The trip was packed full of lots of different experiences of warfare. The tour was based around the Ypres Salient for  two days, an area of intense fighting during the war. Highlights included a visit to the Tyne Cot Cemetery - the largest British War Cemetery of the First World War. It was here that Year 9 student Bobby Moore found the grave of his Great Great Grandfather who died fighting for England in World War One. 

 

This was contrasted with a visit to Langemarck Cemetery - for the German soldiers who fell in World War One. We also visited the Menin Gate, the memorial to all those who were lost in Ypres during World War One and whose bodies were never found. We attended the Last Post Ceremony, which is held there every night, and three students laid a wreath from The Harefield Academy in memory of all those who died in World War One. We also visited some trenches at Sanctuary Wood and walked through them to get an idea of what day to day life must have been like for the soldiers.

 

On the second day we travelled down to the Somme region, the location of one of the war's most bloody battles. There students were able to appreciate the scale of the slaughter at such sites as the Thiepval Memorial, Deville Wood and Beaumont Hammel. 

 

We ended the trip with a very popular visit to a chocolate shop. The students were brilliant throughout the whole trip and got a huge amount out of the opportunity to visit such a poignant and important place in our History.

 

Thanks to all the staff and students for making the trip so successful.

 

Helen Walls