NEWS Sept Oct 2018

Battlefields Trip
William Edmund Gelling was my Great Grandfather. He fought in
World War 1, having enlisted at the age of eighteen in November
1915. Stationed in Northern France, he was in the Signals Company
laying and repairing telephone lines that connected the Generals’
headquarters to locations on the frontline. It involved braving
enemy fire to make sure communications were uninterrupted –
many signallers never returned. William was awarded the Military
Cross for “bravery in the field” and “devotion to duty under heavy
shellfire.” Like many others, he never mentioned the war to his
family, perhaps to save the pain of recalling what he saw and
experienced. It was this family history that made me want to find
out more about my Great Grandfather’s experiences and to go on
the Year 9 Battlefields trip.
I will never forget the row upon row of white crosses at the many
cemeteries we visited. At the Battle of the Somme alone (in which
William fought) the official number of British dead, missing or
wounded was over 400,000 and it is estimated that the total
number of casualties both civilian and military was around 37
million people across the whole of the war. On the trip, we visited
British, French, Canadian and German cemeteries as well as the
Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium, which is a memorial to the missing
whose graves are unknown. We were able to explore some of the
original trenches that have been preserved since the end of the
war. Overall, the trip was really interesting and challenging and
these experiences outlined to me the horror and futility of war.
Ella Hughes, Year 9
The Battlefields was an excellent trip which helped us explore the
history of WW1 as it showcased everything we had been taught in
class. It really put into perspective the overwhelming, pained
reality of what people went through during the war. We went to
places where literally thousands of people died. It was an
incredibly experience and I would recommend it to anyone who
gets the opportunity.
Emily Gresley, Year 9
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