Reliving the Experience

Aim

To present personal accounts of the events that took place during and following the Dieppe Raid through the real life experiences of Canadian Veterans who participated in Operation Jubilee.

Objectives

Youth will:

obtain more in-depth knowledge of the Dieppe Raid; and
become aware of the horrific conditions that Dieppe prisoners of war (POWs) endured, by listening to the stories of Canadian Veterans who participated in Operation Jubilee.

Target Audience

These activities are suitable for ages 12-18.

Sequence of Events and Anticipated Time Frame

This activity is designed to be completed over two class periods.

Class 1:

Introduction: [10 minutes]
Selecting and viewing video clips: [30 minutes]
Introduce the war correspondent group activity [10 minutes]

Class 2:

War correspondent activity: [60 minutes]

Brainstorming: [20 minutes]
Creating: [20 minutes]
Presentation and closing: [20 minutes]

[This activity can be modified to fit available class time.]

Materials:

List of Heroes Remembers video clips
Canada Remembers the Dieppe Raid historical sheet
Dieppe Raid Photo Gallery;
Computer with internet access

Class 1:

Introduction: [10 minutes]

Have the students read the handout Canada Remembers the Dieppe Raid historical sheet.

Selecting and Viewing Video Clips: [30 minutes]

Divide the class into seven small groups. Once divided, assign each group one of the seven topics from the List of Heroes Remembers video clips

Each group will view the video clips listed under the topic they have been assigned.

Heroes Remembers Video Clips:

Let youth know that while they are listening to each clip they should be prepared to take notes to be used in their multimedia news story.

Introduce the war correspondent group activity [10 minutes]

Once all the groups have completed viewing their video clips, introduce the War Correspondent Group Activity that will take place in the next class. Each of the groups will take on the role of a Canadian overseas news team during the Second World War. One or two team members could play the role of a war correspondent, one could be a news anchor person back in Canada, another a military photographer responsible for taking newsreel footage or photographs.

The news teams are to be located in different areas:

Location one:

Students should imagine it is August 19, 1942, and they are reporting from one of the ships taking Canadian troops from England to France to come ashore at Dieppe. Watching from a ship anchored off the beaches where the Canadians are landing, they will witness the action that is taking place along the shoreline.

Location two:

Most of the Canadians who were captured at Dieppe would spend more than two-and-a-half years in prisoner-of-war camps, sometimes under harsh and inhumane conditions. Many of these camps were located in Eastern Europe and as Soviet forces advanced westward during the winter of 1944-1945, the prisoners were cruelly forced to walk to camps deeper inside German territory. Sadly, many freezing, exhausted men would lose their lives during these forced marches.

Students should imagine they are reporting from the scene when some Dieppe POWs are finally liberated from their camps in the spring of 1945.

Using the video clips, as well as the transcripts of the clips, and/or archival photographs, students are to create a multimedia news story which can be presented as

a two-minute radio news broadcast;
a two-minute news broadcast; or
a web-based feature or social media video.

Class 2:

Review: [10 minutes]

Do a brief review of the notes takes from watching the video clips.

War Correspondent Activity: [60 minutes]

Arrange the class so each group will have a work station from which they can prepare their presentation.

1. Brainstorming [20 minutes]

First, each group should decide how they will present their story. Formats could include visuals/slide show/Power Point presentation (e.g. a period newsreel footage theatre news broadcast); a news broadcast without visuals (e.g. radio broadcast); or a print news story (e.g. newspaper article). Each group should then discuss the information they might use from their individual note taking; the interview clip transcripts; and visuals from the Dieppe Raid photo gallery or other historical photographs to create their news story. Make sure that each presentation does not exceed two minutes in duration. Draft a storyboard from the information selected (maximum 500 words).

2. Creating [20 minutes]

Using the storyboard they have developed, students should write their news script or print story and insert the visuals they have, where appropriate.

3. Presentation and closing [20 minutes]

Have each of the groups present their news story to the class. To create some interest among the students in this activity you might want to have a secret vote among the class to select the best presentation(s).

After the last presentation, have a general discussion on the activity and what they have learned about the Canadian efforts at Dieppe and the raid's aftermath.

Date modified:: 2019-02-14