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Kevin Thorne never met his great-grandfather, and knows him only through his First World War keepsakes: a stack of faded photographs and a canvas box containing pins, shell casings, a matchstick holder and cuticle cream.

But next week, Mr. Thorne will see first hand the battlefield on which his ancestor, Ernest William Thorne, fought as part of the Canadian assault on Vimy Ridge. The 16-year-old is one of about 5,000 high-school students from across the country who are attending the 90th anniversary commemoration of the celebrated battle on Monday.

"I want to see Europe in general and I'm really interested in the history of war so I figured going over to Vimy Ridge would be interesting because a whole bunch of my family all fought there," said Mr. Thorne, whose Vimy connection includes another great-grandfather.

On Monday, the students will honour Canadian troops with wreaths and poems at a nearby cemetery. At Vimy, they will attend ceremonies featuring dignitaries such as the Queen and Prime Minister Stephen Harper. They will also be given medals to mark their pilgrimage.

"I think it's absolutely marvellous," said Gail Smith-Cook, spokeswoman for the Royal Canadian Legion. "They're becoming educated on the importance of Canada and its contribution to World War I."

While the story of Vimy Ridge has long been taught in high schools across the nation, teachers involved in the trip hope that seeing its front lines will help bring the reality of war alive for the teens, many of whom were born around the time of the Persian Gulf war.

"I think they'll come back with a heightened sense of respect for our Canadian soldiers and also a heightened sense of pride in our accomplishments," said Mitchell Bubulj, a history teacher at Silverthorn Collegiate Institute in Toronto, where Kevin attends school.

Long venerated in Canada, the battle of Vimy Ridge is considered a key moment in the country's history. The four-day fight marked the first time that all four divisions of the Canadian army fought together. Using offensive warfare and meticulous planning, Canadian troops, along with British soldiers, captured the ridge, marking a significant victory and sealing their reputations as skilled soldiers.

"It put Canadians on the map. It showed we could actually do stuff. We became important. A great national achievement," said Jeffery Bertrand, a 16-year-old in Grade 11 at Silverthorn who is part of the school's 42-student delegation.

But for the group of Toronto teens, the trip, which is organized by an educational travel company and costs about $2,200 a student, is also clearly about sightseeing. The group was to land in England early today and is planning to tour the country, including the Imperial War Museum and Canterbury Cathedral. They will travel to France by ferry and visit Juno Beach before heading to Vimy. The last three days of their trip will be spent in Paris, where they plan to see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.

Mr. Bertrand, who laughingly noted the legal drinking age in France is 16, wants to "walk around the sites, see what's going on in Europe. I've never been there, no one in my family, I don't think, has ever left this continent." Mr. Thorne, whose relatives all survived the First World War, wants to "see what it's like on the streets."

Another student, Lori Purchase, is eager to check out London's famous telephone booths. "We're excited," the 17-year-old said.

Mr. Bubulj, who along with three other teachers is chaperoning the Silverthorn group, acknowledges about half of his young charges are more interested in touring Paris than attending the Vimy commemoration. But he trusts that a first-hand glimpse of Canada's wartime past will capture their imaginations.

"There's definitely an allure, but that's fine because if that's what takes them there, so be it," he said. "But I have a feeling that no one will be able to resist the power of Vimy."