Balmoral Hall remembers

By Bryan Williams, Senior School Humanities Teacher
I recently asked my father if we have a relative who died in 1915 during WWI, and this was his reply.
 
Media, Memory, and the First World War * is dedicated to my Great-Uncle Morris, who died at Ypres during the first chlorine gas attack of April 22, 1915. Two days later, his brother, Norm, was captured in the nearby village of St-Julien when a German division overran their position and took 1,500 Canadians prisoner. Great-Uncle Norm spent the next three years as a POW. He and most of 1st battalion were forced to work down in the coal mines around Lens, in coal tunnels that had nearly as much water in them as the trenches, and where conditions were almost as hazardous.One day, he and one of his buddies just refused to go down the mine again. So the German commandant ordered them to dig their own graves while the rest of the battalion watched. Then the spectators were ordered inside, where they heard (but didn’t have to watch) the shots from the firing squad. Sure as shooting, the fresh graves were all filled in the next morning. What no one inside the barracks knew was that it had really been a mock execution, and Great-Uncle Norm was shipped off to Germany to work as a farm hand, where they were desperate for Canadian talent to fix McCormack reapers. The breakdown of North American farm machinery was helping to create food shortages that a war-weary population could no longer tolerate, I supposeEven as a boy, I knew Great-Uncle Norm couldn't stand the smell of black bread, which was all the Germans had to feed him.
 
Media, Memory and the First World War is my father's most recently published book.
 
This is a great story about my family's history that I would not have known otherwise, as I have been introducing my students (and colleagues) to The World Remembers in anticipation of Veterans' Week.
 
A not-for-profit initiative, The World Remembers, based in Toronto, collects the names of the World War I dead from both sides in nations around the world, displaying them in each of the WWI centenary years to honour our shared histories.
 
Those who lost their lives in 1915 are now being commemorated, and Balmoral Hall School is honoured to share this one-of-a-kind resource with members of the BH family in the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day. From October 5 to November 11, a screen near the reception desk will display all names collectedOnly two schools in Manitoba are participating in The World Remembers, and we are proud to be one them.

If you know of a relative or family friend who fought in WWI and died in 1915, it is possible to find out exactly when that name will be displayed; all are searchable (by last name and country) at this link.
 
Personally, I am going to try my best to take a picture of the screen when my great-great-uncle's name is displayed.
 
It's our time to remember after all.
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Balmoral Hall School

630 Westminster Ave. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada  R3C 3S1
Tel: (204) 784-1600 | Fax: (204) 774-5534 | info@balmoralhall.ca
Charitable Registration No. 12994 3932 RR0001
Our mission at Balmoral Hall School is to inspire girls’ imagination and the courage to excel, to reach, to lead, to care.

We are a nondenominational independent day and boarding school, educating students from Junior Nursery to Grade 12.