Lest we forget cenotaph research project

1. Hand out the military personnel records of one of the 55 soldiers, one per pair or one per student.
   1. Invite students to debrief how to use a Venn diagram. The title of the diagram is “Reasons why a soldier enlists.”
   2. In the left circle, have the students label the title “Japanese Canadians” and list the reasons why the Japanese Canadian community chose military enlistment and volunteered to fight for an adopted country. Describe the demographic. Allow three to five minutes for this step and debrief with the class. While debriefing students may add new information to their own diagram (Evidence might include: a desire to show loyalty in a racist adopted country; to prove Canadianism and patriotism; to belong and be on equal footing with white immigrants who had the right to vote when they did not; many were married and over-age yet felt compelled to enlist.)
   3. Students now complete the right circle entitled, “White Canadians” in pairs or small groups. Here they list the reasons for which the average white Canadian enlisted to fight in the First World War. Consider their motives, reasons, and how they contrast to an ethnic minority group. (Evidence might include: a sense of adventure as many lied about their age; peer pressure; need for steady pay at a time when jobs were scarce; misinformation that the war would be over by Christmas 1914; loyalty to Great Britain from where they themselves and their fathers came from.)
   4. In the middle circle, have students jot down any similarities between the two groups. Japanese volunteers recruited to fight for Canada were seen as ironic, within and outside the Japanese Canadian community. For a country that placed restrictions on their immigration, fishing boat licenses and other discriminatory policies, this minority population had every reason NOT to fight for Canada. (Evidence might include: Boer War veterans who enlisted again for another tour of war; many Japanese Canadians were veterans of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 and had experience in fighting. Patriotism: the majority of white Canadians who served in the First World War were born in the United Kingdom and still had relatives there; to “do their bit” meant Japanese Canadians were eager to show loyalty to the King of England; the desire to fit in and belong to their adopted country. Japanese Canadians assimilated in clothing, habits, faith, and speech, contrary to Chinese immigrants of the same era.)
2. Some of the volunteer soldiers had only been in Canada less than 10 years. They were typical of the pioneer immigrants to British Columbia, and sought out work in fishing, boat building, logging, farming, and canneries. To conclude, put the question to the class: What push-pull factors influenced Japanese Canadian participation in the First World War? Allow a minute or two, then have the students share their thoughts. What did they have to lose? What did they have to gain? What is their legacy? Consider the events of the Second World War and how these war veterans’ sacrifices were viewed. Were their efforts in vain (then and now)?

Note: no other ethnic minority group organized themselves to offer a battalion of volunteer soldiers to fight for Canada in the First World War. Only three known Chinese Canadians and a dozen South Asian Canadians served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, and enlisted as individuals not as a community group. The evidence is clear: Japanese Canadians organized themselves under community leaders in order to later demand the franchise as a community group, which they did.

1. Read over the Lest we forget research project overview.
2. Ask students to find out if they have relatives who fought in the First or Second World War. Explain that all Canadians who served in the First World War and those who were killed in action in the Second World War have their military records digitized and available to the public.
3. Next have them view the names from the Japanese Canadian War Memorial (cenotaph link).
4. Assign one of the 55 soldiers the students learned about in the introductory activity (this can be done individually or in pairs). Soldier files are linked below, loaded alphabetically by last name, and can be downloaded or viewed digitally.
5. Distribute the Service Personnel Information sheet for collecting basic information about the soldier (Handout 1.1).
6. Direct your students to visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to obtain information on their soldier, and fill in this information on the Military Service Records sheet (Handout 2.1).
7. Distribute the Grave Reference sheet to record where each soldier’s grave is located (Handout 3.1)
8. Direct your students to visit the Canadian Virtual War Memorial website to continue compiling information on their soldier. Be sure to click on the cemetery name to view the Cemetery Plan, if one is given.
9. Distribute the Complete Example Essay to show the end goal (Handout 4.1).
10. Go over abbreviations and glossary of terms found in the First World War Information Package (Handout 5.1).
11. Find out what happened to your soldier by researching the War Diaries digitized and held at Library and Archives Canada.  Most of the Japanese Canadian soldiers served with either the 10th, 50th or 52nd battalion. Knowing the soldier’s battalion number and the date on which he died will reveal information as to the battle in which he was involved in.

Instructions

1. Research the battle your service person participated in and report. Find out which battles were taking place at the time your service person died.  Check the War Times Journal for an overview of the major battles of the First and Second World Wars:

• • Click on Portal, then Wars & Periods.
  • Select World War One or World War Two.
  • Scroll to Battles and Campaigns.
  • Students may also want to visit Trenches on the Web Library for additional research and information.

2. Continue your research by consulting the additional resources found at Library and Archives Canada website under Further Research, and on the First World War and Second World War pages of the Military History page at LAC.
3. Consult books and other publications at your school or local library. You will find a list of books under Published Sources at the LAC’s Military History page linked above.
4. Consult the Enrichment Resources gathered here to add additional depth and detail to your soldier study and to learn more about contemporary commemoration efforts directed at honouring and remembering the sacrifices of Japanese Canadian soldiers from the First World War.