'They were 2 years older than us': Students from Canada commemorate 80th anniversary of VE Day

At Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside, P.E.I., students have created posters and plaques about local soldiers who died in the Second World War.

But David Chisholm, the vice-principal and a former social studies teacher, knows there's no learning experience quite like a field trip to make history come to life. About 20 years ago, he had a transformative moment during a professional development trip to Europe, where he learned about the life of a fallen Canadian soldier.

"I said all kids need to do this because we were at a point in time where I think that Remembrance Day was just kind of a one-day-a-year thing. And we just decided that here that we're going to try to do it a little bit differently."

In late April, about 50 students in grades 11 and 12 from three P.E.I. schools, including Chisholm's, travelled to the Netherlands to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the country from the Nazis — an Allied operation in which the First Canadian Army played a key role, with 7,600 soldiers losing their lives in the process.

At least 280,000 Dutch civilians died during the Nazi occupation, from causes ranging from starvation to deportation to death camps, a fate that took the life of young writer Anne Frank.

The sense of fraternity and gratitude toward Canadians has stayed with the Dutch ever since, with Canadian vets and delegations still being extended the heroes' welcome decades after the war.

WATCH | P.E.I. students on honouring local heroes who perished in Second World War:

During the trip, which began in France, students will walk in the footsteps of Canadian soldiers who helped liberate the Netherlands from Nazi occupation in April 1945, and place a plaque on the grave of a P.E.I. soldier, Alvah Ray Leard. They're among students from 34 high schools across Canada who will participate in the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, or VE Day, which took place on May 8, 1945.

In an interview before the trip, Grade 12 student Ian Sharpe said he'll be reflecting on the lives of Leard and his great-great-uncle, a stretcher-bearer who also died during the liberation of Europe in 1945.

"You sort of get to experience things that you've seen in the books and in the movies," he said. "When you're learning about things like that, to actually be there and to realize the true sacrifice that was made by the Canadians, there is going to be a very moving experience."

Making history matter

Experiencing history on the very soil where it took place is one way to make it relevant to students.

For young people born well into the 21st century, many without living relatives who fought in the war, Canada's role in VE Day 80 years ago can seem remote and abstract.

Still, teachers like Jackie Shaw at St. Stephen Catholic Secondary School in Bowmanville, Ont., say the interest is there, sometimes in surprising places.

"Some of these kids do have a connection via their parents serving in the Canadian military," Shaw said, while preparing her group of about 15 students for their trip to the Netherlands and France over a pizza lunch. "Some of them just, I think, naturally love history, which is great.... I think some of them are interested in it because of playing video games at some point."

Tomas Kovacs, one of the Bowmanville students who went to Europe, remarked on the youth of the fallen Canadian soldiers: "Us living back then, we would have to go to war as well, because they were two years older than us. So not that big of an age gap."

Chisholm, of Three Oaks in Summerside, said that connection to the youth of the fallen soldiers is something he's seen first-hand during his previous trips to Europe with students.

"I'll have teenagers that will get to the graves and they'll kneel down and they'll leave their letters. And then we need to go console them because all of a sudden they're overwhelmed with emotion because they look at an age, you know, an 18-year-old, a 19-year-old, a 20-year-old. And they're thinking about how could they ever do that?"

'Canada is a nation that is well respected'

Another teacher who took his students to Europe for the ceremonies, David McKinney of Parkland Secondary School in North Saanich, B.C., said it's not just about the lessons of the past.

He said he hopes that seeing how Canadians are perceived by the Dutch gives students a greater sense of patriotism and pride.

"I think it's also really important to remember that Canada is a nation that is well respected across the globe. And even though lately we've been ... bullied a little bit by the school bully, it's still important to remember that we're guests of honour of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as a nation that heroically helped to free them."

Jonathan May, one of the 30 students who went on the trip, said he's bracing himself for the hugs and celebrations.

"They probably love us more than we love ourselves," May said. "It's, like, really humbling."

"I think it'll be something I will remember for the rest of our lives," added his classmate, Drishti Balaiah. She, along with other students, created artwork to memorialize individual soldiers who perished in the liberation of Europe.

"And how amazing will it be to be able to tell my kids, you know, I was there for that, the 80th anniversary of VE Day."

WATCH | Students in North Saanich, B.C., prepare to travel to Europe to mark VE Day: