Welcome, to my website! My website’s topic is teenagers’ history in Mission, British Columbia, during World War Two. I am Jordan Bell, a University of the Fraser Valley student in Abbotsford, British Columbia. I want to acknowledge that Mission, British Columbia lies within the traditional unceded territory of the StĂł:lõ people, specifically the Leq’á:mel, Semá:th, Kwantlen, Sq’éwlets, Máthexwi, and Katzie traditional territories. I want to highlight the importance of Truth Telling and Reconciliation building by acknowledging that it is crucial not to omit the History of Indigenous people from my website, as I cannot tell their stories without having consulted with them first. Due to time constraints with the project, I have chosen to focus on the History of non-Indigenous Teenagers during World War Two in Mission, British Columbia. If you would like more information about the History of Indigenous youth at the time, most of them attended St. Mary’s Indian Residential School in Mission, British Columbia. To learn about the history of Indigenous youth in the Fraser Valley, you can go to National Truth and Reconciliation website for St. Mary’s Residential School: https://nctr.ca/residential-schools/british-columbia/st-marys-mission/. [1]
There has been a heavy focus on the history of teenagers living near the battlegrounds in Europe and less on teenagers living in Canada at the time. Although it is essential to analyze the effects of the war on youth culture living near the battlegrounds, it is equally important to highlight how the war affected the lives of teenagers living in Canada. World War Two altered the lives of teenagers worldwide, and it is vital to analyze how smaller communities were affected by the event.
The various pages of my website describe the many school sports and clubs in Mission High School, the local Air Cadets program, the deployment of Japanese teenagers, war saving stamps and bonds program, and finally, Pop Grinsted’s effort to memorialize the fallen soldiers. The focus of each page will be to show how the war affected the lives of those teenagers and how each group aided the soldiers fighting overseas.
[1] “St. Mary’s Mission,” accessed March 16, 2023. National Truth and Reconciliation University of Manitoba. https://nctr.ca/residential-schools/british-columbia/st-marys-mission/.
[2] Schroeder, Andreas. Carved from Wood: Mission, B.C., 1861-1992. Mission Foundation. 1991.
[3] Schroeder, Andreas. Carved from Wood: Mission, B.C., 1861-1992. Mission Foundation. 1991.
[4] “Canadian Youth Growing up during Wartime,” Government of Canada, accessed March 16, 2023. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/classroom/fact-sheets/youth.
[5] “Canadian Youth Growing up during Wartime,” Government of Canada, accessed March 16, 2023. https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/classroom/fact-sheets/youth.