May 26th 2019

Posted on by CBF Student

We all safely landed in Paris a little after 9 this morning. Once the team got through customs and baggage claim, and we finally secured the rental vans, we were heard towards our destination.

Once arrived in Ypres at approximately 3:30pm, the team leads (Jérémie and Marc) and a small group of students, including myself, set off on a 2.6 km walk towards the landmark that is the Essex Farm Cemetery. This is the historic location where in 1915, Canadian Major John McCrae wrote ‘In Flanders Field’. As we walked the grounds we saw WWI bunkers and monuments dedicated to those who fought.

After we paid our respects, we followed the canal back to the Ypres town square. Here we took in the amazing architecture. The gothic/neo-gothic cathedral is without a doubt a highlight of the city! The cathedral is also home to the Ypres cloth hall and the In Flanders Museum, which we will be seeing tomorrow. Today I learned that most of Ypres beautiful historic buildings had to be reconstructed/rebuilt after the war had desolated the area. The damage was so extensive that they didn’t even have trees to build telephone poles, that’s why most of them are made of concrete.

So the first day in Belgium has definitely been fulfilling and well-rounded. I look forward to the rest of the trip in hopes that it will continue to amaze me. On a side note, I also hope we see many more dogs along our journey!

Sophie Cyr

Sunday May 26: Travelling to Ypres

Posted on by CBF Student

Today we continued our journey on the CBF battlefield tour.  Our day began with arriving at Toronto Pearson Airport from all different areas of Canada.  We all gathered as a group and boarded our plane to Charles de Gaulle.  The flight went by fast, and by 9:00 am (Paris time) we had landed and were ready to continue on with our next journey of the day.  We waited for our rental cars, and once we had received them at about 12:30 pm we split into two groups and began the drive.  We were headed to Ypres for our first stop.  Along the way, around 1:30 pm, we made a quick stop at a rest stop and all grabbed something to have for lunch.  On our drive we were able to view a couple of different land marks and learn about them.  One of these was the location for the Battle of Amiens, and another being where the Canadians attacked on April 1917.  After driving through small towns we reached our final destinations for the day, Ypres.  While travelling in Ypres, Belgium, we are staying at the Hotel O Ieper.  We all paired up and found our rooms to prepare for the next part of the day.  At 6:00 pm we all met in the lobby of our Hotel and went out for dinner.  To end off the day we took a quick walk around the area near our hotel.  We were able to walk by a couple of local sites, including the In Flanders Fields Museum.  We then headed to bed to prepare for our journey tomorrow.

— Alysha McGuinness

 

Let the tour begin

Posted on by Jeremie LeBlanc

On May 25, all twelve of the selected students for this year’s tour met in Toronto (Pearson Airport) with Professor Marc Milner and myself. Below is a group photo before boarding.

After we land in France (Paris), we will head north to Ypres (Ieper) in Belgium.  For more information about our tour and its activities, please consult the tentative schedule below. I say tentative as things could change, the order or we may see something else and miss something in the list, but we sure will be busy! We will definitely go to more cemeteries than those listed below as each student has a soldier presentation to deliver where their soldier is buried.

Here’s a breakdown of our schedule:

  • Day 1 – Fly out to Europe
  • Day 2 –Head towards Ypres and see 2nd Ypres battlefield
  • Day 3 – Cloth Hall Museum, Hill 62, Langemarck, Passchendaele and Menin Gate Ceremony
  • Day 4 – Head back into France, then go to Beaumont-Hamel and Courcellette
  • Day 5 – Notre Dame de Lorette, Lens, Vimy
  • Day 6 – Amiens, Arras, Canal du Nord, Peronne Museum
  • Day 7 – Head to Dieppe, Blue, Red and White beaches
  • Day 8 – Green Beach, Dieppe Cemetery, then head off to Normandy and see the Pegasus Bridge
  • Day 9 – Arromanches, Longues-sur-Mer, Juno Beach, Juno Beach Centre and Bény-sur-Mer Cemetery
  • Day 10 – Utah Beach, Sainte-Mère-Église, Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach, La Cambe and Omaha Beach Cemetery
  • Day 11 – D+1, Authie / Buron, Bretteville / Putot, Carpiquet, Charnwood
  • Day 12 – Operation Spring, Operation Totalize
  • Day 13 – Dday ceremonies
  • Day 14 – CBF Ceremonies (1430 – Canadian Garden at the Memorial Museum, 1530 – Place de l’Ancienne Bourcherie, 1630 – Abbaye d’Ardenne
  • Day 15 – Tractable, Falaise, St Lambert-sur-Dives, Mont Ormel, Bretteville-sur-Laize Cemetery and Polish Cemetery.

Keep an eye out for student posts as they should be posting to this blog on a daily basis.  Thanks for taking an interest in our students and this year’s tour.

Written by: Jérémie LeBlanc