Today's Itinerary and Activities
Day 7: July 12
Today we considered the war in the air and the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive. One third of Canada’s Second World War veterans served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and 25% of Canada’s fatal casualties were the result of the Bomber Offensive. We visited the Riechswald Forest Cemetery for Canadian and Commonwealth air crew in Germany, visiting with Pilot Officer Matthew Dorell. We also considered life in target towns like Nijmegen and Kleve before heading north for Apeldoorn via the Dutch National Field of Honour at Loenen. Our day concluded at the great German Luftwaffe air defence complex at Deelen, which was a critical part of the western air defences of the Reich. At Deelen we introduced the April 1945 Canadian Liberation Campaign. We wrapped up the day in our new Apeldoorn home.
Today we considered the war in the air and the Allied Combined Bomber Offensive. One third of Canada’s Second World War veterans served in the Royal Canadian Air Force and 25% of Canada’s fatal casualties were the result of the Bomber Offensive. We visited the Riechswald Forest Cemetery for Canadian and Commonwealth air crew in Germany, visiting with Pilot Officer Matthew Dorell. We also considered life in target towns like Nijmegen and Kleve before heading north for Apeldoorn via the Dutch National Field of Honour at Loenen. Our day concluded at the great German Luftwaffe air defence complex at Deelen, which was a critical part of the western air defences of the Reich. At Deelen we introduced the April 1945 Canadian Liberation Campaign. We wrapped up the day in our new Apeldoorn home.
The Bomber Campaign |
Classroom questions |
The morality of the bomber campaign – Canadian decision-makers knew they were bombing civilians, and the evidence suggests they were conflicted about it. Tour participants Alan and Larry share their thoughts in their blog posts.
Explore this topic in the classroom using our Bomber Campaign activity suggestions and resources! |
In a total war, how do you determine who and what is a legitimate target?
Why is it OK to bomb civilians in their homes at night but not ok to enter their homes with guns and hands grenades? When your government goes to war, how responsible are they for ensuring their civilians are safe from retaliation? How responsible is the German government for creating bomb shelters for their citizens? |
Where we are |
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Pedagogical pause
Today we discussed goal confusion in teaching – you plan a lesson and get where you wanted to get, but where are the students? Did they get out of it what you had expected them to? Do you continue with your plan without checking for gaps in their understanding?
On the tour, the leaders debrief at the end of every day to minimize these gaps, and revisit the plan for following days based on the understandings we’ve expressed. We've also discussed posing powerful questions – considering the essential questions we want students to wrestle with. Do we plan for these and make them explicit in our teaching? Tour participant Brenda considers this in her blog post. |
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