A Whitehorse student is among those chosen from across Canada to visit the Vimy Ridge memorial and learn more about the First World War and Canada’s role in it. Tristan Gagnon, a 16-year-old CSSC Mercier student, was selected for the Vimy Pilgrimage Award.
Ahead of selection for the trip, Gagnon had to write an essay about a certain group of people during the First World War.
In writing his essay he says he learned a lot about how the people of Quebec were not happy about the First World War, particularly once conscription was introduced.
“They were getting conscripted while they didn't feel like they had a certain connection to France or the British monarchy, which was who they were essentially fighting for,” Gagnon said of the results of his research.
Also had to write something demonstrating contributions to his local community which he chose to focus on his presidency of the Francophone Youth Committee of the Yukon.
Gagnon will arrive in Brussels, Belgium on April 3. He and the the other students selected will be at Vimy Ridge for an April 9 ceremony commemorating the 108th anniversary of the battle.
Other points on the itinerary for Gagnon and the other students includes the site of the 1916 battle of the Somme. According to the Vimy foundation, students will participate in a variety of site and museum visits as well as discussions led by experts.
He is enthusiastic about meeting other students from different parts of Canada who have also been selected for the trip.
“I expect to learn a lot of things, I think, a lot of knowledge from the veterans who are not no longer with us anymore, but knowledge that was written down, and that's the kind of stuff I think I expect to learn about,” Gagnon said.
He had a prior interest in the topic and thinks that the trip will be chance to go further into depth on it than is taught in schools. He finds Canada’s role in the war, that of a major combatant that wasn’t directly threatened with invasion, especially fascinating.
He noted the Battle of Vimy Ridge’s important role in Canada’s history as a victory won under independent Canadian command rather than direct British authority.
Gagnon thinks there is a lot to be learned from the conflict and its sacrifices.
In conjunction with the trip, Gagnon will complete a project about a particular Canadian soldier of the First World War. He has selected Private George Lawrence Price. Per Veterans Affairs Canada’s website, Price was born in Nova Scotia and is believed to have been the last Canadian soldier killed in battle during the First World War. He died at Mons, Belgium about two minutes before the armistice ending the war took effect.
Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com
