Joe in Year 13 laid a remembrance cross at the site of his great uncle’s grave on Thursday. A member of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, he succumbed to his wounds at Lijssenthoek hospital at the age of just 22 years old.
On Thursday, pupils visited Lijssenthoek military hospital and cemetery – the biggest hospital on the Ypres Salient in one of our final stops before heading for home.
We have departed our hotel and had an early morning visit to Brandhoek cemetery, site of double Victoria Cross winner Noel Chavasse’s resting place – one of only 3 people ever to have won a double Victoria Cross and the only man of WWI to do so.
Pupils experienced a poignant ceremony which included ‘The Last Post’ at Menin Gate on Wednesday night.
Pupils visited Tyne Cot British Cemetery in Belgium on Wednesday, the largest Commonwealth graveyard in the world. 11,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers rest here.
Pupils also visited Langemark German cemetery in Belgium on Wednesday. Opened in 1932, it’s an important site for the German nation where 44,000 young German men of the First World War lie in mass graves.
Pupils are visiting The Hooge Crater Museum today, learning all about the Battle of Passchendaele in1917. The interactive exhibits and reconstructions brought the battle to life for our pupils.
On Wednesday, we spent time in Ypres and Mrs Selby spoke to pupils about the Menin Gate. We then visited a very special Belgian chocolate shop and explored the famous Cloth Hall together.
Isabelle in Year 11 located the grave of her great, great grandfather who fell on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916. This trip is her first ever visit to Freicourt cemetery.
Pupils have visited Thiepval Memorial to the missing in the Somme region of France this afternoon. 72,000 names are inscribed on the walls for British casualties at the Somme who have no known grave.
Pupils are visiting Vimy Ridge today, the location of the Battle of Arras. Pupils visited refurbished trenches to experience what it was like for German and Canadian troops and also visited the Canadian War Memorial where 11,000 names are inscribed to remember the fallen.
44 pupils from Years 9-13 are arriving in France as part of their trip to France/Belgium to explore battlefields from WWI. Most of the pupils come from the Combined Cadet Force contingent.
On Tuesday, they will go to Vimy to visit the Canadian National Memorial, then have a guided tour of the Somme battlefield as well as attending a ‘Last Post’ ceremony on Tuesday night at Ypres.
More photos/news to follow each day.
