At about the time you are taking your position near one of the Dufferin County Cenotaphs tomorrow, 34 Shelburne high school students along with their four chaperones and six other adults will be preparing to land in London, England, for the beginning of their 11-day, curriculumbased Canada and World Studies European tour.

Their itinerary at first glance might appear as that of any vacation, but it’s mostly hard work as the students are expected to further their studies in a hands-on sort of fashion.

They will have tours of historical sites in London, but they’ll also have guided tours of the battlefields of Normandy.

Some of their specific visits, apart from those guided tours, will include the Imperial War Museum, Churchill War Rooms, Canterbury Cathedral, Juno Beach Centre & beach tour, Ocean Villas Trenches, Abbaye d’Ardenne, Mont St. Michel, Rijksmuseum, Anne Frank House, and the Dutch Resistance Museum.

They were to leave Pearson Terminal 3 at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and are scheduled to arrive at 6:25 a.m. Friday London time.

Then they are almost immediately to be whisked off to the city for a half-day tour of points of interest, including the infamous Tower of London but also to get a bird’s eye view of the whole city by riding on the London Eye.

There’s some outstanding art to be viewed at the Tate Modern Gallery and the National Gallery, including the works of Bacon, Dali, Picasso, Matisse, Rothko and Warhol.

Their tours in London over the next two days include much of the history of the two World Wars, and then it’s off to ride the English Channel swells to the beaches of Normandy, as the warriors did 67 years ago – except the students will enjoy the ride on a ferry, instead of warships and landing craft.

The itinerary for Nov. 14 quotes a bit of history, which is worth repeating here:

“Today, after breakfast depart for your guided visit of the Abbaye d’Ardenne, Mesnil Patry and Longues-Sur-Mer.

“The abbaye was occupied by Colonel Kurt (Panzer) Meyer’s fanatical SS units, the Abbaye d’Ardennes, whose previous owners had been arrested the previous year for being members of the Resistance, was the HQ for the 25th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment of Fritz Witt’s 12th SS (Hitler Youth) Panzer Division.

“The Abbey had a tower which gave an excellent vantage point from which to observe the Canadians moving inland from Juno Beach. The battle for the Abbey was one of the bloodiest of the Canadian campaign. Here 23 Canadian soldiers were murdered by the SS.”

The same afternoon includes Omaha Beach, where U.S. troops sustained the greatest losses, and a visit to the German cemetery at La- Cambe, perhaps to show how heavy the losses on both sides.

The following days include tours of other battlefields and historical points throughout Normandy and beyond, and a wealth of information about the historical significance of every site visited.

The Nov. 16 tour includes the Canadian military cemeteries at Beny-sur-mer, and a ceremony at the Juno Beach Centre, followed by Canadian assault beaches at St. Aubin and Bernieres.

The eighth day is somewhat dedicated to the First World War with a visit to Beaumont- Hamel Newfoundland Memorial and cemetery where life buried 684 who perished on July 1, 1916.

That number represents 70% all ranks of the Newfoundland Battalion, part of the British 88th Brigade.

From there, they will visit Vimy Ridge, the memorial and the tunnels, one of the most defining battles of Canadian ingenuity and fighting spirit, in which our troops accomplished what no other force of the time could.

Moving through the battlefields into the ninth day of the tour, the students will visit Essex Farm Cemetery where medical Lt. Col. John McCrae penned Flanders Fields after one of his best friends have fallen in battle.

Also, it is here that 15-year-old Joe Strudwick is buried. Seems that back then, as it did in the Second World War, boys lied about their age so they could join the fray.

Following several more scheduled tours, the group of 44 students and adults will fly home from Amsterdam on Nov. 20, perhaps a bit sadder but wiser as a re sult of what they had viewed.