By Vanese M. Ferguson
Apr 9, 2021 10:28 AM
The 104th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge will be commemorated Saturday at the Nutana Legion in Saskatoon.
From 2 till 6 p.m. you can support your local legion by taking time to stop down and enjoy a chili dog or bowl of chili and a bun, there will be a display of artifacts in the lounge and the Saskatoon Museum of Military Artifacts will be open as well. Artifacts date from the Boer War through to recent Canadian Forces peace keeping missions.
Vimy Ridge was the first time four divisions of the Canadian Expeditionary Force fought together and was seen as the defining event that brought Canada together, for the first time, as a nation.
By Brad Jennings
During the pandemic, virtual tours have been launched at the Saskatoon Museum of Military Artifacts.
Julie Hicks with the SMOMA says with less visitors to the museum, the virtual tours will be aimed towards school groups, senior groups or other community groups. She says those with a virtual video account, like ZOOM, will get an interactive tour with History Squad founder and British veteran, Kevin Hicks.
Kevin Hicks says the online tours have allowed him to go through various cabinets which haven’t been opened for years. He explains as well as doing the normal army and Canadian navy portions of the tour, he wants to share personal items and their stories, so people will get more out of the tour than they might normally. Hicks adds these items include things like various World War 1 weapons that were brought back as war trophies, or a steel helmet that was found in a Holland trench in the 2nd World War.