In the trenches

Visit to the WWI Battlefields of Northern France and Belgium

103 Lower Fifth (Year 9) pupils and 13 staff have returned from what was probably Exeter School's biggest-ever overseas residential trip to the First World War battlefields of Northern France and Belgium.

The group visited a variety of key World War One sites in Belgium. They included Essex Farm Cemetery, in which is buried one of the youngest casualties of the war, Valentine Joe Strudwick, who was only 15 when he was killed. There is also a memorial to John McCrae, the author of the classic war poem In Flanders Fields.

Visits to German and British Commonwealth cemeteries in the Ypres Salient, along with an exploration of the preserved trenches and underground passages of Sanctuary Wood followed, the day concluding with attendance at the daily last post ceremony at the Menin Gate.

In the Somme region of France pupils learnt about the events of 1st July 1916, when the British Army suffered its worst ever first day battle casualties of over 50,000. There were visits to two impressive Canadian memorial parks at Newfoundland Park and Vimy Ridge, the latter including a guided tour of the underground communication tunnels.

The tour finished with a visit to the medieval cloth centre of Bruges, although today chocolate rather than wool is probably its most significant merchandise!

The trip was a great success and gave everyone plenty to reflect on, not least the human suffering caused by war.