Students Explore First World War Battlefields During Summer Holiday Trip

At the beginning of the summer holiday, 46 pupils travelled to the Belgian town of Ypres which was their base for exploring the First World War battlefields of Belgium and Northern France.

The trip was particularly pertinent as 2018 marks the centenary of the end of the First World War.

The five day trip included visits to a preserved trench network, large war cemeteries such as Tyn Cot, as well as the Menin Gate in Ypres, a memorial to those lost but whom has no known grave.

Students also visited the Somme battlefields, with a particular powerful visit to the grave of Old Kingswoodian Eric Heaton. Students led a service of remembrance for Eric who was killed on the first day of the Somme Offensive in 1916.

Pupils also visited the Wellington Quarry which was used an underground shelter, hospital and staging post during war.