A 70-year mystery solved by a Manitoba war veteran has inspired people across the country. Hundreds of Canadians are honouring Second World War soldiers with gifts from home, and a few are even travelling to Italy to personally deliver them.
The campaign started with a friendship between two soldiers during the Second World War. The family of Jimmie Griffiths didn’t know where he was buried for 70 years, but his friend Morley Roney, along with Roney’s cousin Corrin Fraser, helped find him in an Italian cemetery.
Now, Fraser wants to honour every Canadian soldier buried in Coriano Ridge War Cemetery. She asked friends from home to send a few flags. Within weeks she had thousands.
Erin Beaumont lives in Brandon. When she heard the story, she got her daughter’s school involved. “The whole story just exploded,” said Beaumont.
“I think it's shown so much Canadian pride. There's been people all across the country getting involved.”
Beaumont’s eight year-old Mackayla and her classmates created hand-made messages to say thanks.
“It's so important to remember them because they let us have peace,” said Brandon student Aiden.
Several schools in Manitoba joined the project. Students poured their hearts into crafts, poems and postcards.
“In years to come, I guess my hope is these kids will go back and look at this story and feel proud that their little handprints played a part in it,” said Souris teacher Nicole Kempthorne.
From coast to coast, hundreds of Canadian students, organizations and individuals got involved. As messages, poppies, and flags poured in, so did information from soldiers’ families. Many sent personal items to loved ones graves they've never had the chance to visit.
Darlene Halsey in Edmonton sent a photo of her grandparents’ wedding day. Halsey had promised to take her grandmother to visit her husband's grave in Italy, but before she could, her grandmother passed away.
“Having her picture there, that's my way of saying, ‘I got you there,’” said Halsey.
In Calgary, a soldier's sister and niece are grateful for the chance to send gifts. “I think it's great,” said Jean Dewar, whose brother is buried in Coriano.
“It used to make me angry, I would go to the services here and they never focused on the Italian campaigns.”
“They were buried over there, they're families never got the chance to say goodbye to them and they were almost forgotten about,” Sara Dewar.
Thousands of Canadians’ gifts have made it to Italy, enough to honour every Canadian soldier in five Italian cemeteries.
Eight year-old Mackayla Beaumont and her family will deliver them. They've organized the first-ever Remembrance Day ceremony to be held in Coriano Ridge War Cemetery.
- With a report by Alesia Fieldberg. This is the second story in the five-part series, “The Poppy Trail.”
