The Purpose

Nearly 1,750,000 men and women served for Canada during the First World War, the Second World War and the Korean War. Approximately 116,000 died as a result of their service. Part of the mandate of Veterans Affairs Canada is to keep the memory of their achievements and sacrifices alive for all Canadians.

The lessons of yesterday, remembered and passed on to the minds of tomorrow. That's the theme of this special pilgrimage that will see war heroes from two countries on a pilgrimage of remembrance with 24 local secondary school students.

Veteran's Affairs Canada, the Royal Norwegian Consulate, Maritime Forces Atlantic, several Nova Scotian educators, and Her Honour, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, Myra Freeman have combined in a partnership to bring together students and the most highly decorated surviving Canadian and Norwegian veterans of the Second World War in a unique learning experience, highlighting the Nova Scotia - Norway connection.

From April 21-25, students from Lunenburg, Pictou and Dartmouth, as well as teacher chaperones, will use the experience to enhance learning about the Second World War. Students from Lunenburg, and West Pictou District High Schools will tour sites in Halifax and the South Shore on April 24-25, including facilities used in the war to train Norwegian whalers for military duty. Meanwhile members of the Metro High School Writers' Circle, most from Cole Harbour's Auburn Drive High, will hone their journalistic skills, forming a Youth Media Team to provide poetry, sketch art, radio, and written reports on the people and events, starting on Sunday, April 22.

The project is designed to cover various sites connected with the Second World War and contains a day trip to Lunenburg to discover what life was like for the Norwegians when they first came here. There will be a trip to Camp Norway, to the Fisheries Museum where there will be an interpretation of the display on Camp Norway and a question and answer session at Lunenburg Academy with Norwegian resistance hero Gunnar Sonsteby. Special ceremonies, that will include the Norwegian Ambassador to Canada, Ingvard Havnen, and the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, the Honourable Myra Freeman, will be held April 25 in Lunenburg. There will be students of all ages participating in what is aimed at a variety of learning experiences.

Among the veterans will be Ernest (Smoky) Smith, Canada's only surviving recipient of the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth's highest award for bravery, and Norway's most highly decorated veteran, Gunnar Sonsteby. Sonsteby is in Canada to visit and to promote his autobiography, Report from No 24. They will meet for the first time. Smith, Sonsteby, and fellow Norwegian war veteran Ingwald Wahl will be speaking to 130 students at Lunenburg Academy on April 25. Sonsteby and Wahl will also meet with The Writer's Circle in the afternoon of April 24 at Maritime Command to discuss writing and to hear poetry the student writers have created about their lives and the Canada-Norway war connection. A Norwegian film crew will document Sonsteby and Wahl's visit and interaction with Canadian students and veterans.

Local veterans and members of the Lunenburg Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion will also participate in many aspects of the pilgrimage. On the coaches down to Lunenburg on April 25, the veterans and students will be seated together and the veterans will be encouraged to talk about their wartime experiences.

Educators who are involved plan to bring their experiences back to the classroom and share with their colleagues, as well as other students. Veterans Affairs Canada will call on some of the students, over the course of the year, to work on future projects involving bringing students and veterans together, to learn about and pay tribute to those who have shaped Canada's military and peacekeeping legacy, and to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom.

The student tours of April 24-25 will be preceded by two days of tours of the area by Sonsteby and Wahl, memorial ceremonies at several locations, and meetings for Ambassador Havnen with the Norwegian Honourary Consuls in Canada.