Battlefields Trip 2007

The Year 9 trip to the First World War Battlefields is a well entrenched part of the school year but this year the group exchanged the flat and desolate plains of Flanders for the rolling farmlands of Northern France as they visited sites commemorating the Battle of the Somme. Representing perhaps better than any other single site, the memorials of the Somme make clear that this was truly a global conflict. Taking place where the English forces gave way to the French along the Western Front, the Somme saw soldiers from all corners of the British Empire join the cause and their tragic ends are commemorated in a series of stunning and deeply moving sites, all meticulously maintained by representatives of the constituent nations.

The trip began with a tour around Beaumont Hamel where the efforts of the Newfoundland (note, not Canadian) troops are remembered in a remarkably well preserved battle site overseen by a vast caribou statue and a well-informed visitor section. Also within the park is a memorial to the 51st Highlanders who, after having successfully negotiate no-man's-land became one of history's first recorded victims of friendly fire. From there the group went to the Thiepval Memorial, a truly breath-taking series of arches designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the architect who was later to lay down the design for New Delhi, amongst other notable achievements. The largest of all such monuments on the Western Front, the arch is just under 50m high and is dedicated to the 72,000 British troops for whom there is no known grave. Few who have ever seen it have failed to be impressed and our band was no different - for many this was the most moving aspect of the trip.

Thiepval is a hard act to follow but the vast scale of the Lochnagar Crater is equally impressive albeit it in a different way. At just under 30m deep and almost 100m across, this vast scar on the landscape is a permanent reminder of the scale of the fighting on the Western Front. Unlike other sites on the Somme, this is unusual in that it is privately held and we were fortunate enough to meet some of the volunteers (some from Bexleyheath!) who, several times a year, make the long trip down to keep the encroaching undergrowth under control.

From Lochnagar, the group made its way north once again, stopping first at the remarkable memorial at Vimy Ridge. Commemorating the efforts of the Canadian troops, the two limestone pylons can be seen for many miles around, dominating the ridge on which they stand which in turn dominates the flat surrounding plains. Looking across at the vast tracts of featureless land stretching into the distance, the magnitude of the efforts made in securing the ridge began to dawn on the group, an understanding that was reinforced by a visit to some reconstructed trenches in the nearby woods.

The last stop on the tour was another change for Eltham College as we stopped by Notre Dame de Lorrette, a French memorial just north of Arras. The largest French memorial of its type, the site contains more than 40,000 French remains and a very impressive basicala. It also boasts one of the finest museums and reconstructed trenches (with authentic, although unfortunately decommissioned field artillery) and, though often bypassed by British tours, it is well worth the visit.

Normally in instances such as these it is customary to thank the organising staff (and a big-up to Mr Weatherly) but on this occasion it is the staff who have to thank the pupils. The students conducted themselves with all the dignity and decorum we could expect and, even as the day grew hotter (and longer), our group treated all the sites with the respect they had earned. Many thanks to all the students for making us proud to be your guides and we hope you found it as much a moving as an educational experience.

Mr J P Floyd