Jackson G. and Porter G.
A Dark Legacy: Our Family’s History in WWI and WWII
Jackson G. and Porter G.
Kingston Regional Heritage Fair
Kingston, ON
What do you think you are going to be doing when you are 15? When our great-great-grandfather, Cecil Dark, was 15 he lied about his age to sneak into the Canadian Army to join his two older brothers to fight in WWI. When WWII broke out, Cecil and his family were living in India and he joined the Indian Army and our great-great uncle joined the Indian Navy and they both fought in the Burma Campaign. Our great-grandma also joined the Indian Army and worked at the Eastern Warfare Training School where she helped in training members of Force 136. In this project, we will talk about our family's contributions to the WWI and WWII efforts as well as two important WWI battles, two lesser known parts of WWII, and how our family’s legacy has inspired us to go above and beyond.
Our final response to our inquiry question was that we learned that our families’ contributions to the war efforts were far reaching and while maybe not well known, were significant and we learned a lot about some important aspects of Canadian history, some of which not a lot of people know about. We have developed a sense of pride knowing that members our family were an important part of the war efforts, even though our great-great-grandfather and great-great-great-uncle weren’t even old enough to enlist in WWI, and for actively helping so many people during the wars and throughout their lifetimes. We also think it is important to know how Canadians supported many theatres of action across the world during the world wars and how their efforts impacted many people, including Canadians at home. Learning about our family’s bravery inspires us to stand up for what we believe in and do what is right.
What sources and evidence did you consult for your project? What different perspectives did they provide on your topic?
For our project we used lots of different sources to learn about our family’s history in WWI and WWII. These sources gave us both personal stories and official facts about the wars.
We looked at the First World War Personnel Records Database from Library and Archives Canada to find the official military records of our family members who served in WWI. These records told us about when they enlisted, where they went during the war, the medals they earned, and where they are buried.
We read an autobiography written by our great-great-uncle which gave us a first hand account of his time in the Indian Navy and we liked reading his stories and learning about his adventures during the war.
Our great-great-uncle also wrote a book about our great-great-grandfather for his 90th birthday and we have journal entries and letters written by our great-great-grandfather and great-grandma and those were helpful because they gave us information about our family and their time in the wars that we couldn’t find in other sources.
We have lots of pictures in our family collection that helped us put a face to the stories, and showed us how young they looked. Our great-aunts also shared stories about things that weren’t written down.
We looked up information online about two key battles of WWI and some lesser known parts of WWII that our family participated in. This information helped us understand what our family went through during the wars and helped us understand more about Canada’s role in the wars.
We also found a website and a book about the 21st Battalion which helped us learn more about our great-great-great-uncles and the unit they served in in WWI.
Current websites and information give a different perspective to Canadian events compared to the first hand stories passed on by our family. All of these resources gave us unique perspectives on important events that show both the immediate experiences of our family and long-term impact of the wars on Canadians.
What is the historical significance of your topic?
The historical significance of our topic is how our family impacted WWI and WWII and how WWI and WWII in turn affected Canadian history. One of the long-term impacts from WWI is that a member of our family was involved in the Battle of Vimy Ridge that helped Canada advance on the Western Front so they could help defend France, and this battle has been called “the birth of the nation”. One long-term impact that our family had in WWII is that our great-great-uncle and great-great-grandfather both helped make a positive difference in defending Burma which was a key objective for the Japanese at one point during WWII and they helped keep it safe and also helped protect India from Japan. Another long-term impact from WWII is that our great-grandma helped train members of Force 136 and this group of men helped prove to Canada that Chinese Canadians should be given full citizenship.
Why did you choose this topic?
We chose this topic because we’ve heard some pretty cool stories about what our family did in the wars and wanted to learn more about our family’s history and Canada’s role in the wars.
