History
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The Cutting Room floor
I’ll have to admit that the thought of being in a documentary about the Great War appealed to me. Not as much as the thought that it was a documentary that included part of my Grandfather’s story. This past July I journeyed home to Roblin to be filmed, along with my father for a documentary.
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You ought to be in Pictures. Or not.
Part of my dearth of blogging on late can be attributed to the fact that I was actually out of Arctic Bay for a week, and actually got to go home to Roblin for a short visit with my family, and to introduce Hilary to them. The unfortunate thing is I can’t blog about my
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June 8th, 1944
Near the snow, near the sun, in the highest fieldsSee how these names are feted by the waving grass,And by the streamers of white cloud,And whispers of wind in the listening sky;The names of those who in their lives fought for life,Who wore at their hearts the fire’s center.Born of the sun, they travelled a
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A journey to Hill 70
The citation for my Grandfather’s Military Medal reads "For conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty on August 15th, 1917. Although on reaching the objective, he had only three survivors of his section, he bombed three dugouts, killing nine of the enemy and taking 18 prisoners, whom he kept in the trench until he had organized
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Hill 70
By far the most emotional aspects of my trip to France were the times I tried to walk in my Grandfather’s footsteps. When I stood near where he jumped off at Vimy I was overcome with emotion remembering my grandfather, and failing in my efforts to imagine what it had been like for him that
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Souvenir
My grandfather, like many soldiers in the Great War, took souvenirs from the battles he was involved in. These would be everyday items, taken from either prisoners or the dead. In his memoir he spoke about picking up some souvenirs at Vimy which he gave to a wounded comrade for safe keeping. They were taken
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Three Weeks.
Okay, I’m starting to get excited. In less than two weeks I leave for Ottawa, and three weeks today I’ll be standing at the Vimy Memorial. I even found a hotel so it looks like I won’t need to sleep in the car.
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Another little bit on Vimy – the 16th’s jumping off point.
I’m continually amazed at the information that you can glean online, and also with that amazing tool/time waster, Google Earth. One of the things I’d really like to do at Vimy is stand where the 16th Battalion stood at 5:30 am, the time that they went over the top that Easter morning 90 years ago.
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A little bit on the Battle of Vimy Ridge
The battle of Vimy Ridge is one of the significant events in Canada’s history. It is often acknowledged as the watershed when Canada changed from part of the British Empire into it’s own nation. Vimy Ridge is a low ridge north of Arras that was held by the German Army for much of the war,
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I’m going.
Or at least I think I am. I’ve made up my mind that I’m going to Vimy for the 90th anniversary. The person I had found to do the cooking while I was away backed out, which is alright I suppose, we couldn’t come to an agreement about what would be fair compensation for the