Oakville Beaver, 23 Apr 2010, p. 13

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Brothers died together Continued from page 12 13 · Friday, April 23, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com were asked to each choose a soldier, killed in the D-Day landings and the battles that followed, to research and learn more about. Julia Barber, Hilary Fife, and Allison Bishop, all 16, chose the Westlake brothers George, Thomas and Albert, who all landed on Juno Beach on D-Day and were all killed in the following days. The three students discovered a number of things about the brothers, who were all in their 20s, from their jobs before the war to whether they were married to the circumstances surrounding their deaths. George, the first to enlist, was also killed first the day after D-day. The deaths of Albert and Thomas had a real impact on Fife and Barber. "They were buried together and this is because they died in each others arms," said Barber. "After the D-Day invasion, they had joined up in a wheat field and they spent their last few days fighting on a Bren machinegun. This was really powerful to learn about because they were brothers, they fought together and they died together." Fred Williams, another student's soldier, brought Oakville Trafalgar students to the scene of a terrible crime at the Abbaye d'Ardenne. At that place, in the days following the D-Day invasions, Williams and approximately 20 other Canadian soldiers, who had been captured by enemy forces, were murdered after refusing to provide the Germans with information. They were then buried in shallow graves in the abbey's gardens. "I was so struck by the fact that this had happened and that the Germans had gone against the rules of war and killed these soldiers," said Katie Armstrong, 17, who visited the abbey. "Being at the abbey, I wasn't angry, I wasn't sad, I was happy to experience this and I was proud of them for keeping their honour and not revealing any information." Oakville Trafalgar High School history teacher Pam Calvert said bringing students to places like Abbaye d'Ardenne and researching people like the Westlake brothers is important because it shows them war is so much more than dates and statistics. "I think it lets them connect on a personal level with someone who has made the ultimate sacrifice. They got to know them as a young man, with a life ahead of them, with goals and dreams and families, they could have been married and this lets the students relate to them as a person and not just a number or a statistic or a headstone," said Calvert. "They also had the chance to give voice to a story. Some story that's never been told before, they got a chance to write it up, to have it published and to have it somewhere where others could find it so relatives of these soldiers know there are students out there that do care and who are trying to remember." Curl for Kid's Sake BONSPIEL $ 30,000 We Gratefully Acknowlege the Oakville Curling Club, our host for the past 22 years A Big Thanks to All of Our 2010 Curling Sponsors Top Fundraising Leaders Bankers with Brooms ­ Team Captain ­ Stephanie Ozog Defending Champs ­ Team Captain ­ Kevin Bender Genworth Financial ­ Team Captain - Tim Watson Javelin Technologies ­ Team Captain ­ Neeta Sharma On the Rocks ­ Team Captain - Jeff Turk Rock Stars ­ Team Captain ­ Jules Graham-Hood The Town Rocks ­ Team Captain ­ Mayor Rob Burton Thanks to the following teams: Assisting Rocks Bankers with Brooms BIG Heart Teams Blue Ice Hiring Rocks Ice Blue Lush's Rocks Mitigating Rocks On the Rocks Pushing Rocks Raging Bulls Rocking Havoc Rocks Stars Rolling Stones Rotary Retreads Saving Rocks Selling Rocks Stone House The Defending Champs The Halton Bunch The Huttonville Steelers The Javelin Jaguars The Javelin Jammers The Javelin Jets The Oak Park Hogs The Town Rocks Threads of Life Totally Stoned Vandelay Industries Open House Saturday, April 24, 2010 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Two Locations in Oakville Oakville Primary Campus (Age 3 - Grade 1) Our Primary campus provides a caring, stimulating and welcoming Montessori program for children in their formative years (3 - 6 years old) Facilities and programs include: · Large bright classrooms · Morning, afternoon and full day programs · French and music taught by specialists · Before and after school care (7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) · Large well-equipped playground · Co-educational learning environment Primary Campus 2045 Sixth Line 905-338-3528 jsnyder@rotherglen.com Oakville Elementary Campus (Grade 1 - 8) Facilities and programs include: · Large bright classrooms · Maximum class size of 18 · French, music, art and computers taught by specialists · Varsity and intramural sports teams · Library with full-time librarian · Extracurricular clubs including athletics and choir · Full-size gymnasium · Dedicated music, art, computer and science rooms · Before and after school care (7:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.) · Co-educational learning environment Elementary Campus 2050 Neyagawa Blvd. Monday, April 26th to Sunday, May 2nd 905-849-1897 tdupreez@rotherglen.com Please contact us for a personal tour or to learn more about Rotherglen School www.rotherglen.com

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