Etchings by Canadian soldiers assembled underground before the Vimy Ridge offensive are the subject of this year’s Vimy Lecture.
London artist Zenon Andrusyszyn visited the caves and felt the carvings needed to be shared with other Canadians.
The Elgin County Museum has the works of Earl Lacey and Grant Phelps, members of the 91st Battalion explains Mike Baker of the Elgin County Museum.
Baker explains the process of getting re-creations of those carvings to display at this year’s lecture.
Andrusyszyn assembled a team to research and document the wall carvings inside the caves, etched by Canadian troops awaiting battle.
He is the guest speaker at this year’s Vimy Lecture and Baker tells myFM about the artist’s fascination with the carvings.
The 11th annual Vimy Lecture is 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Elgin County Heritage Centre.
The Vimy Lecture honours those who fought at Vimy Ridge, in particular the 43 Elgin-St. Thomas men who lost their lives, including Lance-Sergeant Ellis Wellwood Sifton, posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
Sifton’s Victoria Cross, part of the museum’s collection, will be on exhibit at the lecture.
Written by Ian McCallum
