Residential Trip to France & Belgium
Posted on 11th May
On the 10th March 2017, Ms Matthews, Ms Ezer and Olu and Denis from year 8 were lucky enough to go on a 4 day residential trip to Belgium and France. The trip was run by the IoE and was in remembrance of the Centenary of World War One. They got to visit a range of historical sites including battlefields and memorials whilst researching a range of enquiry questions. The following blog was written during the trip and was a way for the four of us to document what we had done and what we had leant, we hope you enjoy reading it and looking at the pictures we took.
Day 1
Mr Natha drove us to Romford where we boarded the coach to Ashford. When we arrived at Ashford the Teachers went to a CPD session where they learnt about the best ways to teach WW1 and how to enable students to get the most out of this trip. During this time students went with activity leaders and had the opportunity to meet and get to know all of the other students on the trip. They also got the chance to have a go at a tree top Ariel wire course, and then make and launch water rockets...Ms Matthews was VERY jealous!
Later in the evening we got the chance to see, touch and hear about real WW1 artefacts! This was a fantastic experience, we got to handle rifles, bayonets - both English and French - it was interesting to see the difference in design of the equipment, bullets, shells and the shrapnel the shells turned into when they exploded! It was fun to try on the helmets and hold the equipment; Ms Matthews was struck by the weight of the equipment and it was hard to imagine how hard it must have been for the soldier to carry it all whilst running and fighting! Also during this session the soldiers told us about their experiences in places like Iraq and how the equipment was either similar or very different. It was interesting to see that equipment like the penknife is still very similar (but made of different material) and that grenades and bullets are still very similar today! This brought home for us how important it is to remember what the soldiers went through in WW1, it might have been 100 years ago but the equipment and experiences of soldiers then, was not so different to the experience of soldiers in today’s modern warfare. It was great to see Olu and Denis trying on the equipment and exploring the artefacts; it made the war seem real for us all.
Later we were given two real life soldiers to research. Both of these soldiers lived in Hackney and fought and died in WW1. Denis and Ms Matthews found out information on a soldier called Jack Gross and he lived at 120 Mare Street! He died during the battle of The Somme and we will go and see his name on the Thiepval Memorial on Sunday. Ms Ezer and Olu found out information on John Stephens Hawkes from Conrad Street in Hackney, however this street name and area is no longer called the same thing! Conrad Street is now the Mare Street area. John, was one of 5 children and was 24 when he died during was, he is remembered on the Tyncot Memorial and we will find his name on the last day of the trip.
Day 2
We travelled on the Euro tunnel to France - Calais, then to Belgium. We stopped for refreshments on our way there, and Olu experienced entering a Starbucks for the first time!
On our arrival to Lijssenthoek Cemetery, we enjoyed our lunch out in the sun, then visited the visitor’s centre where we looked at belongings of soldiers and developed our knowledge on WW1. Denis and Olu enjoyed looking around the centre and researching their background, trying to find links with soldiers who fought in WW1. We were able to print off information about a 'solider of the day', this means a soldier who died today. Ms Matthews was also able to use the computer there to track a family member from her father's side of the family. When we entered the Cemetery Olu helped Ms Matthews find the gravestone of her great grand farther whilst Denis and Ms Ezer found the soldier of the day. Whilst we were walking around we were able to identify the many countries that the soldiers who died here were from, this was a very real visualisation of the allied nature of the war and how this truly was a 'World war'. Olu and Ms Matthews were also able to find a soldier who was just 15 years old and next to his grave was a soldier who was 52! Olu thought that this was interesting and that it was hard to imagine going to war and dying at 15 - especially as this is too young...even then. This solider must have had to lie about his age and possibly even his name to be able to go and fight in the war. Olu and Ms Matthews thought that it was hard to imagine how strongly he must have felt or how desperate he must have felt to choose to go to war at such a young age!
Olu and Denis were very engaged with the task of tracking specific soldiers that were presented to them. They made positive contributions to the discussions and answered many questions. The tour guide said they were on fire!
Later that afternoon, we visited Passchendaele Memorial Museum where we were able to see different soldiers' uniforms, medical equipment, artillery and weapons. We explored the reconstruction of a dug out, where both boys were able to see and understand the conditions the soldiers were living in. Both Olu and Denis mentioned they did not like the bunks and that they would feel claustrophobic if they had to sleep there, as two soldiers would share a bunk, with a total of 15 soldiers in a small enclosed area. They also disliked the idea of using buckets as a toilet.
We then watched a short film informing us about the WW1 and visited the trenches. We all really enjoyed the experience of walking through a trench. Olu was able to explain to the tour guide and the rest of the group why the trenches were set out the way they were. He explained that the British trenches were formed in a zig zag pattern to prevent all the soldiers from being killed at the same in the event of an attack; Denis was able to identify the sniper set up, and explain the use of sand bags for protection.
Later that evening we attended the Ceremony of the last post at Menin Gate. This Ceremony takes place every evening to remember the 53,000 people who died in WW1. Students were asked to come up with words that was attached to the wreath that was laid by four students from our tour group as part of the ceremony. Olu and Denis came up with the word 'love' to represent the people who fought during WW1 and the reason we remember them. We were overwhelmed by the scale of the memorial and the visual impact of seeing the 53,000 names across the walls of Menin Gate.
