Wrapping up Day 6 was a memorable one. For me, today was about individual remembrance. We received wonderful presentations on individual soldiers from two of the 2019 tour members; Cora and Mark. Cora shared the story of A.V.S Nordheimer, who fell at The Battle of Moreuil Wood. Mark introduced us to W. Garvie, who was a relative of a family friend that died of his wounds near Rocquigny-Equancourt Road during the Battle of Amiens.

These moving presentations are reminders that these men were very human. Humans with stories, with families, with lives. The sheer amount of lives lost can sometimes cause stories of soldiers to blend into one collective human tragedy, which it was, but each person who sacrificed for the war deserves to have their stories told and remembered.

The Canadian Battlefield Tour is designed with the intent of remembrance and doing these individual soldier bios are an important way to keep these brave humans stories alive for future generations.
I feel so incredibly fortunate to not only have the opportunity to be on this tour and to tour battlefields to gain a greater understanding of the World Wars, but to also hear biographies of individual stories of soldiers and how the presenter is connected to them. Our leader, Dr. Marc Milner, briefly shared a story of a previous tour attendee who was moved to tears when he saw the grave and presented on the soldier he chose. This is a testament to the effect of The Great War lingering even 100 years later. The soldier biographies have been the highlight in an already invaluable tour for me and I look forward to presenting my soldier bio I chose to remember.

Thank you, CBF, for this once in a life time opportunity to remember.

~Kyle Bell