& ® NEWS STUDENTS CONNECT WITH FIRST WORLD WAR BY RESEARCHING LOCAL SOLDIERS GRADE 10S AT KING'S CHRISTIAN COLLEGIATE CREATED DETAILED PROJECTS ON SOLDIERS FROM HALTON REGION. SAIRA PEESKER speesker@metroland.com They already knew about the First-World War -- but a group of:Grade 10 students in Oakville say re- searching individual local veterans has given them a more visceral understand- ing of the brutal conflict. One hundred years after the end of the war -- during which more than 15 million people died, including about 60,000 Canadian sol- diers -- the students say it's "hard to truly know what life then was like -- but their history homework has helped. The 23 students in Mi- * chael Zietsma's Canadian history class at King's Christian College spent several weeks this fall cre- ating scrapbooks or web pages, looking into the mil- itary history, families and local connections of First World War veterans from the area. They used.gov- ernment channels to dig up old documents, found their subjects' names on local cenotaphs, and in some cases, even visited their * graves or former homes. "The goal was to help them® understand the hu- man experience of war," said Zietsma. "(The sol- diers) had lives... They had hopes." Some of the students say they now have more empa- thy for people who have ex- perienced war and a Oeeper connection to local history. "Everyone talks about the war on a large scale, but it's good to look at the people," said Miltoy resi- dent Sam Coleman, 15. "These were just people. Some of their deaths were sO unnecessary." Burlington resident Ad- die Presswood, 15, used her grandmother [Laura Forbes as a resource to study the life of close fami- ly friend George Nelson Ruttle. She said the project brought the two closer to- ~ gether, adding she thinks it's meaningful to her grandma that Ruttle's sto- ry has been passed on. "I think she was really proud (of my project)," said Presswood. "It's almost like his memory had been drifting away." We spoke with some of the students about theit re- search. Soldier: Cedric Lon rop Researched by: Coleman Harrop, like Coleman, was from Milton. He enlist- ed with his friend "Fred Walsh and was Killed at 21 in the Battle of Passchen- daele. He is remembered in a stained glass window at a local church that depicts close friends David and Jonathan from the Bible, and on the Milton ceno- taph. Coleman noted that while soldiers from several wars are listed on the stat- ue, "The Great War" iscen- tred, with: the others some- Sam § Nikki Wesley/Metroland King's Christian Collegiate students Sam Coleman, 15, (back Ir) Mark Sanadi, 14, (front I-r)Kyleise Rolf von den Baumen, 15, Brenda Zamora, 15, and Addie Presswood, 15, created detailed Remembrance Day projects wherereach student researched a loca, First World War soldier. what neath. "At squished under- the time, they thought it would be the on- ly war." Soldier: George Nel- son Ruttle Researched by: Addie Presswood Ruttle was rare among the soldiers the students " researched, in that he lived to return home from the war. Unfortunately, he got back to Toronto to discover that his wife had left him while he was away. Need- ing somewhere new to stay, he ended up living with Presswood's great-great- greatgrandparents and re- mained a close family friend until his death. As part of her project, Press- wood displayed a ring made out of a bullet with ed Milton Transmission Inc. 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Bath was captured by the Germans and moved between sever- al camps before escaping, and then being captured again. He died iii captivity of influenza and pneumo- nia. Soldier: Donald Roy MacKay Researched by: Brén- da Zamora A MacKay came from an Oakville farming family, heading to the war in July 1915 with the Royal Canadi- an Mounted Rifles. He had just been married to Eve- lyn Marjorie MacKay earli- er that month. After fight- ing in Belgium, he was killed in a raid on a Ger- man roadblock in Decem- ber 1915. "The - project really made me think about how horrible the war was," said Zamora. "It made it more important to me, and made me feel more connected to Oakville." Soldigr: Raymond Boocock® Researched by: Mark Sanadi VOKRLTY D wee JOQUUSAON "Arpsuny | 8 810 Before the war, Boocock lived with his wife and four sons in.a duplex at Randall and Navy streets in Oak- ville. His parents lived on the house's other side. As a member of the 20th Halton 'Rifles; he played clarinet in the band. Boocock was shipped out to Liverpool in April 2017 and fought in tia: Battle of Amiens, France. He died of a gunshot wound and was buried in France, but there are memorials to him in two Oakville ceme- teries: St. Jude's and St. Mary's. Sanadi ended up contacting Boocock"s grandson Doug. "I think he really appreciated (the pro- Jocn,® said Sanadi. --- mm mmm em em en ee ee de ee ee ie mm Best Western FREE PARKING & FREE LECTURE AND DEMONSTRATION ROOM Mediums, Palmistry, Tarot Cards, Crystal Ball, Crystals, Readings, Lectures & More 161 Chisholm Dr., Milton ESP PSYCHIC FAIR 1 NOVEMBER 16, 17 &%, 18TH, 2018 Friday: 2pm - 10pm Saturday: 11am'« 10pm Sunday: 11am - 7pm DOOR PRIZES DAILY (Jade Necklace, Bracelet, over $1000 value) Ld Top professional Psychic mediums. .Find out what's coming up in your love life, work, health and your finances. Woo' uo)eyapisul