The Durham West Arts Centre is a 'hub' organization working to establish links with artists, arts groups and arts lovers. We want to meet and talk to the groups and individuals who are willing to help build the infrastructure for a permanent arts centre in Ajax-Pickering.
2007 Honour Roll - list of participating schools,
Poster - English, French (large files).
Program Info
Letter to Directors of Education 1 2, Letter to Educators
Media Coverage: 1, 2, 3
CBC - Metro Morning - November 9, 2007 (10:11 minutes) Andy Barrie spoke with Srijoni Rahman, Brandi Taylor and Yasser Alzahed, students at Samuel Hearne Senior Public School.
In 1998, Newfoundland-based artist Barb Hunt embarked on a project she called antipersonnel and which comprises knitted 1:1 scale replicas of landmines produced by countries around the work (including, at one time, Canada), many of which infest the countryside of over 80 nations. Working strictly with pink wool, she has created nearly 100 works to date. The project is open-ended, as Hunt will continue to create new knitted versions of each and every newly designed landmine until they are banned on a global scale. See story in News Advertiser.
Women with Secrets - dowload pdf lesson
Irene Carter, Coverdale
Female Spies of World War II - download pdf lesson
LES ESPIONNES DE LA DEUXIEME GUERRE MONDIALE
Noor Inayat Khan was awarded the George Cross by the British and the French Croix de Guerre with Gold Star. She was the first female radio operator to be sent into occupied France to aid the French Resistance. Executed at Dachau Sept. 11, 1944, her last word was, "Liberte". Shrabani Basu wrote a 2006 biography called Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan (Sutton 2006). A really good Canadian writer, Shauna Sing Baldwin wrote The Tiger Claw (Knopf 2004) which is a novel based on her life.
Women and the Art of War - download pdf lesson
LES FEMMES ET LES ARTS DE GUERRE
Fighting on All Fronts - download pdf lesson
SE BATTRE SU
R TOUS LES FRONTS, DE TOUS COTÉS
Lt. Col. Charity Adams and the 6888th:
Females in Flight - download pdf lesson
References:
Victory at Vimy - download pdf lesson
Firing Up and Gearing Down: Female Munitions Workers in WWII - download pdf lesson French
MULTIPLIER ET DÉMULTIPLIER: Les ouvrières dans les usines de munitions durant la deuxième guerre mondiale
- photo of Louise Johnson, photo of quilt
Quilt Info:
www.canadianwarbrides.com/wn_details.asp?id=271
www.warmuseum.ca/media/show_pr_e.asp?ID=1014
www.warmuseum.ca/media/show_pr_f.asp?ID=1014
www.legionmagazine.com/features/warart/07-09.asp
Ajax Arsenal of Democracy - http://www.camp-x.com
Munitions Workers - Photos - National Film Board of Canada. Still Photography Division
Note from Canadian Robbie Lavack who was a World War II RAF bomber pilot
The Russians trained women pilots for combat during WW2 and even had a few women squadrons (regiments). In 1944, when I was operating out of Foggia, Italy, we did the occasional supply drop to Tito's partisans at Tuzl, their main base in Yugoslavia. These drops were done during the day in Wellington night bombers that were no match for any German fighters that might happen to be in the area. To offset this danger, fighter sweeps were arranged for our protection. These sweeps involved Yak-1 or 7 fighters flown by Russian women who operated out of Bari, Italy. American and RAF aircraft also took part in these sweeps. I did a couple of these supply drops but never saw any German, Russian or allied aircraft during these flights.
I drove down to Bari to see what sort of aircraft the Russian gals were flying and was surprised by such hi-tech machines. It is only through reading current aviation magazines that I found out how good these and other Russian aircraft were. Some of their fighter series (Yaks & Migs) were actually superior to our much vaunted Spitfire and comparable to American aircraft. I met some of the gals flying these machines, but that's another story.
Russian female pilots also flew the antiquated Po-2 (a1926 light biplane) and were given the name of 'Night Witches' by the German front line troops during the Battle of Stalingrad. These ladies flew over the German lines through the night and dropped small bombs to keep them awake and generally harass the troops. They were the highest decorated women air regiments.
Just checked out your 'Females in Flight' draft and think it would be fantastic if you include the Russian female pilot stuff. Maybe my little 'Danuta' will surface again!
Robby, Sept 19, 2007
Robert Lavack World War II reminiscences:
Women and War: the mystery Canadian nurse
During WW2 there were Canadian nurses serving in the South African Nursing Services. I had the honour of taking one of these on a Naples bombing mission in 1943. This was just before the invasion of Sicily when we (the RAF) were operating from Al Qayrawan in Tunisia. The squadron aircrews had been briefed and our crew were doing the usual last minute check and 'widdle' before taking off when our squadron CO drove up to the aircraft and called me aside. He asked me if I would mind taking a Canadian nurse on the raid. I told him it was OK with me. If the rest of the crew didn't object, she was welcome. The CO had brought a parachute along for her and one of the crew explained how to use it in the event she had to bail out. The flight over the Mediterranean went well and we made landfall near Capri where we circled the island at low level so that she could see where Gracie Fields, the English singer and comedienne, had a villa. I remembered her famous song, Wish Me Luck As You Wave Me Goodbye, and hoped this wasn't a bad omen.
By that time as the main force was drawing flak from the Naples defences, we climbed to 8,000 feet altitude and headed towards Naples to drop our bombs there on the marshalling yards. On our bombing run, the nurse remarked how lovely the fireworks looked as light and heavy flak projectiles lit up the dark sky. I saw one of our aircraft going down in flames and didn’t want to alarm her by directing her attention in that direction. The flak wasn't that bad after a while and there didn't appear to be any night fighters active.
After the bombing run I thought our new crew member might like to see Vesuvius so we eased down to 5000 feet and circled the volcano crater before heading back to our Tunisian base. I often wondered if she ever told a disbelieving audience about her unique bomber experience. She was one cool gal.
Letter to Directors of Education 1 2, Letter to Educators
Reading and Remembrance 2006
• Honour Roll, pdf • Resources
Poster - English, French (large files).
Reading and Remembrance 2005
• Honour Roll • Resources
Reading and Remembrance 2006
• Honour Roll, pdf • Resources
Poster - English, French (large files).
Reading and Remembrance 2005
• Honour Roll • Resources
Durham West Arts Centre • 364 Kingston Road, Pickering ON Canada L1V 1A2
TEL: Jeremy 905.492.2533 • Erin 905.492.2522 • WEBSITE: dwac.ca
E-MAIL CONTACTS • Jeremy "Boomer" Stacey, Executive Director - Boomer@dwac.ca
• Erin Michel, Project Manager - Erin@dwac.ca