18 | Friday, 6th July 2018 | The Shetland Times WWI French Battlefields Visit ANDERSON HIGH SCHOOL – MAY 2018 Pupils make emotional trip to Western Front and pay tribute to Shetland’s fallen On 18th May, 19 Anderson High land have had this opportunity. est gleaned already through that on. From the outset, the experience Somme, as well as the Menin Gate School pupils from all over Shet- Motives for going on the trip varied. route. of the First World War was brought on the Ypres Salient. Throughout, land, embarked on a school trip to Some wanted to go and experience Mercat Tours delivered the tour to life via the wartime music hall local stories were explored, includ- the battlefields of France and Bel- the battlefields for the first time. to the pupils, the pupils were given songs played and sung on the bus. ing two Shetland soldiers who died gium. This trip was made possible Others specifically wanted to go the group title ‘2nd Anderson Pals’, They were also able to get a better at the Somme and are buried at as a result of funding from Educa- to visit the memorials and find the given that they were the second geographical understanding of the Y-Ravine Cemetery, John W Jamie- tion Scotland. names of relatives who had served group of pupils from the school who battlefields they were visiting. son, and Laurence Halcrow. Lau- The purpose of the trip was, as or were lost during the Great War. have experienced this particular Three very busy days on the bat- rence was a former pupil of the part of a wider initiative, to pro- Some were history pupils who trip. tlefields incorporated visits to both Anderson Educational Institute. The vide young people from through- wanted to reinforce their knowl- Throughout the trip, the young the Somme and Ypres Salient. They pupils, on behalf of the school laid out Scotland with the opportunity edge. Others on the trip were also people were made to feel like sol- visited preserved trenches, bomb a wreath at the 51st Highland Divi- to see, experience and reflect on members of the local cadet group- diers, and get some understanding craters, as well as small and large sion memorial to commemorate the battlefields. Young people from ing or Boys’ Brigade and also of what it would have been like for cemeteries. Two primary memo- the of the Ancre, where eight local authorities throughout Scot- wished to reinforce their inter- their forefathers, one hundred years rials included on the former pupils died. DAY ONE Southern lip of Ypres Salient including Messines and Hooge

On the first day of our trip to We got off the bus outside the the battlefields of Belgium and church and stepped inside. The France, we woke up at around architecture was amazing! Des 5am UK time, which is 6am Bel- told us about how the bells ring gium time. We were all pretty out every 15 minutes with music sluggish as you would prob- from each country that fought ably expect! We got ready, got in the Great War. The bells were our things together and then being repaired when we were departed the P&O Ferry. there so, unfortunately, we didn’t We left Zeebrugge and get to experience that. headed to the first location we We then were taken down to were visiting that day – the Pool the crypt. It was quite a strange Of Peace. It was a humid day and place. Des told us that in the that morning it was quite misty. Great War, Adolf Hitler had been Our tour guide Des took us to injured and taken there as it the pool and explained to us that was being used as a sort of war it was a crater that had been hospital, where injured soldiers created by 19 underground were treated. It felt rather scary German mines that exploded to imagine that where we were under the area where the pool is standing, Adolf Hitler had stood now. It gradually filled with rain- over a hundred years ago. water and then became the way We then had another short it is today. bus ride to the field where the It had lovely surroundings famous football game was – there were lots of trees and played between the Germans birds tweeting. The surrounding and the Britons on Christmas area typically was very flat. You Day, 1914. There was a small The pupils gathered at the 51st Highland Division Memorial. could see for a very long way. cross there with the words, “The We then got back onto the bus Khaki Chums “ After eating, we went into the lots of old artefacts from the afternoon, we went to two loca- wood. My friends and I enjoyed and were driven to a small town written on it. We took a few pic- main museum. The displays war. I even managed to find the tions – Sanctuary Wood and Hill this a lot. called Messines. There was tures there and then headed were very informative and told cap badge of the Lovat’s Scouts, 60. These were, in my opinion, The second and final location a beautiful church there. The to the Hooge Crater Museum, you a lot of things about the war. which is the cap badge that we the best things we did that day. we went to that day was Hill 60. name of it was Saint Nicholas’s where we were to have our There were models of soldiers wear at Army Cadets. Sanctuary Wood was very It was man-made and was built Church. dinner. dressed in their uniforms and For the remainder of the interesting. There were in 1860 from what was dug up trenches that you could walk from a nearby railway line. through there. It was really good At Hill 60, there was an old to see what it actually would pillbox that four of us (includ- have been like back then. There ing myself) climbed into! It was was also a concrete tunnel hard to climb into, but it was which was very narrow and low pretty cool once we got inside.

“I thought it was peaceful, also slightly sad because of how many people died. It was very nice and pretty and made me feel calm.” Megan Vieira 4A.

down. Most of us went through My knees were quite scraped up it and had no option but to use afterwards but it was worth it. our phone torches to see as it While there, we also went was pitch back in there without into an old German dugout. We them. managed to fit all of us includ- About three-fifths of the way ing all of the adults in there too. along the tunnel, you would We had our picture taken, then come to a fork. You could either we went back onto the bus and go straight ahead which led you set off for the hostel in which right out of the tunnel or you we would be staying for the next could turn left which took a bit two nights. longer and led you to another It was a very tiring, but enjoy- exit but this time it was in a able day and I really enjoyed it. Respects were paid at the graveside of Laurence Halcrow. slightly different place in the Ella Peebles, 3B