War and the Canadian Experience Study Tour
Social Sciences Saskatchewan is pleased to partner with The Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society at the University of New Brunswick, the Laurier Centre for Military, Strategic and Disarmament Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, the Department of National Defence, and the Cleghorn Foundation. In each of the next three years two Saskatchewan teachers will be guaranteed spots on the annual War and the Canadian Experience Study Tour, a two week tour of the Canadian battlefields of the Somme, Flanders and Normandy.
The Tour introduces educators to the history of Canada in two world wars and the potential for using the subject as a vehicle to foster critical thinking skills and “historical consciousness” in today’s young people.
Purpose and Goals
The War and the Canadian Experience Teachers’ Professional Development tour introduces educators to the history of Canada in two world wars and the potential for using the subject as a vehicle to foster critical thinking skills and “historical consciousness” in today’s young people.
The tour visits the most important Canadian battlefields and memorials in Belgium and France. From the great Vimy pilgrimage of 1936 to the recent anniversary of commemorations of Vimy, D-Day and VE Day, Canadians have been drawn to these sites of memory which form important chapters in our nation’s history. Participants will be exposed to the latest research and academic debate over Canada’s wartime experience.
Past participants have said the tour was the best professional development experience they have ever had. See our virtual tour from the Netherlands in July 2015.
Brief Itinerary
The itinerary (but not the dates) are only tentative. The dates are 10-24 July 2016.
Day 1 (July 10) – Group meets in Paris before traveling to the northern end of the Western Front and working our way south.
Day 2 (July 11) – Drive to Ypres and Introduction to the Great War
Day 3 (July 12) – Canada’s experience in the Ypres Salient in 1915-16
Day 4 (July 13) – Passchendaele 1917, Drive to Arras
Day 5 (July 14) – Vimy Ridge and the Arras Sector, 1917
Day 6 (July 15) – The Somme 1916, Beaumont-Hamel, The Hundred Days Campaign 1918, drive to Dieppe
Day 7 (July 16) – Introduction to Canada and the Second World War, The Dieppe Raid, drive to Bayeux. Our home for the next week is Le Moulin Morin, west of Bayeux in Calvados, Normandy.
Day 8 (July 17) – Wrap-up workshop on the First World War in the classroom, introduction to the Normandy region.
Day 9 (July 18) – Canada on Juno Beach, 6 June 1944
Day 10 (July 19) – British and American beaches and the widerOverlord plan
Day 11 (July 20) – Canada’s Defence of the Normandy Beachhead, June-July 1944
Day 12 (July 21) – Verrières Ridge, July-August 1944
Day 13 (July 22) – The ‘Falaise Gap’ Climax to the Normandy Campaign
Day 14 (July 23) – Wrap-up discussion on the Second World War in the classroom.
Day 15 (July 24) – Return to Paris for return flights to Canada.
For further information, contact the study tour director, Dr. Lee Windsor.