A new exhibit at the Major-General Charles Basil Prince Armoury is honouring the French-Canadian soldiers from the First World War, through the stories of those who fought in the second battle of Ypres. “There’s always a rumour that the French-Canadians didn’t fight as much as the English in the First World War, but they did. They were present. They had their own regiments and they were fighting with the English side-by-side,” assistant curator Amynte Eygun says. Eygun says the 1915 battle of Ypres in Flanders, Belgium was a defining moment. It marked the first major engagement of Canadian troops, including two francophone companies of the Royal Montreal Regiment in the First World War. Soldiers faced chlorine gas, trench warfare, and the threat of becoming prisoners of war. One such prisoner was Pvt. Arthur Nantel. “[Nantel] spent years in prison camps painting his experience. And his paintings really show us a first-hand account of what was happening in these prison camps, which is hard to know since it was censored back then,” Eygun says. More than 2,000 Canadian soldiers died in the first 48 hours of combat. Ret. Lt-Col. Colin Robinson says the loss would inspire Lt.-Col. John McRae to write the famous poem “In Flanders Fields.” “It was a way for [John McRae] to deal with the grief of losing some friends,” Robinson says. “When he was looking out, sitting on the back of a transport vehicle and looking out at the crosses and the poppies that would grow kind of like dandelions grow here, well the poppies would be growing there,” Robinson explains. More than a century later, a new generation is getting a chance to connect with history. “It’s very interesting to learn more in detail and more specifically about the French-Canadians in the Army, because we do live in Quebec and it’s part of our heritage,” Grade 9 Sacred Heart student Emilie Hagan says. “I just thought it was so interesting learning about all of the different people and the personal stories,” classmate Keeley Casimir adds. “World War One, we don’t speak of as much, especially like the French side. And I didn’t really realize how much was done here in Montreal,” classmate Nicola Bourne told CTV News. “We have to remember those who fought for our freedom and how lucky we are to be free,” fellow student Addison Hannah added. The exhibit is on until Nov. 15.
