Huron Expositor, 2007-11-07, Page 3News
School pilgrimage to war graves in Europe sparks
research on hometown heroes by teacher
The Huron Expositor • November 7, 2007 Page 3
Susan Hundertmark
It wasn't until a family friend
asked her to lay something on a
brother's grave in' France that an
April trip with her Exeter high
school students to mark the 90th
anniversary of Vimy Ridge really
touched Tracy McLennan's heart.
McLennan, who grew up in
Winthrop, was asked by Olave
Little to visit .her brother Robert
Papple's grave at Beny-sur-Mer
when she learned McLennan would
be making the school trip.
"That very simple request made
the trip all the more personal. To
stand at Robert Papple's grave
made a huge impact on me - it
turned the trip into a pilgrimage for
me," says the South Huron
Secondary School history teacher.
But, as she looked around and
realized that many other Seaforth-
area veterans could be buried there,
McLennan started to berate herself
that she hadn't thought to do more
research on her hometown's war
heroes before the trip.
And, once back home in London,
Ont., she gave herself the project to
learn as much as she can about
those who died during both world
wars from the Seaforth area.
"As my students researched the
veterans from Exeter, I got to know
those guys. But, Exeter
isn't my hometown so I
don't feel the same con-
nection. Seaforth is
where I grew up so I
want to know about
those guys," she says.
During her first .visit
back to Seaforth after
the 10 -day trip to
Europe, McLennan car-
ried her notebook to the
Seaforth cenotaph
where she wrote down
the names of everyone
listed and began
researching their sto-
ries.
"How many times
have I stood at the ceno-
taph in Seaforth with-
out stopping to wonder
about the names
engraved there and who
they were? How many
people do I know in Seaforth who
have family buried overseas?" she
says.
From the internet alone, she was
able to discover some basic facts
about many - from their enlistment
date, their ages and professions to
the battalions they joined, battles
they fought, the date of their deaths
and where they are buried.
"There are so manypeapl6 Icould
Susan Hundertmark photo
Tracy (Bosman) McLennan, of London, looks over the names engraved on the Seaforth cenotaph. Since returning from a trip to
Europe in April, McLennan has been researching the lives of Seaforth-area veterans.
have visited if I'd only thought
about it or known," she says of the
Seaforth veterans buried in France.
But, avid historian that she is,
McLennan is still hoping to flesh
out more of their stories and is
beginning to call people listed in the
phone book with the
same last names.
"If anyone has any
information about
them, let me know. I
can't find anything on
some of these people
and I've been look-
ing," she says, adding
that a call to her at
South Huron District
High School or to her
parents Jim and Ann
Bosman would be
appreciated.
She hopes to put all
her research together
into a book that she
will present to the
Seaforth Legion.
While Frank Phillips
has put together
many photo albums
/ full of the pictures of
/ Seaforth-area veter-
ans, McLennan hopes her
stories will add to the photos.
She also plans to eventually do
the same thing for Brussels' veter-
ans, especially since some of them
are families she knows.
"All of my family came back alive.
I just think it's important to know
who they were," she says.
Because the high school students
in Exeter each took on a name of a
'How many
times have I
stood at the
cenotaph in
Seaforth
without
stopping to
wonder about
the names
engraved there
and who they
were,'—
Tracy McLennan
veteran and researched their lives
before the trip, McLellan mourns
the fact that Seaforth no longer has
a high school with students who can
honour Seaforth veterans the same
way.
"Maybe it's a project the public
school could take on," she says.
And, she feels a sense of urgency
about her research.
"I want to know these stories
before they're gone for good," she
says.
The high school trip included vis-
its to London, England and its
Imperial War Museum, Churchill
Museum and Cabinet War Rooms,
Salisbury Plains where Canadians
See HISTORY, Page 40
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