"A day that was thought provoking and poignant.  A day that is lodged in the mind"  Ava Tait

 

At Sanctuary Wood

Thinking of what the soldiers and people of the time did and sacrificed was very humbling.

Cameron Nisbet

 Photograph: Just some of the 54,389 names on the Menin Gate, Ypres.

 

We paid a visit to the stunning Arras Memorial.  Its beauty really made an impression on us all.  There we paid our respects to 4 Shetlanders. All were killed at the Battle of Arras, 3 of them on the first day.

Private William Allan, 2nd Gordon Highlanders
Private Andrew Halcrow, (listed as 4th Gordon Highlanders)
Private Alexander Laurenson, 8/10th Gordon Highlanders.
Private Robert Alexander Morrison, Machine Gun Corps.

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Finding Laurence Anderson on the Menin Gate

Sonny lights a candle of Remembrance at Messines Church. The church was completely destroyed, along with most buildings on this area of the Ypres Salient.  After the church was rebuilt, the fundraising took place to get new Bells for the tower.

Tyne Cot

One of the most moving parts of the AHS pupils trip was the visit to Poelcapelle British Cemetery. It contains 7,479 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated. 6,230 of the burials are unidentified. On their recent trip, AHS pupils and staff stood in front of 20 of the 6,230 unidentified. They were asked to think about who they were, what was their role, who their family was. Then, they stuck a poppy on the unidentified.

Reflecting on The Pool of Peace. Spanbroekmolen Mine Crater. This is the site of the largest of 19 mines blown by the British Army during the early hours of the morning of 7th June, 1917. The start of the Battle of Messines.

 

Thiepval

On Tuesday 8th of September, pupils visited the battlefields of The Somme.  An emotional time at Thievpval.  Various Shetland names were found.  They also heard the story of Mrs Soul who lost 6 sons during The Great War.

51st Highland Division Memorial

RPupils spent an emotional morning at The Newfoundland Memorial Park on The Somme. There they laid wreath and had a minutes silence, remembering the Shetland men who died at The Ancre, 13th November, 1916.

Sanctuary Wood

Today we had an emotional walk through the trenches with our guide Robin at Sanctuary Wood on the Ypres Salient.

We are almost ready to go. On the overnight Northlink ferry on Saturday night.  Then, we travel down to Hull for overnight journey to Zeebrugge on Sunday.  Our first day on Monday will be spent on the southern Ypres Salient;  Messines, Hooge, Menin Road and Hill 60. 

4 Days to go!!

With only four days to go, untill we set sail for Aberdeen and then onto Belgium, everyone is getting more and more excited. 

Final preperations are happenng (hoodies) and, with a trip meetng tomorrow we can only hope the hoodies will be ready soon.

Trip Preparation.

Final Plans are taking shape for forthcoming trip.  We had Parents Evening and also pupils got Poppy Remembrance Crosses ready.

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In September 2015, History pupils from the Anderson High School will be visiting the Great War Battlefields of France and Belgium. This page will tell the story of this visit, and also share information, photographs and stories about what they learned.

Pupils will be paying their respects to 32 Shetland soldiers who died in the Great War. These men are spread across Scottish, British and Imperial Regiments. There are also a few former Anderson Educational Institute pupils among them.