“Education is the Key”
This is a report intended to give HKVCA members some idea of the educational activities taking place throughout the HKVCA’s six regions throughout Canada. Your National Executive is convinced that the only way for our organization to become even better at helping the Canadian population to be more aware of the importance of the Hong Kong story is to make sure, first of all, that our own members realize how much is already going on in the various regions, and secondly, how much we hope that you, the members, will become even more involved in helping to tell that story.
Carol Hadley, as well as being National Past-President, is the Education Chair in the Manitoba Region. Here is what she has to tell us: We have a few events each year.
1. Beginning in May we attend the Red River Regional Heritage Fair (RRRHF) where students take a person, place or event in Manitoba's history then researches, prepares an outline, a list of resources, does a diorama and wins an event in their home school. The school then submits the student(s) (sometimes they work in pairs) work to this event. The RRRHF has judges for the main event as well as other specialty awards and our Region works in conjunction with the Winnipeg Rifles (sometimes the Navy or Air force) to judge events that pertain to military action that MB has been involved in. We also have our display up with several examples of our resources and information that is on the website. The display and the individuals that man the display are part of a scavenger hunt where the students must go to each display where they have to find an answer to a question that is part of the display i.e. this year the question was "What was Sgt. Gander’s award?" They have to study the display to find the answer. When each group has completed the visit to all the displays they go to an area where the questions are reviewed and the first student with the correct answer is given a gift. We supply 4 journals that contain a Gander bookmark and inside the cover is a label telling them who the donor was, the event and the date. The winner of the Veteran Award gets a certificate and a copy of "One Soldier’s Story" by George MacDonell.
2. In June near Decoration Day or D Day (June 6) there are tours of Brookside Cemetery where busloads of students have a guide (usually a veteran) on the bus and they tour the Military Section of the Cemetery (2nd largest in Canada). Here they are given information on the military actions that the graves depict. At Bardal’s Funeral home just outside the Cemetery is a reception where the display is set up and HKVCA Colour Party participate in a brief service. (Note: Lt Njall Bardal, WG and Hong Kong Vet's family have owned and operated this funeral home for 3 generations.)
3. The Manitoba Social Science Teachers Association hold a seminar annually in late October for their special group of teachers and the participants come from all over Manitoba. We have a display with a couple of members to show and explain the information we have available for use in the classroom. There is also a workshop where we do a presentation and distribute information to the teachers who attend.
Recently we have been in touch with the Minister of Education's office and have used their e-bulletin service (which is distributed to all teachers in MB) to promote the HKVCA Cross Canada Writing Contest and to inform them of the material we have to share with them. There is a new curriculum for Grade 11 to be implemented this fall with a section on the Battle of Hong Kong so I am hoping this will bring on further interest on our material.
We have been asked to attend schools in the city or nearby towns with a display and short presentation to students in and around Remembrance Week.
We also set up our display at the Manitoba Museum for a week in November last year - although not manned for that period there was information left on the table for people to take.
So this is a brief description of the work that the Education Committee is involved with in Manitoba, and a busy schedule it is.
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Emmie Flanagan, Regional Director and Education Chair for the Atlantic Region gives us a background to the activities in that region: (Emmie is also the Deputy Mayor of Belledune, NB)
During my early school years, I learned a lot about WWII and often wondered when the "Battle of Hong Kong" would come up. One day I asked my history teacher about this and his response was, "What are you talking about?" I couldn’t understand how my history teacher knew nothing about "The Battle of Hong Kong". Yet he taught us about the bombing of Pearl Harbour (on Dec. 7, 1941), where only hours later our Canadian Soldiers would be embroiled in the battle of their lives and spend over 3 years as Prisoners of War. I told him of my father’s experience in Hong Kong and he was fascinated. In retrospect, I wonder if he believed me at all.
I’ll never forget that day when I arrived home from school and told my dad there was no account of his time during WWII in any of our history books. He pondered for a moment and then quietly said, "Only those who went through what we went through will ever know the real history lesson". I saw a tear fall from his cheek and I was really upset. For the first time, he opened up and shared his sadness and pain with me. Dad told me how his own siblings could not believe his stories of the battle and the hardships he endured as a Japanese POW. He told me how much his Hong Kong Veteran Family meant to him, because only they could share stories of that horrible war. I promised Dad I would tell anyone and everyone about his battle. I was 16 and he was 61.
