Cullybackey students on World War One Battlefields

GCSE History students and staff from Cullybackey College recently visited to the First World War battlefields of France and Belgium. Captivated GCSE students were given a detailed tour of the trenches in Thiepval Woods that were occupied by the 36th Ulster Division before they made their advance upon German lines on that fateful day in July 1916, at the beginning of the Battle of the Somme.

Students also visited the Ulster Tower that was erected in 1921 to commemorate the sacrifices of the Ulster Division during the War and the Thiepval memorial that has inscribed, some 72000 names, of those who fought and went missing during the War or remain unidentified.

Students visited the British Tyne Cot Cemetery and were engrossed in the age and details of many of the young soldiers who gave their lives during the War. At Ypres, Belgium, pupils attended an emotive Last Post Ceremony, where all the fallen soldiers from WW1 were remembered, at Menin Gate.

The students also visited the Flanders Field Museum and Ploegsteert, where the Christmas Truce 1914 took place. They saw the memorial dedicated to this event and stood on the field where the Christmas Day football match took place between Germany and England.