Battlefields trip was a truly unforgettable experience

PUPILS from Dumfries Academy and Wallace Hall Academy visited the World War 1 Battlefields in France and Belgium. The trip departed late on the evening, heading for Dover where they boarded a ferry to take them to France. Once they arrived in France, the group visited The French WW1 War Memorial at Notre Dame de Lorette and Vimy Ridge, the scene of heroic fighting by Canadian Troops. [caption id="attachment_61294" align="alignnone" width="680"]

PAYING RESPECTS . . . the group had a truly memorable experience [/caption] The following day, they visited many cemeteries and memorials around the city of Ypres, including the notable graves of VJ Studwick, Nelly Spindler and Noel Chavasse. They also visited the huge Menin Gate memorial where the names of soldiers who were never found are displayed. The next day the group travelled to France and the Somme region. Again they visited many cemeteries, memorials, as well as walking around actual WW1 trenches. Students and teachers then visited a German grave at Langemark, the famous village of Passchendale and then the Tyne Cot, the largest British war cemetery in the World. It was a truly humbling experience for all. On the last night of the trip, the group returned to the Menin Gate where Madison and Maggie took part in the daily act of remembrance, laying a wreath in front of thousands of onlookers. It was an event that none involved will ever forget. A spokesman for Dumfries Academy said: "We returned back to Scotland after a truly unforgettable experience. "It heightened our awareness of the massive sacrifices the soldiers made to ensure we enjoy the freedom we do today and made us so aware that ‘We should never forget.’"