Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is only a week away, and as always we should take this opportunity to reflect upon what members of previous generations have sacrificed for us to live the lives of freedom that we have today. Not only that, but consider how current generations are working to protect that freedom and, remarkably, some people work to defuse live bombs almost a century old. Nearly 80 websites related to Remembrance Day are linked below, and library books are viewable as well.

Remembrance Day links (click on the keywords to see the lists of links):

Remembrance Day 2008

Remembrance Day is tomorrow, and (surprisingly) it looks like the temperature won't be too cold - it would seem like cheating if I didn't stand in cold rain or snow during a Remembrance Day ceremony. It always feels like a small payment for my freedom: standing, shivering, while Taps is played and wreaths are laid.

Over the past couple of years at Parrsboro schools, I've collected over 70 websites about Remembrance Day on the PRHS library Delicious account. Just click the link above to view the list and find out about everything from war brides to the merchant navy, Great War weapons to life after Auschwitz, Vimy Ridge to peacekeeping.

There are also a number of books in the PRHS library about Remembrance Day. Some are listed below.

I wish you well this Remembrance Day, and hopefully I'll see you at the Parrsboro ceremony tomorrow.

Remembrance Day links

From the PRHS library Del.icio.us account.

Remembrance Day books at the PRHS library

Last year's virtual display: http://prhslibrary.blogspot.com/2006/11/remembrance-day-virtual-display.html

Last year's Remembrance Day post: http://prhslibrary.blogspot.com/2006/11/remembrance-day.html

90th Anniversary of Vimy Ridge - April 9th

On April 9th, 1917, soldiers of the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) reached the top of Hill 145 on Vimy Ridge in France, a feat which had not been accomplished by either the British or French troops since the Germans gained control of the hill in 2-1/2 years earlier. It was the most successful Allied battle in World War One to that point, and established the CEF as the elite Allied fighting corps.

Over the past 90 years, many historians and Canadians have come to look up on Vimy Ridge as symbolic of Canada's emergence as a nation, and you can learn more about Vimy Ridge and its significance at the following websites.

A photo I took from the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in March, 2000.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day is upon us, so check out these sites to learn more.

Did you know that some Nazi prisoners of war (PoWs) and Jewish refugees were kept in the same camp near Fredericton, NB? CBC Archives - Conflict and War has links to dozens of CBC audio and video clips relating to both World Wars, the Holocaust, women in war, and other conflict-related topics.

Canada Remembers allows you to search for clips of veterans speaking of their experiences, including Mr. Alexander McInnis from Port Hawkesbury.

Veterans Affairs also has summaries of lots of different battles like the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the disastrous Dieppe raid.

We Were There, a project of Library and Archives Canada, tells the stories of people who experienced World War One first-hand, including a nurse, an infantry soldier, and the Minister of Militia.

The Virtual War Memorial is a registry of over 116,000 Canadians who died serving their country and often includes information on where they are buried. This is a big help if you are searching for memorial or burial information on a relative - I found out where my great-great-uncle is buried just by knowing his first and last names and where he was born.

Finally, listen to Terry Kelly's song A Pittance of Time, or watch the video.

Remembrance Day virtual display

And no birds sang by Farley Mowat.

In July 1942, Farley Mowat was an eager young infantryman bound for Europe and impatient for combat. This powerful, true account of the action he saw, fighting desperately to push the Nazis out of Italy, evokes the terrible reality of war with an honesty and clarity fiction can only imitate. In scene after unforgettable scene, he describes the agony and antic humor of the soldier's existence: the tedium of camp life, the savagery of the front, and the camaraderie shared by those who have been bloodied in battle. - from the publisher.

Author Spotlight at Random House.

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The sky is falling by Kit Pearson.

During World War II, thousands of British children were evacuated to Canada. Many would spend the war years in the homes of complete strangers. In her award-winning novel for middle readers, The Sky Is Falling, Kit Pearson tells the story of one war child whose Canadian visit was far from happy. Norah has no wish to leave her village home in the English countryside. And she certainly doesn't want the responsibility of looking out for her five-year-old brother Gavin. When it becomes clear that the wealthy Toronto widow who sponsored the two siblings really only wanted a boy, Norah retreats into a secret world of books and truancy, deserting Gavin to the overbearing attentions of his newly appointed "Aunt Florence." - from the publisher.

Teen book review.

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Turned away: the World War II diary of Devorah Bernstein by Carol Matas.

January 9, 1911: A letter arrived from Sarah, again tucked in with the mail from Uncle Nathaniel.

Chere Devorah,

Our worst fears came to pass. Three huge bangs on the door. Maman ran to my room and told me to keep the door closed and not to come out. Within minutes she came back and sank down on my bed weeping. "They've taken him," she said. "To Drancy. Arrested."

I can barely sleep anymore. I keep hearing that pounding on the door. Sometimes I feel the sound will explode in my brain. Chere Devorah, what is wrong with the world? I don't understand any of this. Do you?

Your loving cousin, Sarah.

The letter from Uncle Nathaniel told of being arrested, but little else, except another question about how the visas are going. I could hear Mommy crying from her bedroom. - from the publisher.

Carol Matas' website.

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Hana's suitcase by Karen Levine.

In 2000, a suitcase arrived at a children's Holocaust education center in Tokyo, Japan, marked Hana Brady, May 16, 1931, and "Waisenkind"--the German word for orphan. In a suspenseful journey, Fumiko, the center's curator, searches for clues to young Hana and her family. -from the publisher.

Hana's Suitcase website, including an interview with George Brady.

Watch a TV clip about Hana's suitcase.

Listen to the radio documentary that inspired this book.

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Winning the Ridge: the Canadians at Vimy Ridge, 1917 by N. M. Christie.

"On April 9th, 1917, for the first time in the war, all four Canadian Infantry Divisions attacked side by side. Their capture of the 'impregnable' German bastion of Vimy Ridge brought instantaneous, world-wide recognition. For the first time in the war, the Allies had won something tangible.

"With the capture of Vimy Ridge, the reputation of the Canadian Corps as the most effective fighting machine on the Western Front, and of Canada itself, was sealed." - p. vii.

Many historians point to the Battle of Vimy Ridge on Easter Monday, 1917, as the beginnings of Canada's national identity. With almost 11,000 casualties this identity came at a high price, and Vimy is the site of the only Canadian National Historic Site outside of Canada's political boundaries.

Read more about Vimy.

Watch veteran eyewitness accounts of Vimy.

Read about the Vimy Memorial in France.

Watch a Historica Minute vignette about Vimy.