A new virtual exhibit will bring library patrons to the battlefield alongside a trio of war heroes from West Vancouver.
To mark the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War, West Vancouver Memorial Library is launching Research to Remember: In Their Own Words, featuring video interviews with
three West Van veterans: Harry Greenwood (Royal Navy), Ted Langley (British Army) and Barney Nunns (Royal Canadian Air Force).
“These interviews preserve for future generations the histories of veterans in our community who served in the armed forces,” said Peter Skinner, president of the Royal Canadian Legion in West Vancouver.
“The recordings of their personal experiences offer deep insights into the impact of the war on their families and communities.”
An exhibition of the video recordings with commentary by veteran Ted Langley will take place in the West Van library on Nov. 11 at a Remembrance Day open house hosted by the Friends of the Library, which also
provided the financial support for Research to Remember: In Their Own Words.
The permanent virtual exhibit is online at digital.westvanlibrary.ca, where the interviews with each of the three veterans can be viewed in full length or in short segments by topic. The interviews are also fully
transcribed and text searchable, making them a new history resource for researchers, teachers and students.
“By hosting the interviews in a virtual exhibit on our library’s website, we connect local family stories to the collective history and memory of the war that are in libraries and archives across the country and beyond,”
said West Vancouver library board chair David Carter.
The veterans’ recorded histories also build a bridge between the older and younger generations.
“Recording the stories of our community’s veterans honours them and ensures that youth of today and tomorrow will be able to appreciate how hard people fought to protect these freedoms,” said Shannon
Ozirny, head of youth services at the library.
