CONNOR LUCZKA, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The First World War and Second World War might have been fought in Europe, but it had very real consequences for Stratfordians of the time as local history students learned ahead of this year’s Remembrance Day.
On Nov. 8, Stratford District Secondary School (SDSS)’s Stephen Fischer brought one of his history classes to the veteran graves at Avondale Cemetery to give students a tangible perspective and to show respect to the city’s veterans.
“We teach history,” Fischer said. “This is part of the curriculum and I thought … let's walk over there. It's a way to make things a little more real, a little more concrete.
“That's hard for a 15-year-old to relate to Europe. All these people buried here, they were there and these are the lucky ones who came back. … There's a real connection and, right here in our community, these are local people who participated.”
Dakota Toudel, one of the students who participated in the short field trip, told the Times she appreciated coming to the cemetery and showing their respects. Before they began, Fischer explained that in the summer of 1914, war broke out in Europe with Great Britain, Canada’s mother country, declaring war on the country’s behalf.
It was Canada, however, that determined how involved in the war it was, as Toudel demonstrated. She subsequently read a portion of the speech Robert Borden, Canada’s prime minister at the time, gave at the outset of the war.
“Canada's contributions to this war in men and in resources will be significant,” Toudel read. “And I have no doubt that our people will answer the call with the same courage and determination that has always marked our character. We must be resolute in our actions, and we must be united in purpose, in this hour of peril.”
After explaining Canada’s involvement in both world wars and which graves were veterans’, Fischer distributed small Canadian flags among his students and encouraged them to plant them in front of the tombstones, first at the First World War section and then up the hill off of the John Street entrance toward the Second World War section.
It was work usually done by the local legion, Fischer said, and that day it seemed the legion beat them to it. Many graves were already adorned with flags, though that didn’t stop the students, who went to work setting them.
This was Fischer’s first time bringing students and flags to the cemetery. The year prior, a class had painted rocks which were distributed among the headstones, some of which were still resting there this year.
Fischer thanked Perth-Wellington MP John Nater for his help in supplying the Canadian flags, but also his students for being so enthusiastic about the opportunity.
He was also grateful for the temperate weather, all things considered, but noted it wouldn’t have made a difference.
“I told them we're going to rain or shine,” Fischer laughed. “What our veterans went through; a little rain is nothing compared to the experiences that they went through … but we've had a beautiful day.”
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