After the ceremony, we went to Grote Square, which is the city centre. Denis and Olu were overwhelmed by the amount of chocolate in Leonides (the chocolate shop) and bought some to take back home. Ms Matthews and Ms Ezer made sure that they brought plenty of chocolate back for the other teachers! Both Olu and Denis were very excited about eating Belgium waffles and managed to cover their faces and all ten fingers in chocolate while doing so! We later walked around the square and through the mini funfair.
We were exhausted by the time we returned to the hotel, and went straight to bed, ready for the next day.
Our enquiry question for the day was - How did the First World War affect the lives of ordinary people? After a long day of interesting exploration we decided that it affected them a great deal. Horrendous numbers of people died and this although tragically sad, also had a bigger impact on the people left at home grieving and having to adapt their lives. In addition many ordinary men signed up to fight in the war and if they were lucky enough to survive their lives were still affected forever; some suffered PTSD, some had physical injuries such as amputations, visual impairments or experienced a range of difficulties that was affect their lives forever when they got home. However these issues did enable the countries involved to develop medical and military advances such as blood transfusions and war technology such as the tank. However the thing we were stuck by most was how the war continues to affect people’s lives today: people still participate in remembrance acts, such as the last post ceremony, people in France still find unexplored ammunition and are being injured and killed today and our military are still reflecting on the war and learning lessons on tactics today.
Day 3
Our first visit was to Vimy Ridge and we explored the Canadian memorial, there are over 60,000 names on the memorial and it remembers all of the Canadian soldiers that died during the war. We learnt about how the British and Canadian soldiers worked together to overcome the German troops and reclaim the French land from the Germans. This memorial was different to the others we have seen because there were sculptures covering it to represent the loss and sacrifice of the Canadian people. We thought this was interesting as they added another dimension to our remembrance and highlighted the pain and agony of war for all people involved rather than only focusing on remembering those who lost their lives. Olu identified the religious imagery in sculptures and explained that lots of the male sculptures reminded him of Jesus. There were also lots of female sculptures that were, in Denis' words, 'explicit', we asked our guides about these and they explained to us that the images represented the type of sculptures at the time and how the women at home in Canada had lost everything when their sons and husbands died in war; their naked bodies represented the sense of vulnerability caused by war.
In the centre of the memorial there was an image that reminded Olu of the Statue of Liberty in America as it had a woman holding a flame up into the sky, below this was an image that reminded us of Jesus on the cross. Olu explained that his interpretation of this was one of liberty and sacrifice, h explain that he thought that the sculptor and Canada as a whole may be using this as their key point of remembrance - these thousands of Soldiers died, sacrificing their lives, for our liberty. They died to secure our freedom!
During our discussion with the tour guides Denis asked, how did the Canadians and British soldiers win this particular battle? This had a complex answer and the guided explained that they used a series of tunnels and well trained and practiced routes to come from both sides and force the German soldiers backwards down the ridge and take back the Ridge, gaining the high ground. Denis was then able to understand that this was just won battle of the greater effort and that it was not a declaration of 'winning' but a case of taking back this section of land and moving the battle into another area.
The site was also surrounded by signs warning you not to walk off into the woods and into the roped off areas as still to this day, 100 years on, there is war debris and unexploded ammunition being found in this area! Luckily we did not go into those areas and did not see any!
We then travelled to Beaumont Hemel. Rotisserie Cemetery, here we were able to find the sunken valley, an area where a battle between British and Germany soldiers took place on the first day of the battle of the Somme. Here we looked at maps and photos from the war and were able work out the geography of the site and see where the Germany and British trenches would have been and stand in ‘no man’s land…the sunken valley. We then split up and the pupils became the British solider and the teachers climbed up the hill and became the German troops. We then did a mini re-enactment of the battle and Olu and Denis got to experience being British Soldiers going over the top. Olu was given the role of a boomer and Denis was given the role of a spare grenade solider. Unfortunately Olu's solider was hit and died, whereas Denis' survived. We then visited the battlefield cemetery where the solider that died in that battle, in that field are buried, sadly only 50 of the soldiers involved in this battle survived!
Whilst we were there one of the Soldiers on our tour found a piece of shrapnel, it was a piece of a shell that would have exploded, and you could even see the casing line around the edge. It was fascinating to actually see a piece of shrapnel being found 100 years on.
We then we visited Catepillar Cemetery in which we were given maps and used the campuses on our phones to work out where exactly the trenches were and the problems that the British and allied soldiers would have faced when attacking. Olu was able to navigate us north and then Denis was able to identify that the British solider faced many problems including that the land was largely flat and so the enemy would see them coming whereas the German soldiers were able to conceal themselves within the high woods. We then looked around the graves and Olu identified that most of the soldiers were British (although we did see some New Zealand graves because the New Zealand army worked with the British army during the battle of the Somme) and there were many, many, many graves and this showed us the scale of the British deaths - just in this one battle! Olu also pointed out that the dates on the graves go from July all the way through to November. This was surprising for us as most people think that the battle of the Somme only happened in July however in reality the battle was much longer and Brian and New Zealand only gained the ground they wanted after 4 long months of fighting and with thousands and thousands of deaths.
