On Monday 25th of June, 47 Year 11 and 12 pupils and 5 teachers left Rathfriland at 0345 for a trip to Belgium and France.
The trip would take in the historic World War 1 battlefields of Flanders in Belgium and the Somme area of Northern France. Additionally, the group would spend time in Paris, seeing the sites and visiting Euro Disney on its outskirts.
Leaving Dublin airport the group arrived at Charleroi Airport in Belgium, on our way to the hotel the group stopped at Vimy Ridge. This memorial is dedicated to the many Canadian servicemen who lost their lives in the service of their King. The group were given a tour by Canadian students , who spend some of their Summer vacation taking visitors around this fitting memorial. One striking feature of the tour was the fact that the German army at one point in the offensive were entrenched only 25 m away, close enough to be heard singing.
Day 2 had particular significance for the group as we visited the site where many thousand brave Ulster men lost their lives as part of the famous 36th Ulster Division. The day started with a visit to Ulster Tower , close to a small village of Thiepval. Here 2 members of the group , Alastair Groves and Nadine Sheppard donned authentic WW1 uniforms. A tour of Thiepval wood was then conducted by an Ulster man named Mr Teddy Colligan who, with his wife Phoebe have lived in the Tower for the last 11 years. Again the realisation of life on the front line was brought home vividly to the group, it was perhaps fitting that an Ulsterman should be the one to tell this generation of young people what some of their own ancestors went through on their behalf.
Close by was the Thiepval monument itself which dominates the surrounding skyline. The school was honoured to lay a wreath on behalf of Banbridge District Council. This act was carried out in a dignified way by Gareth Adams and Ryan Shilliday both from Year 12.
Mr Robinson who organised the trip had a special reason for visiting this memorial as his Great Grandfathers name appears on one of the piers. Private Joseph Thompson number 7039 from the 2nd Battalion Irish Guards died on the 15th September 1916, and like so many others has no grave. Joseph Thompson originally came from Garvaghy Road in Portadown and when news eventually came home to his wife Eliza Jane, she was left with 4 young children to care for all under 4 years old , one of whom was Mr Robinsons own Grandfather William Thompson.
During the morning of 1st July 1916 , some 5500 casulties were suffered by men from the 36th Division alone. The heroism of the men of Ireland is perpetuated by this noble memorial which tells to all who care to pass by of the valour of men from Ireland North and South , who died in this deadly offensive.
Indeed, as one Staff Officer wrote to Lt. Col. Fred Crawford in Belfast on 3rd July
“ I wish I had been born an Ulsterman, but I am proud to have been associated with these wonderful men – the most gallant in the world. Many a family in Ulster will have lost a son or a father out here. I do not believe men ever passed to another world in so glorious a light.”
From there the group then had a visit to Beaumont Hamel which has a memorial to Canadian soldiers.
During day 3 the group visited Tyne Cot Cemetery.The cemetery and its surrounding memorial are located outside of Passendale, near Zonnebeke in Belgium.
Here, 12,000 graves are laid out row upon row carefully tended to by local gardeners who are employed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. A recipient of the Victoria Cross buried in the cemetery, Captain Clarence Smith Jeffries, an Australian who led an assault party and rushed one of the strong points at the First Battle of Passchendaele on 12 October 1917, capturing four machine guns and thirty five prisoners, before running his company forward again. He was planning another attack when he was killed by an enemy gunner. The personal message at the foot of the headstone of Second Lieutenant Arthur Conway Young is much commented upon. The message reads "Sacrificed to the fallacy/That war can end war".
Later that day the group visited a newly opened In Flanders Fields museum in the town of Ypres. Here the pupils were invited to reflect on both the major historical events and the personal stories of individuals, and how the First World War affected the lives of the thousands of people of many different nationalities who were involved in it. Specifically the museum reflected on the consequences of war for the region of West Flanders and the City of Ypres.
At 8:00pm precisley the group witnessed the last post ceremony at the Menin Gate Memorial which is a short walk from the museum. Following the Menin Gate Memorial opening in 1927, the citizens of Ypres wanted to express their gratitude towards those who had given their lives for Belgium's freedom. As such, every evening at 8:00, buglers from the local fire brigade close the road which passes under the Memorial and sound the Last Post. Except for the occupation by the Germans in World War II when the daily ceremony was conducted at Brookwood Military Cemetery, in Surrey, England, this ceremony has been carried on uninterrupted since 2 July 1928. On the evening that Polish forces liberated Ypres in the Second World War, the ceremony was resumed at the Menin Gate despite the fact that heavy fighting was still taking place in other parts of the town.
During days 4 and 5 the group was centered around the Paris area with opportunities to take in some of the famous sites that Paris has to offer. The group was able to reach the second stage of the famous Eiffel Tower, were a panoramic view of Paris could be gained. Other notable places of interest were also seen , such as The Louvre , Arc de Triumph and the Sacre Coeur.
Additionally, it allowed the more adventurous to throw caution to the wind in the Euro Disney theme park. More sedate members of the group , i.e some of the teachers were quite happy walking around with their ice cream, watching the pupils terrorise themselves!
The last day allowed for some retail therapy on the way to Beauvais airport before our departure back to Dublin airport and then home to Rathfriland.