Dad died in February 1993 from lung failure due to black lung disease, which was associated with his years spent as a slave labourer in the Japanese coalmines. For thirty-six years, I have spoken up for my dad and his comrades and told many acquaintances about the atrocities of the Hong Kong Prisoners of War. I always knew I wanted to do something for our unsung heroes in Eastern Canada, but what could I do without a voice. I was not aware of the HKVCA until 2005, when I attended the 60th Anniversary of VJ Day in Ottawa. Of course, I signed up.
In September 2008 I attended the Maritime/Gaspé HKVCA reunion, held in Florenceville, NB. It was there when I fully understood what my dad meant when he talked about his HKV family - We all had a common bond. What a nice feeling! It was also at this reunion where I introduced the idea of creating a HKV Memorial in Belledune, NB. I mentioned to the association how important it would be to have a larger-than-life "Gander" statue included, for several reasons:
1. My father spoke often about Gander and considered him a hero. Fred Kelly, Gander’s handler and a friend of Dad’s, lived only 45 minutes from Belledune. Most, if not all "Royal Rifles of Canada" knew Gander, where 274 lived within a two-hour drive from Belledune, NB.
2. In October, 2000 Gander was finally recognized as a hero of war and awarded a "Dickin Medal". Nowhere yet does a statue of Gander stand on Canadian soil. Yet, soon there’ll be one in Belledune!
3. The sheer size of Gander will have tourists and passersby wondering... what’s with the big dog? They’ll stop and then learn about the "Battle of Hong Kong" and the life of a POW after the battle.
4. Because the Province of NB does not yet teach their students about the "Battle of Hong Kong", we must figure out another way to keep their (HKV’s) memory alive and ensure our public is educated.
Henceforth, the Village of Belledune will have a Memorial dedicated to all our New Brunswick and Gaspé Hong Kong Veterans and we will proudly place Gander in the forefront, surrounded by his friends whose names will be carved in granite. We will remember them!
If only one individual may
be inspired and have learned about the plight of our Hong Kong Veterans, then
my promise to my dad lives on.
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Ontario’s Education Chair is Pat Turcotte, and these are some of the things for which Ontario has been responsible over the past few years.
In 2003, we arranged for Nick Brune, a well-known Ontario High School History teacher to tell the story of the Battle of Hong Kong through a series of lessons for High School students. He did so after consulting with a committee of Hong Kong veterans who urged him to complete the task as soon as he could in order to get the Ten Lessons into classrooms across the country. Within six months, the booklet “Canada in Hong Kong: 1941 to1945 - The Forgotten Heroes” was in use in Ontario, and Manitoba, and shortly thereafter was introduced to several other provinces as well. It is now available in its entirety on our Website ---www. hkvca.ca and is a much-appreciated resource in both French and English for teachers across the country. Whenever we are involved with workshop situations the Ten Lessons are part of the package discussed with teachers, as is our latest effort, the CD-ROM called simply “The Battle of Hong Kong”. This video has been introduced to teachers by Mike Babin, and others, and was produced by Sue Beard in conjunction with a committee, which included George MacDonell representing the viewpoint of the veterans.
The CD-ROM’s intent was to tell the Hong Kong story in video form, along with supplying the material for a script to be used by the teacher to accompany what was being shown on the screen. The result is an opportunity for the teacher to receive much-valued information in a way both entertaining and informative. Teachers find it a welcome addition to their classroom resources. HKVCA members should note that it is set up so that any of our members could go into a classroom and feel confident that they could handle the script. It works in conjunction with what the students see on the screen. Not only that, everything is available in both French and English on the one CD-ROM. This should be a bonus for anyone working with our two official languages.
We have been involved in a number of workshops for teachers across Ontario, including Mike Babin’s recent visit to York Region in March, and a PD Day for teachers in the Ottawa-Carleton District Board looked after by Ian Doull and Gail Angel in February. There are other areas where we have been able to spread the word, including a workshop for teachers in the Niagara District School Board not too long ago.
