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Galina International
School Tours





The Poetry of the Western Front
 

Locations Visited
 
Ypres - Theme: The Reality of War - The men who fought at Ypres wrote of their experiences in stanzas and verse that have become a part of our literary heritage. Those considered include Grenfell, Ledwidge, Thomas, Rosenberg, Owen, Gurney, McCrae and Asquith.
 
Salvation Corner - the site of a Salvation Army soup kitchen serves as a backdrop to "Going up the Line". Poems by Armstrong, Blunden and Plowman
 
Essex Farm - the Canadian Army surgeon John McCrae wrote "In Flanders Fields" here in 1915. The surgeons' dug-outs still remain.
 
Pilckem Ridge - scene of the first German Gas Attack in April 1915, "Dulce et Decorum Est" has never had a more potent backcloth.
 
Artillery Wood - site of the graves of Francis Ledwidge and the Welsh poet Hedd Wyn and a location strongly connected to the battles of 1917.
 
Tyne Cot Cemetery - with almost 12,000 graves and recording another 35,000 missing, this is a sombre location; a backcloth for poems concerned with death and the results of battle.
 
Sanctuary Wood Museum and Hill 62 - the poetry of Sassoon, Gibson and Asquith will be highlighted.
 
The Menin Gate - commemorates 55,000 of the Missing of the Ypres Salient. Sassoon called it a "sepulchre of crime".
 
The Somme - Theme: Disillusionment - At 7.30 am on the morning of 1st July, 1916, the Pals' Battalions rose out of their trenches into the slaughter that became the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The Somme was a watershed that changed attitudes, changed opinions, changed lives. Optimism gave way to disillusionment and cynicism. The poetry selected highlights this theme with a "before and after" approach indicating these changes.
 
Newfoundland Park - this preserved battlefield is the site of the ill-fated assault by the Royal Newfoundland Regiment. The poetry of Sassoon, Graves, A.P.Herbert, Seeger and Sitwell is read.
 
Thiepval Memorial to the Missing - commemorates the 74,000 Missing of the Somme. Poets considered Grenfell, Nicholls, Kettle, Read & Mackintosh.
 
"Mash" Valley - advancing across 750 yards of No Man's Land, the 2nd Middlesex Battalion sustained over 500 casualties. Poems by Sassoon, Plowman & Blunden will be considered.
 
Lochnagar Crater - 90,000 lbs of explosives created a crater 90 feet deep. From this position, the ground over which the Tyneside Irish Brigade advanced at a cost of nearly 3,000 casualties can be seen.
 
Mansel Copse - Noel Hodgson wrote his last poem near here shortly before the Devonshire Regiment suffered greatly from a machine-gun firing from the civil cemetery of Mametz. Hodgson, along with many of his comrades, lies buried in the Devonshire Cemetery.
 
Arras & Vimy - Theme: Pity of War & Aftermath - after the Somme and as the war drew to a close poetry reflecting "the pity of war" proliferated as did bitterness and disaffection. In visiting the Arras and Vimy Memorials, the poetry of Sassoon, Owen, Rosenberg, Gurney and Mew will be read.
 
Arras Memorial to the Missing - commemorates the 35,000 men who fell during the three battles of Arras and who have no known grave.
 
Vimy Ridge - A section of front-line trenches have been reconstructed complete with concrete sandbags, duckboards, firing steps, sniper shields and observation saps. Canadian guides describe the principal features of the nearby Grange Tunnel (open from April to November). The Vimy Memorial was built on what was Hill 145; the strongest point of the German third line defences. The Interpretive Centre is the latest addition at Vimy Ridge and includes a short audio-visual display explaining the battle. Entrance is free but pre-booking is advised if wishing to see the Tunnel.
 
The poetry of the First World War provides an ideal subject for a Combined Tour for English and History. The poetry is allied to and placed in the context of significant dates and events. The change in intent, tone, style, language and form that characterized a change in attitudes to the war is highlighted.
 
Recommended Anthologies - "Men Who March Away" edited by I. M. Parsons, "Up The Line To Death" edited by B. Gardner, "The Poems of Wilfred Owen" edited by J. Stallworthy and "The Lost Voices of World War 1" edited by T. Cross.
 
 

A typical 4-day itinerary
 
Day 1:   Pick-up from school and travel by executive coach/cross-channel ferry to hotel for evening meal
 
Day 2:   Breakfast in hotel, tour of the Ypres Salient, evening meal in hotel and Last Post at the Menin Gate.
 
Day 3:   Breakfast in hotel, tour of the Somme and return to hotel for evening meal
 
Day 4:   Breakfast in hotel, visits to Arras Memorial and Vimy Ridge followed by return to UK.
 
Bespoke tours - if you have a specific anthology or specific poems that you would like incorporating into a tour, please ring to enable design of a poetry tour for your school. Itineraries can be tailored to your requirements. Contact us now by clicking here.
 
 
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