Chronicle 16-17 Issue 04

Community chronicle.durhamcollege.ca November 1 - 7, 2016 The Chronicle 7
War game draws vets’ ire
James Bauman
The Chronicle
A recently released world war-related
video game that is expected
to sell 15 million units, has drawn
the ire of some veterans and their
families.
Veterans are raising concerns
about the developer and publisher
of the game – called Battlefield 1
- profiting from the experiences of
veterans.
Set during the First World War,
Battlefield 1 is a first person shooter,
developed by DICE, a Swedish
video game company and is published
by Electronic Arts. During
the official release weekend of Oct.
21 – Oct. 23, there were 749,189
players in game during peak hours
across PC, PlayStation 4, and
XBOX One.
Photograph by James Bauman
Release copy of Battlefield 1.
The use of war in popular forms
of entertainment has existed almost
as long as the formats, but to veterans
and their families the commercialization
and glamourization of
war in the entertainment industry
draws strong emotions.
“I don’t think they should be
profiting off of it… they glamourize
a lot of it, to make people
believe that war is glamourous,
while it certainly isn’t,” said Arthur
Boon, formerly of the Perth Regiment
and the 19 th Canadian Army
Field Regiment. “I was there from
D-Day to VE-Day, I was wounded
twice, and there is no glamour to
it… it shouldn’t be done that way,
I believe in having documentaries
that tell what the war is all about.”
Lorraine Longley, whose second
husband John Longley served at
Camp X in Oshawa during the
Second World War, echoed a similar
sentiment.
“I don’t agree with that at all
(using war as subject matter) profiting
off of our soldiers who gave
their lives, who were mortally
wounded, coming back without legs
and arms. I just don’t agree with it
at all,” said Longley.
Battlefield 1 engages players
by having them take on the roles
of six soldiers all fighting during
the conflict under the command
of different nation states that were
involved in the First World War. A
Royal Flying Corps fighter pilot,
an ANZAC runner, and a Bedouin
warrior under the command of
Lawrence of Arabia are just some
of the roles players can take on.
Boon believes that the portrayal
of war in books and films is also
inaccurate when compared to the
realities faced by the men who
enlisted and served during both
World Wars.
“Some of our top writers weren’t
born while the war was on, they
have followed along and made
money off of war. They go and get
stories from generals and from the
high command. They don’t tell it
like it is on the ground. The way
(war) happens is when the private
soldier… is out there on the ground
fighting that war. He knows what
it’s all about,” said Boon.
Battlefield 1 was released exactly
three weeks before Remembrance
Day. This Remembrance Day will
mark the 97 th consecutive Nov. 11
in which residents of the Commonwealth
of Nations will pause,
reflect, and remember.
The game is a strong reminder
of the First World War for a new
generation that may be unfamiliar
with that war. But to veterans
such as Boon, there is no reminder
needed.
“My father served in World War
One, one of my uncles served there
and was killed at Vimy Ridge, my
grandfather also served there, and
I served over in Europe, and I also
had four uncles who served down in
Italy during the Second World War
with the First Regiment, and one in
the air force. So our entire family
was involved in both of those wars.
So I remember both of them (the
First and Second World Wars),”
said Boon.
Photograph by James Bauman
British serviceman, John Longley, served at Camp X.
Second World War spy camp lives on in Whitby
Rebecca Calzavara
The Chronicle
Some Durham College students
are getting the opportunity to learn
and be part of a significant part of
this area’s history.
Students in the heritage program
have been involved in restoring the
last remaining building from Camp
X, located on the Oshawa-Whitby
border by Lake Ontario, which was
a training camp for spies during the
Second World War.
Lynn Philip Hodgson, who
helped instigate local interest in
Camp X, is working on a project
with Durham College’s heritage
program run by Ali Taileb.
“Not too many people know
its history,” Hodgson said about
Camp X.
Taileb was contacted by the
Town of Whitby asking him what
he could do in assisting with their
project of making the remains a
museum. The Ontario Regiment
Museum wants to take the remaining
Camp X building and relocate
it near the museum on Oshawa
airport property.
Taileb teaches the course of restoration
and renovation of historical
buildings at Durham.
“It’s a real situation, they wanted
to create a Camp X museum”
Taileb said, “and the students are
involved in the design of the Camp
X museum.”
The students went to the museum
and got some background
on the camp and got to take a look
at what the project was about. The
students looked into the archives so
they can restore the existing interior
of the building.
According to Taileb, this was a
great way to get students in that
program to use the skills they are
learning in the classroom into the
real world.
“This site has a lot to offer in
terms of being a historic war”
Taileb said, “and it also fits very
well with the course.”
Camp X was built in 1941 and
Photograph by Ali Taileb
Before: Durham College view a model of the Camp X base.
was a training camp for spies to go
to Germany to fight against Germans
in the Second World War.
The camp opened on Dec 6,
1941 and operated from 1941 to
1945.
A lot of important people have
travelled through and attended
Camp X, including Sir Ian Fleming,
the creator of James Bond.
According to a Heritage Evaluation
Report created by Martindale
Planning Services of Camp X, the
only remaining Camp X building
is a portion of one of the two ‘H’
shaped dormitories to house the
After: the last remaining building of Camp X.
agents who were training.
According to Hodgson, the last
remaining Camp X building was
bought and saved by a woman
named Muriel H. Sissons. Sissons
was a cat lover and the dean of the
Ontario Ladies College (now Trafalgar
Castle School).
She bought it for one dollar and
approached the Ontario Humane
Society to see if they would use it
to house cats.
The building was then moved
to the Whitby Animal Shelter on
Thickson Road but was never used
to house cats. It was used as cold
Photograph by Rebecca Calzavara
storage and for holding dog food
and equipment. After a few years
the building was no longer used
and was boarded up.
For 40 years they have been trying
to create a museum using the
last remains of the camp explained
Hodgson.
Taileb explained that many
people are not familiar with Camp
X or what it is. When people find
out about it they get excited and
then start asking questions about
the camp.
“We can’t forget the past,” Taileb
said.