Student Tour Blog

Written by Hannah Stack

Even though we are only three days into the trip, I think I will look back on today as one of my favourite days.

After departing from our hotel in Ypres, we made our way to Notre Dame de Lorette, home to the largest French military cemetery. Through MP’s translation, we learned that more than 40,000 graves and sets of remains are located on the property, including approximately 20,000 individual crosses. Even knowing these numbers beforehand, nothing can prepare you for the feeling of standing before row upon row of individual crosses. One thing that stood out to me was a farther and son gravestone, connecting both the First and Second World Wars through the sacrifice of two generations of the same family. I was further moved when we entered L’Anneau de la Mémoire, or “The Ring of Remembrance.” Here, 580,000 names of soldiers who died fighting in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region are listed. Seeing both the cemetery and the ring of names left me overwhelmed with sadness, but also grateful that we live in a world where people can be remembered and honoured in such a meaningful way.

Through discussions with Professors Hayes,  Sheffield, and Major Wheeler, we came to understand that although Vimy Ridge is celebrated as a great Canadian victory, the outcome might have been very different had the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought there in 1915. The French suffered immense losses, and we likely would have faced a similar fate. Exploring Vimy Ridge reinforced an important lesson… while the battle remains a defining moment in Canadian history, Canada did not achieve victory alone. The Canadians benefited from British training and doctrine, yet walking up to the Vimy Memorial still inspires an immense sense of pride and patriotism.

Our group spent time discussing both the significance of Vimy Ridge and the way its massive monument can overshadow other important Canadian victories such as Courcelette, Passchendaele, and Hill 70. The Hill 70 Memorial, didn’t even open until 2017. Megan Hamilton explained that Hill 70 may have been just as significant to Canada and the broader war effort, yet it remains far less prominent in public memory. This led me to wonder why these battles are not remembered in the same way. At Hill 70, we were the only visitors. At Vimy, tours arrived throughout the day. How can we better educate the public about these defining Canadian victories? Today’s visits reminded me that history and memory are not always the same thing.

Brandon also presented his soldier at the Hill 70 cemetery. He chose a soldier from his hometown of St. Stephen, New Brunswick, which I found touching and meaningful. What stood out most to me, however, was that the soldier was only identified in December 2016. It is remarkable that nearly a century later, advances in DNA technology can still restore names and identities to those who were lost. Throughout our visits to Commonwealth cemeteries, I try to read as many personalized inscriptions on the gravestones. His read: “He always stood for what was right and good.” I think those are pretty good words to live by.

Remembrance, memory, and sacrifice are ideas that deserved to be talked about, and today made it pretty clear why!

-Hannah Stack (Queen’s University)