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The two Year 10 winning pupils, Ruby and Lawrence, begun their journey yesterday and have now crossed over to Belgium and had a very productive day at Lijssenthoek which is the second largest commonwealth grave in Belgium (11,000 graves located here). They then went to the museum in Ypres to get an idea of the trench system and the role of gas in the First World War.

They then checked into the hotel where they are getting ready for the last post ceremony at the menin gate and then after there will be a chance to purchase some Belgian chocolate!

On Sunday we headed south to the Somme to consider whether the battle does indeed deserve its infamous reputation. We stopped at the memorial at Neuve Chapelle which honours soldiers from British India who fought during the Great War plus we had a visit to the famous Lutyens memorial at Thiepval which is the largest monument in the world to commemorate the war dead.

In the evening we had an artefacts session on equipment used during the Great War, including comparing the uniforms from World War I with those used today (see pictures below).

On the final day we went to Langemarck German cemetery to compare and contrast the way that the Germans commemorate the war dead with the commonwealth graves. The students then went on to Tyne Cot where they located the grave of a local Erith soldier.