2026 VPA Blog page

_{April 4}

Today the 2026 Vimy Pilgrimage Award recipients arrived in Belgium beginning their 8 day journey across Europe where they will spend time visiting cemeteries, museums, battlefields and commemorative sites from the First World War. Today some of the students shared what site they were most looking forward to visiting, or what topic they are looking forward to learning about.

Jasmine: A topic I’m interested in learning about is hour minority groups (like me); Chinese/Black/Indigenous, were treated and how they contributed during the First World War. As someone who identifies as part of a minority group, learning about this theme could educate me of their experience and how perspectives/societies have changed since then. 

Connor: A site which I am particularly looking forward to exploring is the Beaumont-Hamel Memorial, for its significance in relation to the Royal Newfoundland Regiment’s war efforts and casualties. Furthermore, the fact that relatives of mine are commemorated on the monument will make for a very personal experience for me. 

Ella B: I’m looking forward to learning more about the roles of women in the war effort. This is an often ignored topic in most discussions surrounding the First World War, so I’m really excited to be able to delve into it and a better understanding of women’s contributions during times of conflict. 

Abhiraj: In all the sites I believe we are visiting, I am most excited to see the Menin Gate as the Last Post Ceremony is an event that happens every night and I am expecting this to be a magical experience for me. I would also love to visit the British Grenadier Bookshop near the gate as I heard it was closing and I would love to support their store.

Joseph: I am most looking forward to visiting the Passchendaele sites. It was the battle in which my great-grandfather fought in and I am very much anticipating being there in person. 

Ella C: It is the largest memorial for Newfoundlanders and Labradoreans who fought in the First World War and therefore I am most excited to visit and have no known graves. As a Newfoundlander myself, I want to deepen my understanding of my province’s past and I feel physically being present there will allow me to create a connection with those before me. 

Jessy: I am very eager to learn more about Indigenous involvement in First World War. My interest began when I learned about Francis Pegahmagabow, Alex Decouteau, and the Timber Wolf Battalion – and I am hoping to gain more knowledge to futher my understanding of Indigenous contributions in the First World War. 

Cynthia: I’m most looking forward to visiting the St-Julien Memorial to learn about the Second Battle of Ypres and the use of chlorine gas. Also, I am interested in visiting the Passchendaele Museum because it was such an impactful event for Canadian soldiers and the mass casualties that followed. 

Paul: I think I am most excited to visit Passchendaele since that is where the actions of the solider I chose earned him his Victoria Cross. 

Mia: The theme I am most excited to explore is the “daily lives of soldiers” as it was one of my choices and a topic I am very much interested in. It feels important to me to learn more by doing research, having discussions, and visiting sites in-person that will allow me to better visualize what it would be like in their shoes. 

While visiting the Bedford House Cemetery, Emily found the grave of one of her family members who served and was killed in action at just 21 years old. Emily shared her thoughts on the day.

Emily Munro

“Today was technically our first program day but it consisted mostly of travelling and visiting one cemetery before turning in early. Despite that, it was still a lot more weighted than I thought it would be. Travelling was smooth, everyone is super lovely and it’s looking to be a great program for all involved! On the topic of the cemetery, we visited the Bedford House Cemetery in Ypres, Belgium! Upon walking into the gates, a hush fell over all of us, almost like how you instinctively hush your voice when entering a library.  We were given time to walk through the cemetery and it was so quiet that I felt hyper aware of how I was moving through the pristinely manicured landscape that was home to a few thousand graves. Once we had roamed sufficiently, everyone gathered in a raised semi-circle style area that hosted Second World War graves. I’m not quite sure what led me over to the area, but as I walked to it, I saw a headstone with the name W. Munro. He is a very distant relative of mine and I was a little shocked at first because I wasn’t expecting to see a grave with a familiar name over in Belgium. As I mulled over it, Sean gathered us together to discuss how we felt being in the cemetery and some shared thoughts. Once everyone who wished to share had shared, Sean mentioned one last point which was that we will inevitably at some point become desensitized to the cemeteries, and that it is not a bad thing, but that we should remind ourselves if we do, of how we first felt walking into the cemetery, and to humanize the graves ( to see them as humans and not graves). The weight of his words accompanied by the shock of finding a distant relative left me emotional to say the least. I had no words to describe the feeling. It was such a surreal experience, one that cannot be felt unless you experience it in person for yourself. Photos cannot do it justice. It was such an impactful moment, one that has made me incredibly aware of the privilege we have to be spending this week here in Belgium and France and I hope to keep these moments in mind as the program progresses.”

April 5

Today marked the second day of the 2026 Vimy Pilgrimage Award program. Students continued their exploration of Ypres, visiting key First World War sites including the St. Julien Canadian Memorial (the Brooding Soldier) and the Passchendaele Museum.

Today, Danielle, Joseph, Amelia, and Jasmine shared their reflections on the day’s visits and the themes explored.

