[BCMA] Creston Museum Hosting Trench Dinner

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

Creston Museum hosting "Trench Dinner" to commemorate Great War battle

 

On April 24, 1915, Canadian troops made their first major appearance on a
European battlefield. It was the Battle of St. Julien, and it was a pivotal
moment in the Great War.

"We have identified fifty-one young men from the Creston Valley who had
enlisted by the time the Battle of St. Julien occurred," says Creston Museum
manager Tammy Hardwick. "Some were still in training, but over thirty of
them were in France, and on that battlefield."

 

Thanks to many hundreds of hours of research by volunteer John Dinn, the
Museum has been able to trace the movements of almost all of those young men
- the date they enlisted, the units they served in, and where exactly they
were on April 24, 1915.

 

"We've had to make educated guesses for a few of these guys," says Hardwick,
"but for the most part we know whether they fought in the Battle of St.
Julien, and, if so, where they were on the battlefield and whether they
survived it or were wounded, killed, or taken prisoner."

 

The Museum has also traced - although in less detail - the military careers
of the soldiers after the battle. Collectively, they fought in every major
battle of the Great War, served in every capacity from privates to flying
officers, earned many military decorations, and account for nearly half of
the local fatalities of the war.

 

Now, the Creston Museum invites the public to share the individual stories
of these fifty-one brave young men, at a special Trench Dinner on April 24,
2015 - the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of St. Julien.


Each dinner ticket bears the name of one of those fifty-one soldiers. Guests
will follow "their" soldier through a special exhibit that details his
enlistment and training process and pinpoints his presence and actions on
the battlefield. Where exactly was he on that day, a century ago? Did he
survive the battle? Did he survive the war?

Then, guests will enjoy a meal similar to the one "their" soldier would have
had in 1915.

 

"We do have to take into account modern health regulations," says Hardwick
with a laugh. "So we won't be serving rats, and we'll even avoid the
beans-on-toast thing. But we will be re-creating, as closely as possible, a
typical meal for each solider, depending on where he was and what happened
to him. Obviously, the lads training in England would have had quite a
different meal than a soldier who had been taken prisoner."

 

Although the Battle of St. Julien marked the first time Canadian troops were
subjected to the horrors of chemical warfare, "we won't actually recreate a
gas attack," says Hardwick. "And no one will go without a meal, even though
a lot of the local soldiers were without food or water for a couple of days
during the battle."

 

Even so, the Museum guarantees that guests will leave with a greater
understanding of what it was like for these young men, so far from home,
fighting a war that was far longer, and far bloodier, than anything they had
expected.

 

The special exhibit and dinner will be held at the Canadian Legion Hall on
11th Avenue North, on Friday, April 24, 2015. The exhibit opens at 5:30;
dinner will be served at 6:00. Tickets, $15 per person, are available at
Creston Museum and Black Bear Books. Space is limited; advance tickets are
highly recommended. 

 

The Creston Museum's Annual General Meeting will follow.

For more information, or to purchase tickets, call 250-428-9262 or email
crestonmuseum at telus.net
<mailto:crestonmuseum at telus.net?subject=Trench%20Dinner> 

 

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Flags halfTammy Hardwick, Manager

Creston & District Museum & Archives

219 Devon Street, Creston, BC V0B 1G3

Phone 250-428-9262

www.creston.museum.bc.ca <http://www.creston.museum.bc.ca/> 

 

Find us on Facebook! <https://www.facebook.com/CrestonMuseum> 

 

 

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