By Nigel Maxwell

Impact of Great War seen through lens of P.A. woman

Nov 6, 2018 | 11:00 AM

The words unforgettable and emotional were used by a Prince Albert woman, when asked to describe the stories she heard and the images she saw over a year ago.

During the summer of 2017, Lorraine Brassard travelled to Belgium where she visited some of the locations most commonly associated with the Great War such as Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele. Brassard plans to show the pictures from her trip during a special presentation Tuesday night and Sunday afternoon at the John M. Cuelenaere library. She said she felt compelled to pass along the knowledge she acquired.

“It’s been 100 years now and we’ve got to keep [the stories] in the forefront because as time goes on things begin to fade,” she said.

Brassard told paNOW she has many memories from her trip, including of the many cemetaries she visited.

“There’s one big cemetary over there called Tyne Cot, and it’s got like 10,000 graves in it and 50 per cent of them are unknown,” she said.

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Brassard also recalled the town Ypres where every night at 8 p.m. the street is blocked off and The Last Post is played. The event has been a tradition in the town since 1925.

Brassard will be joined on stage by Prince Albert Historical Society President Connie Gerwing, who according to Brassard, will discuss Prince Albert’s contributions to the Great War, as well as the economic impact the war had locally such as the failed La Colle falls project. 

Construction on the $3 million project began in 1909 but was abandoned in 1913 as a result of rising costs and technical difficulties. The site, while not accessible by vehicle, remains a popular destination to this day for hikers and tourists in the area.

In addition to her two presentations at the library, Brassard was invited to speak to students at Queen Mary School on Wednesday.

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell