Year 8 Battlefields Trip 2025

Each year, Year 8 students studying World War I as part of the History curriculum travel to the western part of Belgium, in the province of West Flanders, to visit the battlefields. This poignant trip leaves a lasting impression on our students and James in 8B has written a wonderful report about his experience.

Year 8 Battlefields Trip by James - 8B

Day 1:

We set off early in the morning travelling via coach and ferry to Calais. Our knowledgeable tour guide, Tony joined us along the way. We travelled through France to Belgium, stopping at Sanctuary Wood, where we explored preserved original British trenches. They gave us a fascinating insight into how harrowing life would have been for the troops and the extreme hardship they endured. There was a collection of scavenged artefacts, including bullet-ridden German helmets and period photographs.

We continued to Langemark, a German cemetery, which was very simply laid out compared to the other sites. with minimal text on flat stones under the dappled shade of oak trees.

Situated in a scenic location, Passchendaele Museum is a fascinating interactive venue. Particularly interesting was the recreation of an underground trench, which was a maze that we had to navigate ourselves through. We tried on armour that was used for soldiers in the earlier stages of the war, which was incredibly heavy.

Tyne Cot cemetery is the largest British cemetery in the world. It is breathtakingly beautiful, and the graves are so well tended and cared for. Hearing the number of dead, compared to seeing so many graves laid out in front of us, brought the scale of the tragedy to life.  We held a small ceremony at the Royal Berkshire Regiment panel and laid a wreath.

After dinner, we thoroughly enjoyed a visit to the Leonidas chocolate shop in the town square, which stocks some of the most delicious chocolates I have ever eaten.

It was a privilege to be present at the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate, where buglers have played a unique and moving tribute to the fallen every day since 1928. It was clear to see how this still affects the people of Ypres today.

Day 2: The Somme

After a night at a château, we had breakfast and made another early start. We walked around and up Hawthorne Ridge; the detonation of the crater by the British was the very first action of the Battle of the Somme.  From a distance we saw the position where the explosion was filmed.

Tommy Café provided some much-needed sustenance for lunch. A lot of walking made us very hungry and, if they had survived this far, many of the chocolates we had bought the day before were devoured.

Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme remembers over 70,000 British and South African soldiers who have no known grave. It is a huge arched structure overlooking rows of white limestone graves, creating a compelling tribute to those soldiers who were lost, but not forgotten. The care and love that is evident in the vividly coloured flowers planted next to the graves everywhere we went was heartwarming and poignant.

Our last stop on the tour was the Newfoundland Memorial Park, which has mainly been left undisturbed since the end of the war. Overlooking the landscape is a statue of a caribou, the symbol of Newfoundland, whose regiment suffered devastating losses at this site. We walked along the paths where the remains of old trenches and posts that had held barbed wire could be seen.

We then started our journey home, having packed in an enormous amount in two days. I would like to thank Miss Brown, Mr Metson, Mr Espensen and Mr Lambert for all the time and preparation they put in to make this trip possible. As conflicts flare up around the world, the memories of those deeply troubled times still reach us now. The experience will stay with us and we will remember them.