Station 4: Socks discussion guide and tasks

Objectives

• Learn about the effect that Battle of Beaumont-Hamel had on individual lives on the home front and the way people reached out to Newfoundlanders on the front lines.
• Using the Fact Sheet, the Socks poem, Thanks for the Socks letters, and a computer to view the image gallery, develop a presentation to educate your peers.

Tasks

Resources to read

1. Fact sheet - The Newfoundland Regiment and the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel
2. A pair of grey socks - Poem

Discuss as a group.

While the men were serving overseas in the First World War, the women of Newfoundland also contributed to the war effort and started the Women’s Patriotic Association. They knit thousands of wool socks, gloves and scarves for soldiers serving overseas. The women wanted to make sure the soldiers were getting some comforts from home. After reading, discuss the poem as a group. What are your impressions? How does the poem make you feel? What is symbolic about the colours of the yarn? How do you think the women on the home front felt?

Read “Thanks for the socks” letters

Discuss the Thanks for the socks” letters. How would it feel for soldiers to receive socks? Sometimes, women wrote short notes that they put into the toes of the socks before sending such as “into this sock I weave a prayer.” Occasionally, soldiers would write back and some even developed romantic relationships when they returned home! For the men in the cold trenches, the gifts from home reminded them that they were still remembered at home.

View image gallery

Next, look through the image gallery to see images of the Women’s Patriotic Association. You may wish to visit the following external website to learn more: Newfoundland and Labrador in the First World War.

Prepare your presentation

After reviewing the photos, the letters, the poem and the Fact Sheet, as a group, develop a poster or slide show about the women on the home front who knit and sent comforting woolen treats to their loved ones overseas. You could possibly create a word cloud to help describe the experiences and feelings of the Newfoundlanders at Beaumont-Hamel, and those who remained on the home front.

Find some words describing the soldiers and the women (courage, bravery, love), and descriptive words of their war experience, emotions and remembrance. Share your slide show and word cloud with your classmates.