Satellite Juno Beach Centre exhibit comes to King's

Direct from France, a satellite version of the Juno Beach Centre exhibit entitled “From Dieppe to Juno: Exceptional Destinies,” will be displayed in the Spriet Learning Commons in the King Student Life Centre from November 7-11, 2022. During the week leading up to Remembrance Day, all are welcome to view this display of award-winning King’s students’ research from the upper-year course, The World Wars in History, Memory, and Reconciliation.

The “From Dieppe to Juno: Exceptional Destinies” exhibit at King’s will launch on November 7, 2022, at 11 a.m. in the Spriet Learning Commons. Dr. Graham Broad, Associate Professor of History, will provide context for the exhibit, discussing the impact of those who served during the World Wars. Many of the student researchers will also be at the event to further explain the exhibit. In May 2022, as part of an experiential learning trip, the class travelled to Belgium and France to visit historic sites including Dieppe, Juno Beach and Flanders Fields. In February 2022, the Juno Beach Centre awarded the class the prestigious Juno Beach Centre Fellowship. Members of The World Wars in History, Memory, and Reconciliation course received $7,500 to assist with their research work.

“We wanted to bring this display to King's so that the local community could see the kind of public historical work that King's history students are doing, and especially since many people here won't get the opportunity to go to France to see the main exhibit at the Juno Beach Centre,” says Dr. Broad.

"What you have here are displays of people who had to live in extraordinary times," he says. Broad asks visitors to "look at the panels and the immense and often traumatizing effect that war had on (the soldiers)."

"This is a prime example of making the humanities come alive and the continuing impact of the sacrifice made. They studied the war but also individual impact of war, and who these people became," says Dr. David Malloy, King's President.

As part of the course, students in the course researched one Canadian soldier who served at Dieppe or Juno Beach, giving a face, a name, and a personal history to the battles being studied. The students then created a poster displaying their research and the soldier’s story. This exhibit shows the true consequences of war, and the real people that dealt with them.

"It gave me the confidence to pursue a masters (in History at Western) because we felt like historians. Studying in the classroom was one thing but being able to participate with the Juno Beach Museum was awesome," says Kristen Jeanveau '22.

“I hope that people come away with reminder of the immense consequences of war in the lives of individuals. Statistics about casualties and the like don't really capture the fact that every person who fought and suffered through war was an individual whose life was forever changed – and sometimes ended – because of conflict,” says Dr. Broad.

Nazreen Scheid, who attended the opening of the exhibit, had visited the battlefields with her husband, former Lt. Colonel Bernard Scheid of the First Hussars. She says it was an emotional trip. "We were stepping right where the soldiers had stepped. A lot of Canadians, especially students, would benefit from visiting there. It's a nice way to honour the soldiers."

The World Wars in History, Memory, and Reconciliation course has been running since 2020, as designed by Dr. Broad and Katrina Pasierbek ’12, PhD candidate in History and King’s alumna.

Alex Fitzgerald-Black, Executive Director of the Juno Beach Centre, said that the King's trip was one of the first student groups to travel to Juno Beach since the pandemic.  "It's important that people take interest (in Canadian history) so we don't forget it. We hope you carry that experience forward in your lives and remember that history," he says.

The Juno Beach Centre was established in 2003 as a permanent memorial to all Canadians who were part of the Allied victory in the Second World War, and to preserve this legacy for future generations through education.

The full exhibit will be on display at the Juno Beach Centre until 2023; the exhibit at King’s runs until November 11.

For more details, please visit the event listing page.