“A Very Fine Plan in the Memory of Our Boys:” Commemorating the Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute Second World War Dead

Authors

David Ross Alexander

Abstract

The memorial plaques dedicated to the First and Second World War dead of many of Canada’s secondary schools including the Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute may have borne close resemblance but the experience of those whose names appeared on the walls was very different. The adolescent experience of students who attended these schools during the interwar years contrasted with that of their mothers and fathers. They enlisted, fought and died in a much more technologically advanced and globalised war than the previous generation. They were shaping their own distinct identity in youth and war and how would the collective memory of them reflect these realities? Although many of the same ceremonial rituals and ways were adopted once again, there were new emerging forms to commemorate Canada’s Second World War dead.

Recommended Citation

Alexander, David Ross "“A Very Fine Plan in the Memory of Our Boys:” Commemorating the Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute Second World War Dead." Canadian Military History 31, 2 (2022)