We Will Never Forget

From the 3^rd May to the 5^th May 2024, a group of 79 Year 9 pupils attended the History Battlefields trip in Belgium and France. Pupils studied various aspects of WWI during Year 9 and the trip provided pupils with context and a first-hand experience on what it was like to serve in the war.

After an early start, pupil’s set off for Belgium and France with packed three-day itinerary starting with the Ypres Salient. Visit's included a tour of a preserved German trench at Bayernwald and pupils where then able to identify the grave of the youngest soldier at Essex Farm cemetery. Essex Farm is also the site Canadian soldier John McCrae wrote the famous ‘In Flanders Field’ poem. In the afternoon pupils visited Flanders Field Museum in Ypres and a highlight for both staff and pupils a quick stop at a Belgian chocolate shop.

Saturday was spent visiting various sites and memorials in the Somme region of France. Including a network of underground tunnels at Wellington Quarry, tunnelled by British and New Zealand forces in 1917. This was followed by a tour of two Canadian memorial parks, Newfoundland and Vimy Ridge. Then a visit to the largest manmade crater of WWI, Lochnager. The day ended with a return to Ypres town centre, where three Winston pupils participated in the Last Post ceremony laying a wreath at the Menin Gate, an act of remembrance that has taken place since 1928.

The final day involved a visit to Tyne Cot Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth war graves cemetery, the German cemetery Langemark and ended with Lijssenthoek Cemetery. Which contains the graves for Commonwealth soldiers and Chinese Labour Corps, along with the French, German and US army.

Pupils who attended the trip said it was 'interesting' and 'eye opening', 'putting into perspective how many fought and died during World War One'. The pupils who participated in the wreath laying shared that they were 'very grateful to have been given the opportunity' and 'experience'.

Miss Robinson