Thornhill students, staff and lieutenant heading to Vimy
Students' handmade poppies to be placed on graves

yorkregion.com
April 3, 2017
By Simone Joseph

Lieutenant-Colonel Sandi Banerjee has been to Vimy Ridge many times.

He knows well the history and significance of this French landmark.

But when he visits this month, his trip will be special. This time, the Thornhill resident takes the journey alongside his wife, son, daughter and 10 Thornlea Secondary School students as well as staff.

This time, it will be the 100th anniversary of the battle, the commemoration of a historic win for Canada.

Banerjee has high hopes for the Thornlea students journeying to France.

“I hope they get the same sense of pride I did my first time there,” he said. “I hope they get a sense of national accomplishment. This effort was the whole of Canada...It was the first time every regiment was there.”

The attack on Vimy Ridge, an attack on the Germans in northern France, began on April 9, 1917.

It was a costly victory, which left 3,598 Canadians dead. But the Canadian success would later be called a defining moment for Canada. The Vimy Memorial was unveiled in 1936. It reminds visitors of the 11,285 Canadian soldiers killed in France who have no known graves.

The Thornlea students will visit the Vimy Region, including of course the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, which pays tribute to more than 10,000 soldiers killed or wounded in battle. The students will join fellow Canadians for the 100th anniversary ceremonies of Canada’s victory in Vimy Ridge.

The students will also be taking a detour to an elementary school in Anisy, France. The high school students will witness a road dedication. The people of Anisy are naming a road after Clarke Lawson, a soldier from Toronto killed in World War Two.

Grade 11 student Reannah Ennis is one of the Thornlea students participating in the trip. Asked which aspect of the battle of Vimy Ridge she found most interesting, she responds with two interesting aspects: “All three (Canadian) regiments were battling together. Canadians came up with the battle plan.”

Gordon Izumi, head of the history department at Thornlea S.S., sees this trip as a way of making history real for his students. “There’s no replacement for experiential learning,” he said. “It’s the best kind of learning”.

Izumi is glad the students will be surrounded by people with a connection to Vimy.

“When you are there with the veterans and the families of people who died, it makes it more real. It makes history come alive,” he said.

In preparation for the trip, the Thornlea students made more than 100 wooden poppies and sold donors the right to have dedications written on the poppies. Students raised $1,200 and will be leaving the poppies on soldiers’ graves. The $1,200 will go towards taking care of soldiers' families while the soldiers work overseas.

On the cusp of his journey, Banerjee reveals how important it is to visit the famous battleground of Vimy Ridge.

“I’ve often thought Vimy is one of those places every Canadian should go to once in their life.”