the more important it is to keep those kids connected to it”
Hutchings and the other students with digital historian project leave on Nov. 7.
