The younger generation of Albertans is being encouraged to learn and exhibit for one of Canada’s defining moments as a nation – the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
The SPIRIT of Vimy (Sportsmanship, Perseverance, Integrity, Resiliency, Inspiration and Teamwork) contest is for Albertans aged 14 to 24 and will run through Feb. 24, 2017.
The educational program offers participants prizes to explore their own personal or local community connections to the First World War battle.
Judges aren’t looking for a history paper about Vimy Ridge, though – they want young Albertans to put themselves in the boots of Canadian soldiers.
Entries must reflect characteristics of those Canadians who won the battle and how they did so by using Sportsmanship, Perseverance, Integrity, Resiliency, Inspiration and Teamwork.
“What I really care about is these young people are going to be encouraged to learn other chapters in Canadian history,” said Alberta Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell to the Outlook.
Mitchell launched the program as the first initiative of a newly created History and Heroes Foundation. The foundation will continue to introduce additional programming in the years ahead.
“I was a teacher and part of it for me is for them to really understand, as a country, where we’ve been and Vimy Ridge was a defining moment in Canadian history and that when they got there they truly felt and became what Canada was about.”
Entries may take a wide range of forms, including video essays, visual arts, creative writing, music composition and choreography.
Contest prizes include the opportunity to retrace the steps of Canada’s heroes at Vimy Ridge in France. Other prizes include random monthly draws (through February), as well as a People’s Choice award.
The First World War’s Battle of Vimy Ridge has been described as the moment Canada became a nation.
Vimy Ridge was a triumphant victory for Allied troops as it was taken by Canadians, with the help of British artillery, after unsuccessful Allied attempts to defeat the Germans on the eight-kilometre escarpment in northern France.
The victory came with a hefty price tag, though, as over 10,500 Canadians were killed or wounded from April 9-12.
The battle’s losses included two brothers from Banff – Jack and George Lomax – whose deaths were reported in the April and September 1917 editions of the Crag and Canyon.
Jack was killed on April 10 fighting at Vimy Ridge and George died of wounds from the battle in hospital on Aug. 24.
A third brother, William, also fought in the First World War and had been in critical condition after being gassed in battle on Aug. 6, 1917.
William died on Jan. 1, 1919 after returning to Canada after a battle with influenza, according to the Jan. 3, 1919 edition of the Calgary Herald.
“We’ve discovered more and more people who have relatives who fought at Vimy Ridge, so there is a lot out there I feel that is still untold,” said Mitchell.
SPIRIT of Vimy contest details can be found at www.spiritofvimy.ca.
