Canfordians remember the fallen on trip to WW1 Battlefields

From the 1^st to 4^th November, the History department took 35 Fifth Form pupils on the annual trip to the French battlefields. This was the first year the trip was run by tour company operator Zeitgeist, whose motto is ‘we do things differently’, and they certainly did not disappoint.

Report by Rachel Lines, Head of History

On the first day, we were met by three tour guides in full British WWI military outfits who led us on a tour of the Somme visiting Newfoundland Park as well as the impressive Thiepval memorial where we paid our respects with a wicker wreath. The next day a German tour guide joined us, also dressed in German military uniform, to explore Fort De La Pompelle whilst giving us a uniquely German perspective of the war. In the afternoon, we were given a guided tour of the Butte De Vauquois where pupils learnt about mining and underground warfare; it was a truly unique experience in that no school group had ever visited it before. On our final day of the tour we were given private access to Musée France 40 Véhicules, a family owned French museum where pupils were able to handle weapons (deactivated of course!), dress in WWI uniforms, practice their bayonet fencing skills and were also able to fire a WWI tank gun! Pupils were able to explore the tanks fully (inside and out) and a few were even able to ride on them whilst in motion. This was all enhanced by the delicious meal cooked in a 1915 French field kitchen, served in WWI canteens. To end the day, we then visited La Caverne du Dragon, an underground cavern which German and French troops both lived in.

The behaviour of the pupils was exemplary, and the tour company staff were in awe of their engagement and enthusiasm throughout the trip, demonstrated from an extract of the letter written to the Headmaster below:

It is truly wonderful to witness the level of engagement and interest displayed by each and every student on this tour. We rarely see such a consistently high level of enthusiasm and participation within a cohort. Your student’s eagerness to learn and their thoughtful questions were truly remarkable.

It was a spectacular and memorable trip for all pupils and Zeitgeist certainly lived up to their motto, giving our pupils a truly unique experience, as illustrated by the following report from Fifth Former Ed:

“During the four days that I spent on the trip, the thing that astounded me was the sheer amount of knowledge that each of the guides had. They were able to answer any and all questions that we could imagine while all the time being captivating and brilliantly immersing us in the experience as well as very entertaining. The guides were very clearly extremely excited about the chance to teach us and were themselves very interested in the war. This made the trip all the easier to get involved in and to develop our knowledge about the war. As well as appreciating the hardships of trench life and understanding the life of a soldier during the First World War, we got to have an amazing amount of fun – being able to go inside tanks and even being able to fire their guns. The high quality of the museums and deeply fascinating places that we had the opportunity to visit such as trenches and tunnels gave us a deeper understanding and appreciation of life during WWI. Not only did the guides give us more general interest for the war, but they were also able to focus specifically on the significance of technologies (the topic of our coursework). This meant that we are now able to produce our coursework confidently and with a more rounded understanding of what we should write about as well as many useful facts that can be used in our essays. However, what defines my memory of the trip is the fascination that I believe we have all shared and will stick with us throughout our lives.”