Form 3 pupils have travelled to the battlefields of northern France to deepen their understanding of this significant period in history. This visit is an important part of their studies within the Connected Curriculum, drawing together key themes from their work in History and English lessons and future inspiration for work in other subjects. It’s also a deeply personal trip for the School, as pupils and staff visit the graves of the Old Oakhamians who fought and died in World War 1.
Alumni and Development Officer, Charlotte Woodward gave us the following updates from Group 1:
Day 1 – Sunday 9 February
After an early departure from Oakham, group 1 began their Battlefields trip with a viewing of My Boy Jack, the story of Rudyard Kipling’s son who fought and fell at the Battle of Loos. The movie helps set the scene for arrival at Dud Corner Cemetery at Loos, where 20,000 soldiers’ names, including Jack Kipling’s are carved on the walls. The cemetery also holds 1800 graves, with only 684 named, remembering all those lost in no man’s land during the battle.
The cemetery also holds the names of two Old Oakhamians and a schoolmaster who died during the Battle of Loos. Edward Langdale MC was a Maths teacher and Officer of the O.T.C. before the war broke out. Sergeant Edward Franks was a Day Boy from 1905 to 1910. Second Lieutenant Basil Mogridge was a boarder in School House from 1910 to 1914. We also remembered two other Old Oakhamians who fought and died at Loos, on the same day – Lieutenant Gordon Sanderson and Captain William Johnson. Current Oakhamians laid a wreath and held a minute silence in their memory under the Leicestershire Regiment panel.
Form 3 then headed to Wellington Quarry, where they learned all about the caves that lie under Arras and how they were used during the First World War. The medieval caves were enhanced by the New Zealand soldiers, who lived in them to prepare for the Battle of Arras. A battle and surprise attack was planned as a diversion to relieve the French Army from attack in April 1917. The pupils had a guided tour 20 metres underground through the tunnels, where they got to see where an army of 24,000 men lived and worked in the lead-up to the battle and the harsh conditions they lived in.
In true Battlefields tradition, our first night in France was spent at the bowling alley, where fierce competition and some questionable bowling occurred. After a long day, it was time to get some rest and get ready for Day 2!
Day 2 – Monday 10 February
The second day of the Battlefields trip focuses on the Battle of Somme, with Form 3 visiting various sites throughout the day. Mr Roberts set the scene for 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, with a trip to La Boisselle. Pupils walked around Lochnagar Crater, understanding the impact the scale of the 80-metre crater, which was caused by British explosives.
The next stop of the day was Newfoundland Memorial Park, where Oakhamians had an opportunity to look and understand the British trench system and no man’s land of Beaumont-Hamel, with both being preserved at the memorial park. Mr Roberts took them through what happened on this land during the Battle of the Somme on the morning of 1st July minute by minute. The Newfoundlanders were part of the second wave that went over the top into no man’s land. The pupils walked over the trench and down into no man’s land towards the ‘danger tree’ where, on 1st July the soldiers were funnelled down into a single line and killed by German machine gun fire, where 90% of the force died. The pupils got a better understanding of the advantage points of the terrain and how both the German and British used it to their advantage. The tour ended at the Highlanders Memorial, who were successful in capturing Beaumont-Hamel four months later.
Before lunch pupils walked into the mine crater at Hawthorn Ridge. The crater, like Lochnager, was created by the British who placed two mines underneath the German trench systems. On 1st July at 7.20am, the explosion could be heard at Beaumont-Hamel, where the Newfoundlanders were waiting to go over the top.
After lunch the pupils visited Thiepval Memorial, a French-British memorial dedicated to over 70,000 soldiers whose bodies were never found. Mrs Fearn gave a talk on the history and meaning of the memorial, then tasked each group with finding an Old Oakhamian who is remembered on the panels: Lieutenant George Vidler, Second Lieutenant John Pickering-Clarke, Second Lieutenant Basil Wood, Second Lieutenant Alfred English, Private William Dewhirst and Private John Paul Bromhead.
The next visit on the itinerary was the Devonshire Cemetery, a very poignant visit where all but two graves are members of a single battalion. The bodies of the fallen had been brought back to the trench they had defended. The carving on the entrance reads, ‘The Devonshires held this trench, the Devonshires hold it still’.
The final visit of the day was maybe the most memorable as Oakhamians visited Ancre Cemetery, where Old Oakhamian L.J. A. ‘Jack’ Dewar (‘15) is buried. Mr Favill led a service of remembrance with Oakhamian Leo laying the wreath. The pupils then got to hear all about Jack’s life at Oakham, his achievements on and off the sporting field, and how his death led to the donation of the Jack Dewar prize, which was gifted by Jack’s parents in his memory and is still given out on Speech Day today.
Sticking to tradition once again, pupils competed in a quiz, demonstrating not only their general knowledge but also what they have learnt so far. Congratulations to Miss Woodward’s group, the South Wales Boarders, who came away with the win (and mini eggs).