Danielle

Today being our first full day of the program has been such a shock. Everyone is always asking which cemetery or memorial was our favorite. For me throughout the day seeing six different sites, they all accumulate into a large impact. It was one thing yesterday to see one cemetery which was already huge and put the sheer amount of sacrifice into perspective. Then to see the same thing six times over. Some sites even had graves with twenty soliders resting there. Then a foot away would be another grave with twenty. It really puts everything into perspective like I have never experienced. Its been hard to grasp and without personal experience we can never understand the full scope of impact the first world war had. However, the education team asks really good thought provoking questions. So far, its a lot of information but presented in a very digestible manner.

    The cemetery that had really stuck out to me was Essex Farm Cemetary. We saw the grave of a 15 year old Clifford Robinson Oulton. It is unimaginable to me to be younger than myself right now and serving in a combat role. Seeing his grave had led to many questions beyond his young death but about what he wouldve endured and the immense emotional strain this would put on such a young kid. We had also touched on what his home life and community must've been like to have motivated him to lie to join up so young. It had also made me reflect a lot on my privledge. For me to be older than him and visiting on these sites on a program versus his situation even younger than I am is very hard to understand. There really is no way to articulate the true weight of this experience and the story of Clifford Robinson Oulton.

   I did also enjoy the Passchendaele Museum. I liked the interactivity as the experience included an audio guide, although with the museum exhibitions themselves. Through these kinds of activities, I have been able to build off of my previous knowledge from cadets and family stories and ask questions. It was nice in the museum being able to engage with the education team in this way, talking about both large operations but also little details in exhibitions.

Joseph

Today, we got to visit the Passchendaele Museum, a stop I had been looking forward to for a while now. My Great-Grandfather James “Jim” McQuinn fought there, and I wanted to see what the area is like. We got to explore replica trenches and dugouts, full of scenes of what was happening at the time. It was such a unique experience to get to see places where my Great-Grandfather would have lived and worked, visualizing them full of mud, water, and exhausted soldiers. From what I know, he never talked to his family about his time at Passchendaele, and never married for twenty years after the end of the First World War. I had never before realized just how intense his time there must have been, until today. It was interesting to see how much the area has changed fromn when he wad there, it's now so lush and full of life, a stark contrast to the muddy, crater pocked wasteland it was for him. We watched a video of the front moving over time, and it was almost painful seeing the death counter count up to 125 000 people. Two of the quotes I saw at the museum today really stood out to me, one by Ernest Black: “I spent thirty-one months in France and Belgium, and I would rather do all the rest all over again than those six weeks at Passchendaele”, and the other by Siegfried Sasson: “I died in hell - (They called it Passchendaele)”. For me, these quotes really highlighted how horrible Passchendaele was for them. I had such an amazing experience at the museum today, I learned so much and it helped me better understand the experience of my Great-Grandfather in the First World War.

Amelia

Today, on Sunday, April 4th, was our first full day of the Vimy Pilgrimage Award program. After exhausting travel days on Friday and Saturday, I was excited to visit sites in the Ieper region in Belgium. My group had the chance to do our field presentation at the Yorkshire Trenches on why soldiers enlisted in the First World War. As I stood with my group, I felt so connected to the other 19 participants in that moment. We had all just met for the first time in person just one day ago, and came here from different areas across Canada, but I could tell everyone was equally engaged, passionate, and eager to learn about First World War history. We went to a variety of sites and were able to see graves for British, Canadian, and German soldiers, all honoured and well-kept. One of the soldiers we visited enlisted underage and died at the age of 15, which really put into perspective how different life was over 100 years ago. It was also interesting to see how the cemeteries, memorials, and battlefields were interspersed among the businesses, farms, and fields along the highway and in the Belgian countryside, as though the past and present were coexisting. I can’t wait to experience France and the rest of the program with my fellow participants.

Jasmine

On the second day of this program, we had the opportunity to visit many cemeteries and museums. The two locations that stood out to me are the Langemark German War Ceremony and the New Irish Farm Cemetery. The Langemark Cemetery gave me a new perspective of the war dead and how the Germans commemorated it. Throughout the walk and sharing, I was able to reflect on something Sean said yesterday, which was to visualize the graves as someone actually standing there. Some of the grey stones had around twenty names on them, and I just can’t imagine how many people would be standing there. The whole layout of the cemetery, with the German trees and the crosses throughout, made me feel more solemn and reflective on the other side of the war. The other place that stood out to me was the New Irish Farm Cemetery. The burial of the Chinese Labour Corps felt sort of surreal seeing them buried on the same land as everyone but still separated from the soldiers. I was surprised that many Canadians did not know that so many of them were being transported on the train, and it also helped me appreciate that I am living in a time where everyone is more accepting and willing to learn about these topics as a society. When we were reading their Chinese names on their headstones, I also felt sort of regretful in not being dedicated to learning Chinese words, as I could only read part of their names. Overall, today’s visits to the different cemeteries and museums helped me learn new perspectives of the war, reflect on stories of individual soldiers, and have given me more food for thought.

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