In this activity, students create a profile of a soldier or nurse and then, as a team, describe their experiences in the army, in battle, as prisoners of war and after their return to Canada.

This activity was first designed to accompany our exhibition Impossible Odds: the Battle of Hong Kong. The exhibition is also available for free to your school by completing our reservation form.

Activity content

After completing research on their own, by following the instructions in the student guide, students will get into groups of 3 to 4 and informally share information about the person they each profiled. They then will pick one veteran to present to the class. The team must explain why they chose to tell that person’s story rather than those of the others. The teacher can ask students to consider question 10 regarding the power of hope.

Suggested presentation options include creating a podcast, a video, or a PowerPoint presentation. An individual (or group) written report option is included as well in the guide.

Note: The Impossible Odds exhibition has several profiles and detailed information about general conditions. For information on soldiers, check out the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association or use Veterans Affairs Canada’s search tool (search by regiment and by war).

Activity objectives

The goal of these activities is to allow secondary cycle two students to have a greater understanding of World War II and Canada’s role in the Battle of Hong Kong. Students will also learn to appreciate the contributions of Canadian Armed Forces personnel from Quebec.

These activities were created as educational tools to complement the Quebec Education Program of secondary 4 History and secondary 5 History of the 20th and Contemporary World courses. In addition, these activities can also be used as language tools in the following courses: Francais langue maternelle (in secondary 3, 4 and 5), Français, secondary language, English, secondary language (in secondary 3, 4 and 5) and English Language Arts. 

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