We then spent some time exploring today's enquiry question - Was the battle of the Somme in 1916 really a disaster for the British Army? This was an interesting debate as our initial reaction was that it must have been because of the amount of British soldiers that died however later on Denis explained that he believed that it was not as simple as that because the army leant from the experience. They developed new tactics and better battle strategies and they began to work closer with new elements such as tanks and the airplanes. Our guide explained to us that the airplanes were vital to us succeeding in this area because the Germans were hidden in the woods and the airplanes were able to fly above, spot the enemy and fire at them or fly back around and throw messages out of the planes on hankies warning the British armies or sending information about where the enemies were hiding. Therefore it is not as easy to just say that the battle of the Somme was a complete disaster, although the thousands of deaths were a disaster the British and allied forces develop tactics that helped them win the war in the end.
We then travelled the short distance to Thiepval Memorial, this is the memorial to the 72,000 soldiers who died in the battle of the Somme whose bodies could not be found. Here Denis got the opportunity to find the Hackney solider he had researched on Friday, our guides taught us how to find the names on the memorial and Denis was able to very quickly find Jack Gross. We already knew that he served as Ross and not Gross and on Friday Ms Matthews and Denis thought that maybe he did this because he did not want his family to stop him going to war, however today we learnt that he probably served as Ross because the name Gross originates from Germany and a soldier with a German sounding name often changed them to avoid confusion and to stop their comrades taking the mickey out of them or distrusting them during the war.
After dinner the 3 soldiers who have been on our tour presented us with equipment, clothing and food supplies from WW1 and the modern day. It was interesting to see how the basic ideas are still the same however technology has improved it. Olu was astounded to hear that at the beginning of WW1 a soldiers clothes and hats were not even water proof...let alone bullet prof. A few pupils were given the opportunity to volunteer to try on the equipment and demonstrate them for the rest of the group, Denis was chosen to try on the modern day equipment. He was shocked to feel the weight and size of the backpack, it was bigger than him and it pulled him backwards and nearly over...and the backpack was EMPTY! It helped us realised how strong and physically fit the soldiers both in WW1 and now have to be! Denis was then given a fruit drink from the current food supply given to soldiers in the British army...he has not tasted it yet!
Day 4
Our first stop of the day was back to Ypres town and to a pottery studio, this studio is currently making part of a sculpture memorial that is going to be put up next year. We got the opportunity to make our own sculptures of the victims of war using clay and a mould press. It was a fun experience making the clay sculptures and it is nice to know that we have made part of a remembrance memorial that will be there for many, many years. Denis and Olu both engraved their initials on to their sculptures and we also engraved NRC on to our smaller sculpture and so our individual and whole school symbol of remembrance will forever lay in Belgium.
Our next stop was the German Cemetery Langemark, this was an interesting visit because it was so different to the British Cemeteries and the other Memorials we have seen. This Cemetery was very Germanic, the whole style was different. Within this visit Phil (one of the Soldiers on our trip) worked with us to explore the Cemetery, he told us that the site was smaller because the Belgium people wanted to have a sight of remembered for the Germans but were not prepared to give over lots of the land that they had be fighting to defend to remember their enemies. One of the ways this Cemetery was different to the British ones was that there was one large crypt where 20,000 bodies were buried, Olu thought that this was disrespectful and was done because they did not want to remember the dead however Phil explained to us that this was actually a German tradition and that they called it a ‘comrades grave’ – in German culture it is considered an honour to be buried with your team or comrades. Denis was able to identify the Oak trees that were stood throughout the cemetery and Phil was able to explain that this is because the Oak is a strong symbol in German culture and that they have them on their medals and clothes as they symbolise strength and life.
The final stop on our tour was to Tyne Cot Cemetery, here Olu was able to find the soldier’s grave that he researched on Friday evening, John Stephen Hawkes from Hackney. We found him in the Cemetery and Olu wrote on a remembrance marker the message - you will always be remembered, Olu NRC. Denis also had a remembrance marker and on his he wrote, we are proud of you; Denis decided to place his marker between two graves, one was a London soldier and one was an unnamed solider. He did this because he wanted to remember a soldier from London but also support a soldier who still to this day is unknown and so does not have family to visit him. To finish our visit we wrote in the guest book, as another mark of remembrance, a message from the whole of our NRC community.
Our enquiry question for today was - Is remembrance more of less important 100 years on? As a group we decided that it was still very important because these people gave their lives for us, so that we could live a life of freedom. We have seen many things on this trip that have made us have this opinion: Olu explained that he believes this because through remembrance we can learn from our mistakes and hopefully prevent another world war, especially because of the times we are currently living through with Donald Trump, Isis and Russia. Denis, explained that the loss of life should never be forgotten and that the personal inscriptions on the graves such as, "Time rolls on but memories last", "always in the minds of those who loved him" and "his memory is all I have left" have helped him realise the importance of using remembering to learn lessons for the future.
