April 9th, 2025 - Vimy Night and Salute to Veterans

    Oh What a night!!! It has been 8 long years since the last official "Salute to Veterans" at TOSH and I must say the kids did a wonderful job representing their chosen veterans, their families, their school and their community. This is the essence of what we are trying to do here at TOSH, a lasting legacy of remembrance of members of the community who sacrificed days, weeks, years and lives so that we could live freely as we do today. I was beyond proud of the students and their own pride in their accomplishments of telling the stories was on full display in our learning center. 

    I often wondered whether or not we would be travelling to Europe again, post-Covid, but less than a week away from departure I can fully see the value of the planning, research and fundraising that goes into this “trip,” unlike any other here at TOSH. Congrats once again, you showed up and showed out and the veterans were beaming with pride as well, as they should. 

    The "TOSH World Tour "blog will follow us throughout France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The goal is to allow you to “come along” for the ride, although it may put you to sleep, for that I apologize, but in the end it will be a lasting memory of an adventure of a lifetime for many. An adventure that I have been lucky enough to be a part of since the inception of this adventure in 2005. On that note I would like to go back in time and tell you how we got to this point, history is fun! The only issue I have with history is that when you start to develop a deeper historical path, it also means you have been around a long time. I guess that is impossible to avoid at my age, and I should feel lucky that I have been able to learn so much over the years from my students and that is where this story begins...... 

    So how did we get to this point in April of 2025? Well that is a story in and of itself, one that has grown well beyond my wildest beliefs. There are many people to thank along the way, which really is the ultimate purpose of what we do here at TOSH with these crazy "World Tours" as I like to call them. As I sit here and think about where it all began, it is a very difficult question to answer. 

     The essence of the project/trip etc. begins with an opportunity afforded to me that I took on a whim, almost by accident; however, the real essence of the experience goes back to my former colleagues and mentors when I first arrived at TOSH.  Their work, dedication and attention to detail that they put into our Remembrance Day ceremonies was second to none then and I am proud to say that tradition has continued.  The individuals who "taught me the ropes", would say they were inspired by those that came before them. 

    All I truly know is that two individuals truly stand out.  The first a colleague and mentor and most importantly an educator of epic proportions although slight in stature, Susan England.  She is one of the most beautiful souls you would ever come across in the education profession, a true professional who taught me what it was to be an educator. She saw something in me that others didn't, or at least didn't overtly act on, and she gently guided me in this direction, which is her way.  A direction that has led to so many opportunities for me personally, and eventually hundreds of students across PEI. So Susan from the bottom of my heart thanks for believing in me.....that is what true teaching is! 

    The other individual is person is one whom I have never “met”, but have a deeply rooted connection to in many ways. Truth is he may be the individual who has promoted the most growth within me as an educator, and assuredly changed my entire career for the better. He has inspired me to tell stories, he has inspired me to take chances in life and on people, and he has inspired me to try to be a steward of the stories of him and his fallen comrades, a duty that I take great pride and responsibility in and am grateful for. He has brought me closer to my own family and their history, and hundreds of other island students to theirs as well. The branches of these family trees have been expanded over the last 20 years and it warms my heart that these kids have made a connection to the past. Corporal CJ Clue, thank you and I can't wait to visit you again in beautiful little Thelus CWGC, and I look forward to introducing you to a new group of proud young Canadians who are ready to carry the “torch” that Lt. Col. McRae spoke of over 100 years ago. 

    So without further ado, for those of you who cannot jet set away with us to Europe next week...... 

The Road To VE 80: How One Soldier Changed My Life 

    Almost 20 years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the countryside of northern France and Belgium. Now and then, we would periodically stop and visit quiet and serene areas that weren’t always so – they would have been fierce fighting grounds for soldiers during wartime. 

    

    

We spent most of our days with our instructors and mentors, listening to stories from various war diaries, and physically exploring and talking about history while onsite – exactly how history should be taught. Our days usually finished with a visit to a large cemetery like Tyne Cot or Cemetery #2 at Vimy, where our colleagues would recount stories of a particular veteran that they were assigned to research. One of the last visits we made was to Thélus Military Cemetery, a small cemetery about 1 kilometer down from Vimy Ridge. Little was I to know that this visit would change my life, and the lives of my students from that moment forward. It was in that cemetery that I was able to encounter the memory of someone who I now consider a long lost friend, Corporal Charles John Clue of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. 

My first encounter with Private C.J. Clue 

As we walked to Thélus, a place that I truly consider to be one of the most peaceful and beautiful places in the world, one of my mentors, Blake Seward, took me aside and told me about what took place on the morning of April 9, 1917, as it related to Private Clue and the 21st battalion’s initial assault on Vimy Ridge. 

    

I learned that Private Clue’s “21st” took on enemy fire and that he had almost certainly died within feet of where we were now standing that day. Blake then told me right then and there that it was now my responsibility to tell this man’s story to the rest of my colleagues, a job that I was not sure that I was prepared for at the time. 

    Almost 20 years later, with the help of many families and colleagues, I have been back to visit “C.J.” numerous times and have introduced him to over 400 students and thousands more through a blog that I had written during each tour.

Three Oaks Senior High has unofficially adopted Thélus Military Cemetery on highway N17 in France and have made it our goal to recognize each and every soldier who is interred in that beautiful little patch of grass just below Vimy Ridge. This tradition has been key in our returning to the area, as each of our tours are centered around Thélus and the Vimy Memorial and has led to lifelong memories and lessons that will accompany each of my students throughout the rest of their lives. 

    

    These experiences have led me to new adventures and I have had the opportunity to partner with different tour groups as an experienced Group Leader, to lend support to new Group Leaders who will soon be traveling to Europe, some for the first time, and to once again introduce them to my friend C.J. My hope is that upon their return to PEI and other provinces, someday they will return to Thelus with their own students in tow. 

    My fellow educators will also have the opportunity to get to know the brave souls that gave their lives in the battle for Vimy in 1917. We thank them for their ultimate sacrifice. 

    Charles John Clue was born at Shepherd’s Bush, England, on September 12, 1885, the second of six children of Henry and Emma Jane Clue. He was educated in a school in Hammersmith, England and emigrated to Canada in early 1910 where he found employment as a butcher. Enlisting in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force at Saskatoon in March 1916, he arrived in France as a newly promoted Acting Corporal in January 1917 and was posted to the 21st Battalion , Canadian Infantry. On April 9, 1917, Charles John Clue went missing in action and was later reported killed in action on the first day of the battle of Vimy Ridge. It was noted in the research that Clue had earned $33.10 in April 1917 and on April 30, 1917 his total earnings of $98.89 was paid to his mother, then of Shepherds Bush Road, London, England. Later on, his mother was also presented with the British War and Victory Medals and related Memorial Plaque and Canadian Memorial Cross, G.V.R. Clue was interred in a communal grave in Thélus Military Cemetery, which stands on Vimy Ridge.