HUMANITIES BELGIUM TRIP
On Friday3rd of March, 41 students – from years 9, 10, 12 and 13 – and 4 teachers embarked on an historic journey to Belgium to visit the various war sites. After a 6am start we eventually arrived at the Eurotunnel around 11am, which was a new experience for some students as it was their first time travelling on it. There was no time to waste and at 2:30pm (Belgium time) we arrived at the first British cemetery, ‘’Hooge Crater Cemetery’’. At this particular cemetery, we found A.E. Dew’s grave who served in the Leicestershire regiment and was a Westbury resident. It was great to actually find the headstone in honour of someone from our home town.
On leaving Hooge Crater cemetery our next stop was a local museum which had interactive displays, such as scent boxes and example clothes that you could try on. The museum also had an underground dug out that you could roam around and get a feel of what it was like to live in these conditions, it was very eye opening. As well as this the museum has also reconstructed an outdoor trench system which was very interesting to walk around and explore. Then it was off to the hotel, for a quick turnaround and then we strolled into town, heading to the restaurant where we were served our evening meal.
When we had finished dinner, with full stomachs, we walked a short way down the road to attend the ‘’Last Post’’ ceremony held at the Menin Gate at 8pm. The
www.matravers.wilts.sch.uk
last post was one of the most moving parts of the whole trip. It started with 3 buglers playing ‘’The last post’’ which was then followed by a minutes silence. Next a woman read out a small passage about those who were lost at war and various groups sent forward representatives to lay wreathes. The buglers then marked the end of the public silence and marched away. During the service the whole town stopped, it was an over whelming show of respect and an experience that we were very proud to have witnessed. We spent some time looking around Menin Gate, which is a giant white stone monument dedicated to bodies who have no known resting places and that were lost at war in that region from Britain and her Empire. While exploring we managed to find the panel dedicated to the Wiltshire regiment, amongst the many names engraved on this panel we found 6 names of those who had come from Westbury : W.C. Adlam, F. Hunt, W. Ingram, S.L. Newton, A.E. Poole and W.G. Randall. To have been able to find these names within the 55,000 other names carved into Menin Gate was an amazing honour because we were given the chance to thank them and to connect with them, as well as it allowing us to partially empathise with the families who lost these brave young men.
The next day saw another early start and we were anxious to start the day after the eventful day before. Continental Breakfast was served at 7:00am in order to depart at 8:00am. With our bags packed and loaded onto the coach we set off heading to a small cemetery called “Essex Farm”. Essex farm was originally the front
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