Our Year 10 History Tour of the First World War Battlefields of France and Belgium is designed to compliment and enhance the AQA specification for the exam topic on Conflict and Tension: WWI 1894-1918 and is an excellent experience for our students.

After an early start, we arrived in France and spent 2 days exploring the battlefields of the Somme, the site of a major British offensive against Germany in 1916.  We then travelled north to Belgium and spent 2 days touring battlefield sites around Ypres and Passchendaele, to explore the development of trench warfare tactics in 1917.

We visited Lochnagar Crater which was created at 7am on 1st July 1916, marking the beginning of the Battle of the Somme.  It is hard to take a photograph that shows the size and depth of the crater – 100 metres across and 21 metres deep.  The photograph in the gallery below has the Lochnagar Cross in the background, which stands at around 8 metres, for scale.

At the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing, Thomas Hewitt laid a wreath on behalf of Leventhorpe and his relatives whose names are on the memorial.  It was an emotional moment. Emily and Millie were Thomas’ Guard of Honour, and Joe read the Exhortation.  Josh placed a cross on the headstone of his relative who died and is buried at the Commonwealth War Graves, part of the cemetery at Etaples, France.  Sophie Belson laid a wreath on behalf of Leventhorpe at the Menin Gate Memorial, which contains the names of 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known, along with her Guards of Honour, Flynn and Freddie.

We visited Delville Wood - The "Last Tree" of the Somme refers to a hornbeam tree in Delville Wood, near Longueval, France. It is the only tree that survived the intense fighting of the Battle of Delville Wood, which was part of the larger Battle of the Somme in World War I. The tree stands as a poignant memorial to the fierce battles fought in the area and the immense destruction they caused.

Other stops along the way includes the Tank Corps Memorial at Poziers and the preserved trenches and memorial at Vimy Ridge.  All in all, it was a fantastic and thought provoking trip.  Details of our Battlefields Tour 2026 will be out soon!
 

A quote from Sophie Belson:

"The Battlefields trip has been amazing! I have loved learning about all the different stories from Julian and Beth, learning about the different battles, not just the main five, has really brought a whole new perspective on things.  The trip has made me even more in love with the subject and I can't wait to know more.

Bonding and new friendships was great.  And being part of the Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony really was truly amazing.

All of the little stats I learnt like 'a battalion has 1000 men, companies have 800ish men, platoons 45 men' and where the word 'chatting' came from, 110 years later.  It's remarkable that stuff is still being found in the fields of Flanders and that the largest Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery has over 12,000 soldiers buried in it.

I loved this trip, so thank you!"