When Sam Futhey of Uxbridge, Ont. stands at the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France on April 9, he will be mere steps from world leaders and famous dignitaries.
But as the 16-year-old joins thousands in marking 100 years since the famed battle, his thoughts will be with his great-great grandfather, Frederick Futhey.
The First World War soldier served in the Battle of Vimy Ridge, a revelation Sam only learned this year. After signing up to participate in his high school’s remembrance tour of France and Belgium, Sam dug into some old family artifacts, only to find a wartime bible and diary belonging to Frederick Futhey, the father of Sam’s paternal grandfather.
Scrawled on one page: “I went over the top at Vimy Ridge and was wounded…”
A pocket diary that once belonged to First World War veteran Frederick Futhey. (Photo courtesy Patricia MacDonald)
Astonished, Sam dug into Canadian military records, only to learn that in 1915 at the age of 30, Frederick Futhey had indeed enlisted with the Canadian military, and was later sent overseas to France.
Sam says his great-great-grandfather, who was from Chapleau, Ont., served in the 19th Battalion during the famed four-day battle to retake France from Germany.
“When I started doing some looking into my family, my grandparents came over with files on my great-great-grandfather who fought at Vimy Ridge,” Sam Futhey said in an interview with CTVNews.ca. “They also had newspaper clippings from the town he was from.”
Sam’s uncle did some more research into their family connection to Vimy. Looking at maps, discovered that Frederick “would have been beside the only tanks that the Canadians had” during the Battle for Vimy Ridge, Sam said.
“We’re all really amazed,” he added, “because a little over a year ago, we barely even knew that they existed and now we know that he participated in a great historical event in Canadian history.”
Photos and a journal that once belonged to Uxbridge, Ont. student Sam Futhey's great-great-grandfather, who served at Vimy Ridge. (Photo courtesy Patricia MacDonald)
This week, after years of planning, Sam Futhey will retrace his ancestor’s steps and receive a firsthand history lesson into the battle that left an indelible mark on Canada’s history. Sam is part of a student delegation at Uxbridge Secondary School travelling to various war memorials in France and Belgium, including the Vimy Ridge 100th commemoration near Arras, France on April 9.
Sam said he has pored over Frederick’s wartime journal, but due to its age, the delicate diary will not be travelling with him to Europe. “I’m going to bring a picture of him, for sure,” Sam said.
Uxbridge Secondary School co-op teacher Patricia MacDonald, who is leading her fourth student remembrance tour to Europe, says the trip is the culmination of work that the students do to learn about Canada’s place in world events.
To supplement some of the costs of the 10-day trip, students and staff over the past two years have held various events with local war veterans and historians and other remembrance events with local politicians. A fundraising gala held at the school last year was named in honour of Sam Sharpe, who recruited the 116th Battalion out of Uxbridge and led them to service at Vimy.
Sam Futhey, centre, shows off his great-great-grandfather's journal from the First World War. (Photo courtesy Patricia MacDonald)
MacDonald said the pre-trip activities make it that much more meaningful for the students when they’re overseas.
“They get the connections to the stories and the veterans, it makes it the stories come more alive, more real for them,” she told CTVNews.ca. “Then they can take that knowledge and the feeling that comes from it and they can continue to act as torch-bearers for remembrance.”
MacDonald added: “We no longer have any World War one veterans left with us, our Second World War veterans are dwindling, so it’s important that we have a chance to share their stories as best we can, with future generations because that’s how remembrance is going to stay active.”
MacDonald said students who attend the remembrance tours “come in with a textbook knowledge and then … it makes the transformation from the textbook to their head, and then from their head to their heart.”
Canada’s Veterans Affairs department says more than 17,000 Canadians have registered to attend Vimy Ridge commemorative events in France. Of that, 10,000 are students. A total of 23,000 people have registered to attend the events in France.
