MELFORT 鈥� A travelling display about the First World War from the Diefenbaker Centre at the University of Saskatchewan has stopped in Melfort.
The display was brought in by the Melfort and District Museum and will be on display at the Historic Post Office in Melfort from Nov. 1 to Nov. 12 every day from 1 pm until 5 pm.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about all the men and women 鈥� primarily men 鈥� that went to war from the university and how that affected the university in terms of its student population,鈥� said Gailmarie Anderson, curator of the Melfort and District Museum.聽 鈥淭hey came back and they replaced a lot of them with women in the professor roles, etc.鈥�
The museum also added what Anderson calls Melfort鈥檚 鈥渓ocal flavor鈥� with artifacts and archive information from the local Melfort and District Museum as well as the Legion. It includes an honour roll of soldiers from Melfort who died in the war.
The display contains silver memorial cross that were given to family after a soldier鈥檚 death, copies of letters sent to deceased soldiers鈥� families, photos of the Melfort memorial, a gas mask, binoculars and a 60-pound sandbag filled backpack to represent how heavy a soldier鈥檚 bag would be.
鈥淲e wanted people to think about what the people in World War I did for us and especially around this time of year when we have Remembrance Day,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淲e want to remember those veterans who fought and died and I just think it鈥檚 really important for people to be aware of this and pass that information on to future generations. So hopefully in the future we can prevent war and stride for world peace.鈥�
