Educational and moving Battlefields trip grips Third Years
During the autumn half term, Third Year pupils made the annual trip to the battlefields of France and Belgium where they learnt more about the importance of remembrance.
The first day of the trip, which is organised to complement work done in history lessons, saw pupils head to the Somme to visit sites and museums in the area.
Pupils were amazed at the size of the Lochnagar Crater, a truly visual reminder of the impact of war that was created when British mines exploded and marked the start of the Battle of the Somme.
Pupil Dan Sullivan said: “It was amazing to see the sheer size of the Lochnagar Crater. It was so surreal, and to think that it was normal to have explosions killing people so often is really tragic.”
The Somme 1916 Museum, which is located in the heart of the battlefields and in the centre of Albert – a city that symbolizes the First World War – gave the students an incomparable insight into what the life of a World War One soldier was like. Whilst there they also examined a number of artefacts from the period.
Dan observed: “Walking through those tunnels, surrounded by artifacts and displays, really brings the history to life in a way that’s both educational and deeply moving. I got a sense of what the soldiers went through and the harsh realities of trench warfare. I felt more connected to the past and the people who lived through it.”
A number of the travelling group laid a wreath in memory of Old Stopfordians lost in battle at the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, a reminder of the local impact of the global conflict.
To round off an eye-opening first day, pupils visited Newfoundland Memorial Park. Whilst there a guide took them around a trench system and spoke to them about the horrors of this type of warfare.
Dan commented: “Walking through the area, with its preserved trenches and the staggering Caribou Monument, I got a real sense of the courage and sacrifice of the Newfoundlanders during the Battle of the Somme.”
On the second day the historians crossed the border into Belgium to visit Ypres. In the First World War the town was flattened but it has now been rebuilt to its previous magnificent medieval architecture.
Inside the Cloth Hall on the market square – a building that was largely destroyed by artillery during the war – was the In Flanders Fields Museum, the next stop of the journey.
The museum pays great attention to the contemporary landscape as one of the last tangible witnesses of the war history and, from the restored Belfry tower, visitors can look out over the city and the surrounding battlefields.
The pupils then visited Tyne Cot Cemetery, an area where Commonwealth, French, Belgian and German forces fought almost continuously throughout the First World War.
Pupil Pearl Hughes said: “I found Tyne Cot Cemetery very moving because almost 12,000 servicemen were buried in that one cemetery. There were white headstones as far as the eye could see.”
They moved on Langemark Cemetery, a World War One burial ground of around 44,000 German soldiers.
Pearl noted: “This cemetery was very different because the gravestones were flat like tiles on the ground, grey and had the names of at least 8 people on each stone. I was especially affected by the mass grave which held almost 25,000 German soldiers.”
A highly poignant moment of the trip was the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, a service for everyone to reflect. During the ceremony, pupils George Maxwell and April Murison laid wreaths.
History Teacher and Head of Lower Sixth Mrs Heather Ashton said: “Many Old Stops remember their Battlefields trip as a highlight of their time here, which fuels our determination to ensure that current, and future, pupils continue to be offered the experience.
“We try to make the memory of the Old Stopfordians who gave their lives in the Great War as relevant as possible to our pupils; commenting on age and relating experience of teenagers and young adults, linking them geographically to where current pupils live, and even what house they were in when at SGS.”
Head of History Mr Tom Leng concluded: “Here at SGS our department has a long tradition of running overseas tours to places of historical importance. However, out of all the trips we organise, the Battlefields trip is by far one of the most poignant for both pupils and staff.
“Visiting such sites at this time of year adds an extra layer of emotion with the tour being so close to Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday. Experiencing the sites of the Somme region and Ypres allows our pupils to imagine what life was like for all the British soldiers and volunteers who travelled across the country towards the South of England and over the sea to the Western Front over 100 years ago.”
