Originally, the song, In Flanders Fields, was set to music by Frank DeVries. The Grade 4 and 5 Classes of 2010/2011 sang Mr. DeVries’ arrangement and it was accessible to listen to on the Canadian Legion website for a while.
It was recorded in the gymnasium. Mrs. Freestone accompanied on piano. Mrs. Cahill, Ms. Padgett, Mr. Gysbers, and Mr. Wu were the supervising teachers at the time.
Note: Mr. Frank DeVries was a former principal at VCS.
He writes,
“Now retired, I have spent a lifetime as teacher/administrator in Canadian Christian schools. For many years, too, I have played the piano and composed songs and hymns, a number of which have been incorporated in hymnals and songbooks of various church denominations. My wife Celia and I make our home in Abbotsford, British Columbia, where daily we go for long walks.
My musical version of In Flanders Fields was written in honour of and as tribute to the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces who in 1945 came to liberate the people of Holland. The thousands of crosses in cemeteries at Groesbeek, Holten, Amersfoort, Bergen op Zoom, Uden and Eindhoven stand in mute tribute to their courage, their love of freedom, and their impassioned desire to right a grievous injustice.”
VCS Music 