Even though the war in Hong Kong was far away for most Canadians, the situation at home was fraught with worry for the families of prisoners of war (POWs). Families had little news regarding their loved ones in the camps. The Red Cross, though limited in its capacities by Japanese officials, was a lifeline, because it could access POWs held in camps and deliver family letters.

In this activity, students will pretend to be Red Cross representatives from that time and will gather information on the conditions in a POW camp to write a newspaper article. To help them write their articles, they will read newspaper articles from the time and will review camp conditions in the Je me souviens virtual exhibition.

There is no separate Teacher’s Guide for this activity because there is no answer key. All information can be found in the Student Guide.

Goals of the Activity

These activities were created for the Je Me Souviens education program as educational tools to complement the QEP secondary IV history and secondary V contemporary world courses.

In addition, the activities can be used as language tools in the following QEP courses: Francais langue maternelle secondaire V, IV, III, English Language Arts and FSL or ESL secondary V, IV, III. 

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.

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