Grade 10 student Dylan Ferris is spending 24 hours in a muddy trench in his parent’s yard, all for a social studies project.
He built the slit trench Friday night after thawing the ground with a diesel generator. It features a basic wooden ladder and sandbags on one end.
“(It’s) not very deep but it will offer you some protection against fragmenting objects or bullets and the sort,” Ferris explained.
He already knows he’s made the grade on his project. He said he could have learned morse code instead, but that would’ve been too easy.
“Teacher said, ‘You have 100 per cent.’ I’m not even fully done the project. So I think she likes it,” he laughs.
But his mom, on the other hand, wasn’t especially fond of the idea.
“He said he wanted to build a trench in my backyard – which I was not crazy about. First of all, it would disturb my yard and I also knew the ground would be frozen,” Heather Jordan said.
After a little convincing, Jordan changed her mind.
“I said he could dig where my vegetable garden was.”
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She says Ferris has always been interested in military history, and wants to be a pilot. For the past three years, he’s been a cadet with the 570 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron.
“I want to remember people that have fought in past wars and died for our country and things like that,” he said.
WATCH: Replica World War I era airplanes fly past memorial for the Battle of Vimy Ridge
To make the experience even more realistic, he borrowed genuine war memorabilia from the Loyal Edmonton Regiment Museum.
“Got a gas mask, a kit bag, a sleeping bag, trousers, grey coat,” he said.
“I don’t have a tunic because it’s original and it’s hard to find. This is a World War II helmet.”
He also has the transcriptions from a soldier’s diary.
“I have the month of March, 1918. So 100 years ago, this month,” Ferris said.
WATCH: Gord Steinke sat down with Ferris – taking a unique look at what life was like in the trenches during the First World War.
So just how does he plan to spend his time in the trench?
“I’ll probably write some letters, eat food – hopefully. Hopefully stay dry. I’m going to try and re-enact it at the time, so one of my friends is going to simulate bombardment,” he said.
His friend Terrell Walkus is around for moral support, and the bombardment – of course.
“He asked me to bombard him with small rocks or snowballs,” he laughed.
Ferris hopes his project makes him tougher and teaches him some survival skills as well.
He climbed down into the trench at 9 a.m. Sunday and hopes to spend the night there. The only luxury he’s allowing himself is indoor bathroom breaks.
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