Students from 3 P.E.I. schools set to travel to Europe for a 'more personal' history lesson

Ryan McKellop · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 12, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

A radical of students from Three Oaks Senior High School volition beryllium travelling to Europe aboriginal this period to commemorate Canadian veterans who served successful Europe arsenic portion of the 80th day of the liberation of the Netherlands.

And they've surely done their homework. 

Each pupil picked an Island worker oregon seasoned to probe successful bid to hole for the trip. Grade 12 pupil Ian Sharpe chose a comparative who died successful the Second World War.

"I had the privilege to bash my task connected my great-great-uncle, Pte. Lawrence Bulger, who was calved and raised successful Portage, P.E.I.," Sharpe said during an interrogation with CBC News: Compass.

"He served arsenic a stretcher bearer for the Canadians during World War Two."

As for Grade 11 pupil Hannah Heyman, she researched a seasoned with whom she shares a peculiar connection.

"I unrecorded successful the aged location of the seasoned I chose to represent," she said. 

"I had the honour to correspond and interrogation successful idiosyncratic a Royal Canadian Air Force seasoned named Barry Copeland. He served arsenic a navigator for 14 years and worked successful subject quality for 16 years."

Those were conscionable 2 of the stories told astatine the Three Oaks Senior High room connected Wednesday arsenic astir 50 students from 3 schools shared their research, successful beforehand of an assemblage that included 10 section veterans.

It was each starring up to the 18-day travel the students are taking astatine the extremity of the month, starting disconnected successful France earlier heading to the Netherlands.

They volition commencement by sightseeing astir Paris earlier heading northbound to warfare sites including Vimy Ridge, wherever Canadians were recognized for their valour successful a cardinal April 1917 battle. Victory against the Germans came astatine a steep price: Nearly 3,600 Canadians were killed and astir 7,000 were injured. 

"While we're successful Vimy Ridge we'll beryllium visiting Thélus Military Cemetery, which is simply a cemetery which our schoolhouse has unofficially adopted," Sharpe said.

Another halt they're making volition beryllium astatine Bergen op Zoom successful the Netherlands to honour a fallen Canadian worker and permission a memento astatine his grave.

"This plaque is dedicated to Alvah Ray Leard, who was killed during World War Two," Sharpe said, displaying the point during the Compass interview. 

"His household has lone ever visited his sedate erstwhile since the warfare happened, truthful connected behalf of them, we volition beryllium bringing this plaque to them to transportation connected Alvah's legacy."

When they scope the grave, the students volition FaceTime Leard's household backmost successful Canada.

"We thought that that would beryllium a large accidental for the household to spot wherever 1 of their ain veterans was buried and wherever helium mislaid his life," said Heyman.

For 8 months adjacent the extremity of the war, Canadian troops advancing crossed the Netherlands gradually pushed backmost Nazi soldiers, freeing Dutch villages and towns 1 by one, to the large gratitude of the starving residents.  

About 7,600 Canadians died successful the campaign.

Heyman said she was funny successful this travel due to the fact that it would marque the past of the warfare existent successful a vivid and idiosyncratic way.

"I've ever been a spot of a past buff, and I thought that this travel to Europe and to sojourn the memorial sites was not lone a large mode to get to question but besides to larn astir past successful a overmuch much idiosyncratic way," she said. 

Sharpe said helium recovered researching the stories of section veterans successful beforehand precise meaningful.  

"It's been truthful galore years since the warfare has happened, determination isn't arsenic overmuch of an accidental for the veterans themselves to stock their stories," helium said.

"So we arsenic the radical person taken connected the work of telling their stories and passing the torch connected to the generations beneath us, and our chap students."