Stratford students study D-Day through award-winning Heritage Fair project
CBC
Two Stratford Elementary students delved into the history of D-Day earlier this year for a project that took home three awards at the Provincial Heritage Fair.
"It was interesting, happy in some parts sad and others, and I think it was honestly a great choice," said 10-year-old Jasper MacPherson, who worked with his classmate Luke Riley on the project.
The Grade 5 students were among 178 students from 24 schools across the province that participated.
"It felt very rewarding because we put a lot of effort and it took us, like, around four or three weeks," said 11-year-old Riley.
Their project contained research about D-Day, three real D-Day medals, and a plastic diorama depicting the beach at Normandy, France.
"We had to glue and cement every single piece on there, and paint everything," said MacPherson.
D-Day marked the Allied invasion of western Europe on June 6, 1944. Less than a year after D-Day, the Germans surrendered to the Allies on May 7, 1945, bringing an end to the Second World War in Europe.
The students' research mainly focused on how Islanders were involved in the event, also known as Operation Overlord.
"We had a few photos of Islanders who participated in the operation. We had a photo of a minesweeper, the HMCS Malpeque," said MacPherson.
"I didn't know how much they had contributed to this war before. I thought they were more of a minor player."
On D-Day, roughly 150,000 Allied troops invaded western Europe in Normandy, 14,000 of whom were Canadians. There were 1,074 Canadian casualties on D-Day.
The students say they learned all about the North Novas [the North Nova Scotia Highlanders], as well as Islanders who participated in the war like Spitfire pilot Charlie Trainor.
"He got shot down and he switched clothes with a farmer and he made it through Spain, Belgium, Germany," Riley said.
"It felt amazing to see how much history was collected in this museum and it was very interesting to see."
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This First Person column is the experience of Andrew Stetson, a writer and storyteller in P.E.I. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
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