Youth Remember the 100^th Anniversary of Canada’s Hundred Days
Victoria Cross Recipients Memory Game

Aim

To increase youth awareness of the 100^th anniversary of the final three months of the First World War, a period often called “Canada’s Hundred Days,” and to encourage youth to learn about some Victoria Cross recipients.

Objectives

Youth will be expected to:

• develop a basic understanding of Canada’s Hundred Days;
• learn about the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery a Canadian could receive during the First World War; and
• learn about individuals who earned a Victoria Cross during Canada’s Hundred Days.

Target audience

This activity is suitable for ages 8 to 11.

Sequence of events and anticipated time frame [45 minutes]

(This activity can be modified to fit available time.)

• Introductory discussion [15 minutes]
• Memory Game [25 minutes]
• Wrap-up discussion [5 minutes]

Materials

• Memory Game sheet

Introductory Discussion [15 minutes]

Lead brief discussion with your students about bravery. Ask them what they consider to be a brave action. Have they ever witnessed an act of bravery? Do they know people who are brave? Then, ask them if a person fighting in a war is brave. There is no right or wrong answer, and the goal is not to glorify violence or only associate it with bravery, but steer the discussion about Canadians who left their family and friends to fight in a war far from their hometown.

Remind your students that the First World War started over a 100 years ago in 1914 and caused chaos in Europe. To help restore peace overseas, and also hoping that war would not come home, more than 660,000 Canadians would serve in the Canadian Expeditionary Force between 1914 and 1918. Explain that the soldiers fought in many difficult battles during four long years and many people performed acts of bravery.

In the military, bravery can be recognized in different ways, one of them is by awarding medals or decorations. Ask your students if they have heard about the various medals for bravery. Tell them that some examples are the Military Medal, the Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Military Cross, to name a few.

Now, explain that they will play a memory game to learn about individuals who were awarded the Victoria Cross. The Victoria Cross, also known as “VC”, is the highest award a Canadian (or someone serving with the Allies) could receive for bravery during the war. It’s like the “gold medal” of the bravery awards. During the entire First World War, approximately 70 Canadians were awarded the Victoria Cross. Now, tell your students that in the last three months of the First World War alone (period known as “Canada’s Hundred Days”), 30 Victoria Crosses were awarded to individuals serving in the Canadian Forces, almost half of all VCs awarded to Canadians in all of the First World War!

To learn more about the Victoria Cross recipients, visit Canada's Victoria Cross section on the National Defence website. Also, if you want to learn more about Canada’s Hundred Days, you can read The Last Hundred Days historical sheet and visit the day by day calendar also called The Last Hundred Days.

Memory Game [25 minutes]

Print the Memory Game sheet double-sided and photocopy the set.

Cut each card and make sure every Victoria Cross recipients has a “clone” (this is why we ask that you photocopy the page).

During Canada’s Hundred Days, 30 individuals serving in the Canadian Expeditionary Force were awarded the Victoria Cross. If you play the memory game with the full set, you will then have 60 cards. This could be challenging, depending of the age of your students. You can modify the game and divide in smaller groups of VC recipients to make the game more enjoyable.

Wrap-up discussion [5 minutes]

After playing the game, wrap-up the activity by asking your students if they can name the highest award a Canadian could receive in the First World War. Ask them if they remember the name of one of those VC recipients. You can also ask them if they recall the name we sometimes use to refer to the last three months of the First World War.

To go further with this activity on Canada’s Hundred Days Victoria Cross recipients, you could assign VC recipients to students for a research project on the internet. The Canada's Victoria Cross section the National Defence website has a page for each recipient.