Trips, Visits and Events
Over the top: the 3ème visit to the First World War trenches
by Ross Black
The 16th of July 1916 is a date that is central to the British and Canadian understanding of the First
What Verdun is for France and Gallipoli for the Australians and New Zealanders, the Battle of the Somme is for Britain and Canada.
- A very emotional expérience
It was the single worst day in the history of the British army, that left approximately 20,000 men dead and 40,000 wounded within 24 hours, most of the casualties being in fact killed within the first few hours of battle. It was a joint French and British operation, but coming in the same year as Verdun, the Somme has not had the same impact on the French vision of the war as the British.
The offensive finally ended with the onset of the winter weather, by which time the British had suffered 420,000 casualties, the French nearly 200,000, and it is estimated that German casualties were in the region of 500,000. Allied forces gained some land but it was only 12km at the deepest points.
The scene of this battle therefore provided the perfect setting for a trilingual sortie, a historical and cultural experience that would find students and staff of all the nationalities involved united in their common desire to understand their respective histories, and learn that what they had in common was stronger that the things that divided them.
A visit of the tri-lingual museum at Peronne
The sortie initially took us to the excellent tri-lingual museum at Peronne, followed by a tour in the afternoon around some of the sites we had studied in class.
Thank you to all the staff involved in making this trip happen. Thank you to Monika and Anne for their admin help, who battled the college administration bravely when it felt like the battle was going to be lost.
Thank you to Peter, Judy, Darren, Barbara, Matthias, Anne and Monika for going over the top with us, and who marshalled their forces with skill.
And thank you to the students, who conducted themselves with honour, and gallantry, and made us proud to all belong to the SIS Regiment.
Trench Diary extracts...
Throughout the day, students were to make notes on what they saw and experienced to combine into a trench diary on their return. Although a work of fiction, the diary aimed to capture the reality of trench life.
Here are a few extracts:
- «We are now at Oisement, a little village in the department of the Somme. We arrived here by train. It was strange for me as I had never been out of the surroundings of my village. In the train we met a lot of people. Everyone was happy to go to war, and we had heard a lot of good things about the front... After three months of hard training we were given all our material for the front, a blue-coloured tunic, a sleeping bag, an 8 mm calibre rifle with cartridges, three grenades, a barbed wire cutter, and a big bag to put everything in. We had to wear an identity disc around our neck so that if we were killed they could identify our bodies.» Quentin
- «Life in the trenches is terrible, it is unhealthy, there are rats... And of course there is the fear of being shelled all the time. I wish I could go home.» Anon
- «It has been raining for two weeks, the trenches are filled with mud... We are soaked. At lunch we had soup. It was watery as usual. It’s been two weeks since I received a parcel. I miss my mum’s homemade gingerbread.» Emma
- «We have moved up to the front line. The shelling is so violent we cannot hear anything else. They say it will kill all the Germans, but it won’t. We took a German trench once. They had solid concrete shelters. They’ll just hide in those and wait until it’s over. Wait until we come over the top...» Jérôme
- «Words cannot express what I saw today. I was lucky they said. I‘d just gone over the top when I got shot in the leg. I fell down, and could only watch what was going on around me. Friends of mine, mown down by machine gun fire, mates literally blown to pieces. The screams...The things I’ve experienced today can never be understood by those who have not been here...» Anon
- «Now most of the regiment is formed of new recruits. On the order of the commander, the regiment has moved to a small village. It has been completely devastated. No one understands why they’ve sent us here, there is nothing to do. But next to the trenches it’s a real paradise!» Florence
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Students impressions
- «Seeing the trenches made me realise the difficulty of getting to the other side, but also the probability of getting killed and the enormous sacrifice the soldiers had to make.» Anon
- «...the craters are enormous. You get the feeling of what it was like to be a soldier in the First World War. It’s much better to see it with your own eyes than to read about it in a book.» Philip
- «I found this day emotionally charged. Taking a closer look at what life was like in the war, seeing the graves of British and German soldiers, thinking they had all lived on the field not far from the cemetery. It was impressive.» Anon.
- «Although the trip was sometimes depressing, it gave a depth to lessons we’d studied...» Thomas
- «Favourite moment: Visiting the crater caused by 27 tons of British dynamite. The explosion was even heard in London!
Sad moment: Visiting the graveyard with the unknown soldiers. It made sad to see all those who weren’t identified...they deserved at least a grave with their name on it.» Rodney
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Dernière modification le 19-05-06 par l’équipe de School Life
