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Invitation...28 Feb 2013
News from the Junior Ski Trip 2013...27 Feb 2013
Friday, 06 Jul 2012
The luggage was loaded onto the coaches at the seemingly insane time of 05:45 and 160 pupils half-asleep pupils were on the way to Dover. When we finally arrived at Calais we travelled on to Eperlecques to see the infamous V1 and V2 rockets. The most memorable part for most people was the sheer size of the rocket and how much damage they could do; luckily they were never put into action. We also enjoyed the ‘AA gun-riding’.
We then journeyed to Vimy ridge, the Canadian war memorial. This memorial commemorates the many Canadians who tried to take the German stronghold. This land was given to the Canadians by the French at the end of World War One. the next stop on our itinerary was Armentières where we met our French families for the night. Most of the pupils watched the games of European Cup football and then enjoyed their first taste of ‘French ‘cuisine.
On Saturday we were in Beaumont Hamel, which houses the famous giant Caribou facing the German lines in memory of the Canadians. It gave a very real feeling to the hardships of war and how little land was gained for so many lives, as the Germans had a very good view of any troops coming towards them.
The next stop was Lochnagar, a large crater left by a mine detonated on the very first day of the Somme. At the Thiepval memorial, we paid our respects to the fallen soldiers. We then travelled back to the meeting point by coach and were then picked up by our French families.
We spent Sunday with our French host families. We departed Armentières on Monday morning and travelled to the cemetery where Frederick Youens is buried.
Thanks to the many teachers who accompanied us and shared their knowledge and expertise with the group.
Source: A pupil