After arriving in Calais, they made their way to the Passchendaele Museum where the students were able to explore the underground bunker which is an exact replica of a genuine WWI bunker found a few hundred metres from the museum. Following that they visited Tyne Cot cemetery which is the biggest British and Commonwealth cemetery in the world with over 12,000 graves and the names of over 33,000 men who were killed in the area and have no known grave. The decision to leave the remains of the German bunkers, captured by an Australian unit, in place at the cemetery makes it a poignant place to reflect on the scale of losses throughout WWI. They made a stop at the German cemetery of Langemark before arriving at their hotel for dinner and a relaxed evening. 

One of the highlights of day two was at Vimy Ridge, learning about the actions of the Canadian troops who launched an assault on the area as part of the offensives of 1917. They had some free time in the French town of Arras where they enjoyed lunch. As the snow fell on the second evening, they made their way into the town of Ypres to attend the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, where a remembrance service is held at 10pm every single day of the year to commemorate those who lost their lives. They walked to the Cloth Hall in Ypres which was almost completely rebuilt after the war before making a visit to the very popular chocolate shop!

On the final day they stopped at Essex Farm cemetery where they paid their respects at the grave of Rifleman Valentine Joe Strudwick who died in 1916 at the age of just 15 making him one of the youngest casualties of the war. It is sobering to think that he fought and died at the same age of most of our Year 11 students. They moved on to the museum and trenches at Hooge Crater and the execution cells and memorial in Poperinge. After a long journey home on Sunday evening, a tired group arrived back at school ready to start their half term holiday!

Subject Leader for History, Mr Hall, said, ‘It was a pleasure to take such a thoughtful, engaged and well-behaved group of students abroad. They were an absolute credit to the school throughout the trip. So much so that we have already started planning next year’s trip!’