Activities
Activity 1
Note making
Take notes on the programme in a table like the one below.
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What do you find out about Jessica and Ken? |
What do you think about them? |
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What does Ken tell us about the D-Day landings — the aims, preparations, and events? |
Activity 2
Making sense of the information
Ken had to make a number of choices. Why do you think he did what he did? Would you have chosen the same course?
Ken’s choices:
- Ken decided to join the Royal Navy at the age of 15 without telling his parents.
- Ken helped injured soldiers back onto the landing craft even though his orders said he should leave any casualties on the beach.
- Ken decided not to return to Omaha Beach with other soldiers, but instead to talk to a 15-year-old girl about his thoughts and feelings.
Activity 3
Research
These web links will help you find out more about the things Ken told Jessica:
http://www.dday.org/
http://www.nando.net/sproject/dday/dday.html
Write an imaginary letter from a soldier who landed on Omaha Beach, to his family in the US. Focus on the feelings of the soldier and the things he would have seen.
Activity 4
Life stories
Talk to an older relative or friend who can remember the Second World War, or talk to someone about the things you have heard in the programme and ask them about their thoughts and feelings about the way young men were asked to risk their lives on the Normandy beaches.
© 2000 Channel Four Television Corporation
