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There is no better way to bring the past to life & the harsh reality of the First World War than by arranging a school trip to the Battlefields. With commemorations coming up later in 2017 for the battle centenaries of Messines & Passchendaele, here are the details of our 3 day History School trip to Ypres, Messines & Passchendaele. |
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History School Trips to Ypres, Messines & Passchendaele - 3 day tour Tour Highlights Langemark German Cemetery The German war cemetery of Langemark situated close to the village of Langemark, where more than 44,000 soldiers are buried. Langemark was the scene of the first gas attacks by the German army which marked the commencement of the second battle of Ypres in April 2015. What started out in 1915 as a cemetery with a small group of graves, there have now been many changes and extensions & today visitors to Langemark German Cemetery will find a mass grave near the entrance containing 24,917 servicemen, next to this mass grave are another 10,143 soldiers. Over 3,000 students & cadets are among the dead & are buried in a third part of the cemetery. Tyne Cot Cemetery Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). It is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world. The cemetery and its surrounding memorial are located outside of Passchendale. Passchendaele Museum The Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 is a military history museum sharing the story of the First World War with a focus on the Battle of Passchendaele. It is an experience museum, creating awareness about the life and techniques used during the war. One of the highlights of a visit to the museum is the the Dug-out Experience. A flight of steps takes students into the underground world of the Western Front. Here, as they walk along main passage-way, lit by electric lights, they will find rooms for soldiers' accommodation filled with bunk beds, a medical post, workshops and the continuous sound of a pump keeping the dug-out dry. Outside the main building there is a trench system divided into three sections. The first shows a British trench early in the war, the second recreates a German trench whilst the final section depicts a British trench of 1917/18 complete with A-Frame duckboards. Taken together, they demonstrate the different construction techniques and materials used to build trenches over the course of the war. Notable within the museum itself is the display on gas warfare which contains a cylinder similar to those used by the Germans in the First Gas Attack. There are also different varieties of gas shells developed later in the war as well as an array of gas-masks developed as counter-measures. There is also an interesting display on bunker construction showing how pre-fabricated a block-built bunker was assembled rapidly on the battlefield. Only the reinforced concrete roof of a bunker needed to be made "on-site." The Last Post Ceremony at The Menin Gate The Menin Gate Memorial commemorates almost 55,000 Missing of the Ypres Salient who were killed between 1914 and the 15th August, 1917. They include soldiers from Britain, Canada, Australia, South Africa and the Indian subcontinent who lost their lives in the Salient but who have no known grave. The New Zealand Missing, as is that nation's tradition, are commemorated on a separate Memorial at Tyne Cot. The Gate was ultimately too small to take all the names so a further Memorial was created at Tyne Cot for those soldiers killed from the 16th August 1917 to the Armistice. Their names are recorded on the panels at the rear of the cemetery. The Last Post is sounded every evening at 8.00 p.m. in a short ceremony commemorating the fallen of the Salient. Every evening, the traffic is stopped shortly before 8.00 p.m. Buglars from the local fire brigade then sound the bugle call of the Last Post before a minute's silence. They then end the service by playing the Reveille. In recent years the service has often been extended to include a wreath-laying, music from a visiting choir or band and the reading of a short extract (known as the Exhortation) from Binyon's poem For the Fallen: "They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Other Visits that can be included are as follows: Sanctuary Wood Trenches & Hill 62 • In Flanders Fields Museum • Lijssenthoek Cemetery • Talbot House & the Death Cell at Poperinghe • Bayernwald German Trenches • Hill 60 • Have your own ideas for a visit, please advise us of any other location you would like to include on your trip. |
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