We have also been a part, for the last 7 or 8 years, of the OHASSTA Conference, which is the provincial conference for High School teachers held every year in Mississauga. We have the opportunity to display and sell our materials to between 350 – 400 teachers, and to chat with a number who have ties to Hong Kong, as well as to discuss their teaching of the Hong Kong story in the classroom. We look forward to being involved every December.
Several times, including this year, we have been a part of the Ottawa’s Parliamentary Library Resource Fair. Teachers from across the country are chosen by their communities to spend a week in Ottawa studying our system of government. In the process, they have access to all sorts of helpful information, which they can take back with them to their communities to share with other teachers. Coming at the very same time as the OHASSTA Conference each year, Ted Terry, one of our Ottawa members, has very kindly agreed to look after that event for us.
We have also, since 2007, been holding a Writing Contest each year, one which has been available right across the country. It began as an essay contest, and has become a study of 5 Hong Kong veterans each year, the emphasis being placed on how well, in telling the veteran’s story, students try to understand and empathize with what the veteran experienced in his war and/or POW situation. This year’s Contest is winding up as this is written, and we hope to have samples of the winners’ work on our Website as well as at the display table we’ll be having June 25th and 26th at the International Canadian Military Tattoo being held in Hamilton at the Copps Coliseum.
We have also been active in working on the Teachers’ Zone, which Jim Trick has just reorganized in the last few months. The approach has been not only to gather relevant information for teachers to share, but also to make the Teachers’ Zone as user-friendly as possible for francophones who want to research the information on our HKVCA Website. In fact, one of the far-reaching goals is to translate as much of the Teachers’ Zone material as possible to provide a level playing field for the French-speaking students who participate in the HKVCA Cross-Canada Writing Contest. If you are skilled in French by all means offer your assistance to us.
Just recently, Bud Mann, our Area Rep. for the GTA, made a herculean effort to arrange for the creation of three banners to be used in our various displays. In a few short weeks, he was able to bring the ideas suggested together, and have the three banners ready in time for the Symposium on Hong Kong which was held March 31st at the Hong Kong- Canada Library, part of the Robarts Library complex in downtown Toronto. The event was a great success. The audience involved over 100 people, including such dignitaries as Senator Vivienne Poy. There were 8 speakers, all of whom were outstanding, in particular the Senator, Historian Terry Copp, and our own George MacDonell. The banners made a fitting backdrop to the presentations.
We are currently getting ready for the International Canadian Military Tattoo, which will take place in Hamilton on June 25th and June 26th in the Copps Coliseum. With this event and others like it, we always need volunteers for our display table, and, again, we would appreciate more and more people taking the opportunity to help us spread the word about the Battle of Hong Kong. The Hong Kong soldiers are being honoured at this year’s Tattoo since this is the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Hong Kong. The HK veteran Ken Pifher of the Royal Rifles of Canada will represent all of the soldiers who fought at Hong Kong in the ceremony, which will be taking place. Plan to attend if you can.
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There is space in the June Issue of the National Newsletter for only three of the six Regions. We hope to have a report from each of the other three Regions in the next issue.
Pat Turcotte - Interim National Education Coordinator
Editor’s note: Pat has recently been appointed Interim National Education Coordinator in order to connect the work of the Education Chairs across the country. She hopes that someone in one of the Regions will be interested in taking the work of our Education Chairs to new heights in creating even more awareness on the part of Canadians regarding the important role the Battle of Hong Kong and the soldiers who fought there play in our history.
Our Online Education Resource – The Teachers’ Zone Web
As you will read elsewhere in this newsletter, HKVCA is currently focusing on education as a primary means to keep our veterans’ story in the minds of Canadians, especially young Canadians. A key tool in achieving this goal is the updated Teachers’ Zone (TZ) web site.
The aim of the TZ site is simple: To provide educators, students and the Canadian public in general the opportunity to become more aware of the role our Canadian soldiers played in the Battle of Hong Kong in World War II.
To achieve this aim, the site contains key information and links to other resources that are vital for both educators and students. For example, teachers are provided sample lesson plans to assist them in guiding students in their projects. Students are provided links to reference material that will assist them as they learn about our veterans, and the place of the Battle of Hong Kong in Canadian history. The site has many other resources as well, including bilingual content that is continually being expanded.
Why not pay a visit to the TZ next time you’re online? Just type http://www.hkvca.ca/teacherszone into your browser search box.