Bright and early on the morning of 2nd May, 46 Badminton girls set off for Folkestone on their way to the battlefields of the western front as part of the History and Politics Department’s trip to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of war in 1914. Spirits were high as the coach rolled through the school gates and headed east. After a brief stop at Reading and a well needed coffee, the coach pressed on to the channel tunnel and on through France towards the Belgian border. The first stops on the trip took in Lijssenthoek and Brandhoek Military Cemeteries. The former is the second largest CWGC cemetery on the western front and the girls were awestruck not only at the amount of headstones, but the heart rendering inscriptions on some of the headstones including ‘gone but not forgotten – inserted by his widowed mother’ and a Canadian one which read ‘Would some thoughtful hand in this distant land please scatter some flowers for me’.
The group then pressed on to the aptly named ‘Poppies’ hostel in Ypres. After a quick check in, the group headed out for a well needed feast of chicken and chips followed by a walk along the old city ramparts and to Ypres Town Cemetery to see the grave of Prince Maurice of Battenberg: Queen Victoria’s grandson who was killed in 1914.
After an early start on the morning of Saturday 3rd May we headed to the Somme via the Wellington tunnels which sheltered some of the 24,000 men involved in the opening of the Arras offensive in 1917. The afternoon was spent in beautiful sunshine on the Somme where the group marched to the top of the Hawthorn Ridge which was the site of one of the most famous pieces of footage from the Great War when a budding film-maker Geoffrey Malins filmed the blowing up of 40,000lbs of high explosives under the German lines. The group then pressed on to explore other sites on the Somme including Newfoundland Park and the Lochnagar crater.
Sunday got off to yet another early start and the coach headed off to explore the Ypres salient. The first stop was at Tyne Cot: the biggest CWGC cemetery in the world. We were incredibly lucky on arrival to be the only people in the cemetery. This was a true treat given that the cemetery is on the route of most battlefields groups. Afterwards, we headed out further to visit the Passchendaele Memorial Museum as well as to Sanctuary Wood where there was plenty of time to walk through an authentic trench network and to explore some underground tunnels.
Whilst the history took centre stage on the trip, there was at last time on Sunday afternoon for some chocolate shopping in the city of Ypres. Students poured into local chocolatiers and bought up vast supplies of high quality local chocolates!
Monday saw the group squeeze in time for a visit to the cells in Poperinghe where a small number of British soldiers sentenced to be shot by the military authorities spent their last night. With a final stop at Poperinghe Old Military Cemetery and with the whole group singing along to ‘It’s a long way to Tipperary’ the coach began the long journey back to Blighty.
The students who came on the trip were a true credit to the school and I would like to thank them for making this such a special and memorable trip. I would also like to thank the accompanying staff of Mrs Kaye, Miss Wertheim, Mr Cooksey, Miss Elsley and Miss Kremer. Final thanks to the driver for his kindness towards the whole group in helping to make this such a wonderful trip.
Mr S. Dalley
