A 16-year-old girl who had a number of relatives fight in World War One is heading to Europe Tuesday with her classmates for a special commemoration.
Alyssa MacPhearson is a Grade 10 student who is partaking in a tour group heading to Vimy Ridge on Tuesday to mark 100 years since the battle.
MacPhearson told CTV News Toronto that she would be thinking about her great-grandfather and his three brothers who all fought in World War One during her trip.
“They fought right where we’ll be standing – it’s different than learning about it in a classroom,” she said.
The school MacPhearson attends, Donald A. Wilson, has 40 students embarking on this trip. Another school in Durham Region, J. Clarke Richardson Collegiate in Ajax, is sending around 60 students on the same organized tour.
Students who spoke to CTV News Toronto said that they have been learning about the battle and its significance for the country, but they are looking forward to experiencing history first hand.
The teens going on this trip will be between 16 and 18 years old – the same age some of the soldiers were when they fought in the war. Some teens said that realization is “overwhelming.”
“(My relatives) wanted to go fight in the war, they wanted to serve their country – it was an honour for them,” MacPhearson said. “That’s crazy that they went over when they were that age because I could never imagine anyone that I know – or me – going over and fighting in a war.”
MacPhearson said that her family members were one of very few families in Canada who sent four brothers to the war at that time. She said all of them were over the age of 18 except one who was 17 years old and faked his age in order to serve his country.
MacPhearson never had the chance to meet any of these relatives, but said she has learned about their lives through her grandfather who recovered photographs of their relatives and newspaper articles written about their journey.
While sharing these documents with CTV News Toronto on Thursday, MacPhearson said seeing these items has brought more context to the historical event they are going to honour.
“I feel like (being there) will be very emotional and touching because without their sacrifice I wouldn’t be here,” she said.
Along with MacPhearson, other students going on this trip said they are excited that the trip is finally approaching after more than a year of planning.
“I think being able to go and see how different it is there and being able to pay my respects to the soldiers is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be there for the 100th anniversary,” student Emily McGillivray-Crawford said.
The organization behind this trip EF Tours said they are taking approximately 9,000 Canadians to Vimy Ridge for this anniversary.
