The Sundre Pioneer Village Museum is hosting an exhibit that offers a glimpse into Canada’s relatively brief but substantial military history.
“It’s a pleasure to have this exhibit,” said Jaime Marr, the museum’s executive director, about the From Vimy to Juno display.
Partnering with some of the other small-town museums in Central Alberta made hosting the exhibit for a few weeks more economically feasible. Before arriving in Sundre, the display was in Trochu in June, and the exhibit will be featured in Rocky Mountain House in August, said Marr.
“We’ve got it until the end of July,” she said, adding the display will be dismantled and delivered to its next location on July 27.
An informal launch was held on July 9, when members of the Sundre Royal Canadian Legion Branch #223 were invited to participate.
“I thought it was fitting to have some men and women in uniform turn out. The intent of the exhibit was to honour them after all.”
The display arrived in a hockey bag containing several fabric wall panels that feature a variety of historical information highlighting stories from the First World War to the Second World War, including Canada’s role in major battles such as Vimy Ridge in the First World War as well as the Second World War's D-Day landings on Juno Beach, she said.
A portion of the museum was sectioned off and transformed to accommodate the exhibit, which people can drop by to visit any time during regular hours from Monday to Sunday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., she said.
Anyone with some kind of connection to the global conflicts that shaped modern history — such as, for example, a grandparent or great-uncle or -aunt who served — is also welcome to share that information for inclusion in the museum’s records, she said.
The bilingual travelling exhibit was developed by the Juno Beach Centre in partnership with the Vimy Foundation as well as support from the Department of Canadian Heritage, states a press release.
“It was created to honour Canada’s sesquicentennial, the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, and the 75th anniversary of D-Day in 2019.”
The display recounts the story of the Canadian experience during the two world wars and explores themes of remembrance and commemoration, offering an opportunity to incorporate local stories into the exhibition’s narrative. The exhibition has been travelling since March 2016 and will have spanned coast to coast, reads the press release.
The Juno Beach Centre, which is Canada’s Second World War museum and cultural centre in Normandy, France, was established by veterans with a vision to create a permanent memorial to all Canadians who served the country during the Second World War and to preserve their legacy for generations to come, it reads.
Todd MacDonald, service officer for the Sundre Royal Canadian Legion Branch #223 as well as the lieutenant and chief training officer for the Didsbury Army Cadets #3025, attended the launch event on July 9.
“It’s a good informational representation of what happened” throughout Canada’s military history, he said about the exhibit.
“I hope a lot of people take advantage of it and go see it.”
Additional artifacts provided courtesy of the Sundre museum include but aren't limited to a long-since discontinued wool military uniform and a civilian ration card book that offers some insight on the limitations people faced during the countrywide war effort, he said.
MacDonald encourages anyone who is interested in Canada’s military history not to pass up the opportunity to learn more about how our country solidified a reputable presence on the international stage.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize it, but Vimy was one of the defining moments in Canada’s military history,” he said about the battle that saw Canadian troops accomplish in days what our French and British Allies had failed to do at great cost over months.
“That was our coming of age — that’s a part of our heritage.”
Visit http://www.vimytojuno.ca/en or drop by the museum for additional information.
