Somme: Lest We Forget

This last week has been for remembering not only those who lost their lives but, for all who fought and partook in the battle of Somme, France, 1916. You will have seen on the News the many remembrance ceremonies held throughout Britain, France and other countries in order to pay tribute to those who risked their lives fighting.

As a history student at university, I take great interest in researching battles from different wars, especially those of the two Boer Wars, The Great War and World War Two. Learning about the Battle of Somme in s5 at high school at Higher Level was defiantly a highlight in my learning (history being one of the only subjects I enjoyed along with music). As I was going from s5 to s6 I was privileged to go on the Battlefields Trip with my school, where we went to Belgium and France to learn more in depth about certain battles.

Newfoundland Park is the memorial for the Battle of Somme where you can walk through what is left of the trenches from the battle and walk around different cemeteries and memorials such as the 51st Highland Division memorial and the Caribou memorial.

Trenches

51st Highland Division

Caribou

This was a very emotional day for everyone on this trip as we heard stories of soldiers who were fighting in the battle and were also given a demonstration of how fast the Allied forces were shot down by the Germans. By the time the Allies got to the German trenches, one soldier out of around 40 was left to fend for themselves. When we took part in marching through the trenches, our tour guide kept taking people out of our formation to indicate when soldiers died, so in the end one person was left. The person left happened to be one of my close friends from school and that really hit home for me and my group of friends. We all began to think about how hard it must have been for that one soldier if he were to survive the whole battle while his friends had all been killed. Would he be relieved he survived and could see his family again? Would he be devastated and go into a depression due to the loss of friends from his division and the catastrophic scenes of death and destruction he witnesses? Would he feel guilty for being the only one to survive the battle? 

Once we had finished our visit at Newfoundland Park we drove up to Thiepval which is a beautiful memorial to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the Somme. On the 1st of July every year, a major ceremony is held to remember the fallen, the injured and the warriors of the Somme. 

Thiepval Memorial

On my trip with school, on of the boys on the trip had a few relatives names on the wall of this magnificent memorial so my friend played a lamont on his bagpipes in order for us to remember and to appreciate their efforts in the war. This was very hard to get through; everyone shed at least one tear at this memorial. For me, this was one of the two most emotional times of the trip due to not only reading the thousands upon thousands of names of soldiers who's bodies were not found on the memorial walls, but everyone on the trip bonded over this and all felt something we had never felt before. That night when we got back to our accommodation the bond between all the pupils on the trip was stronger and more loving towards each other. Just as I image how soldiers in the war would have bonded with each other. 

Their Name Liveth For Evermore 

Lest We Forget.