Following in the footsteps of the Canadian Virtual War Memorial, a project to commemorate Canada's war dead, two Saskatchewan War Memorial Committee members have set up the Saskatchewan Virtual War Memorial.
After the 2006 dedication of the Saskatchewan War Memorial in Regina, certain members of the Saskatchewan War Memorial Committee decided to augment the physical memorial with a digital one. Concerned many people would be unable to visit the physical memorial, Saskatchewan War Memorial Committee member Bill Barry came up with a plan to develop a website that would commemorate the soldiers from Saskatchewan who fought and died in the Conflict of 1885, the Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, Afghanistan and other peacetime operations.
The website was developed over a three-year period by Barry and Ben Charron, a web developer. It allows visitors to search for individual war casualties by a variety of categories. Casualties can be found by name, conflict, rank, service, service number, cause of death, and so on, with an intuitive, easy-to-use search interface.
Each entry on the website features as much information as is known, including professions at the time of enlisting, place of burial and any information known about the family of the soldier. Most entries also feature photos.
In total, the website commemorates over 11,000 war dead with a "significant connection" to Saskatchewan. Those on the website may have been born in Saskatchewan, may have served with a Saskatchewan regiment or may be otherwise connected to the province.
The site also has a wealth of statistics on Saskatchewan's war dead. Casualties can be sorted by rank, service, life span after enlistment, age at death and a number of other factors.
The site is not only involved in commemoration, but also has features for educators interested in preparing lesson plans based on the information on the site. The educator's site allows teachers to post their finished lesson plans, documents, discussion topics and any other information required to run a class.
Despite how expansive the website is, work remains to be done. Bill Barry has taken trips to Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa to update information on First and Second World War casualties, but some entries lack photos or other information. It is also hoped that geo-memorial locations, plaques and grave location information will be added as well.
The website is also hoping to expand its wiki section with the help of the Saskatchewan community.
For more information on the Saskatchewan Virtual War Memorial, visit www.svwm.ca. To visit the education site of the SVWM, visit www.svwm.ca/moodle/index.php.
