On the first day of the Battle of the Somme in July 1916, some 20,000 men were killed and almost 40,000 taken casualty.
The battle – one of the largest during the First World War – was launched upon a 30-kilometre front, from north of the Somme river between Arras and Albert, and it lasted until November 18, when it was finally abandoned.
In total, the battle would see more than one million men killed or wounded.
One hundred years on and the government-funded First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours programme has announced that it will be focusing on the Battle of the Somme during its commemorative trips in 2016.
The £5.3 million programme is run by the UCL Institute of Education and school tour operator Equity and is designed to help teachers and pupils from every state-funded secondary school in England develop a deeper understanding of the First World War.
Between 2014 and 2018, two pupils and one teacher from 4,000 schools will get to visit the battlefields on the Western Front where the 1914 to 1918 war was fought. To date, 3,300 students and teachers have been.
Each tour is free and lasts four days, with students being encouraged to focus on a specific question each day – such as “how did the First World War affect ordinary people?” and “is remembrance more or less important 100 years on?”.
During 2016, there will be special emphasis placed on commemorating the Battle of the Somme and its strategic importance. Students will visit battlefield sites, Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials and cemeteries on the Somme, including Thiepval Memorial, as well as Newfoundland Memorial Park at Beaumont Hamel, Sheffield Memorial Park at Serre, Ulster Tower and Thiepval Wood. These sites will allow the students to study the impact and consequences of the Somme battle.
During the tour the students also attend The Last Post Ceremony in Ypres, Belgium, which takes place under the Menin Gate every night of the year. Here buglers of the Ypres volunteer Fire Brigade sound the Last Post before a minute’s silence to reflect on the sacrifice of those lost. Students also visit Tyne Cot Cemetery near Ypres as well as the German cemetery Langemark.
On their return to school, students will embark on a Legacy 110 project. This encourages them to share their experiences of visiting the battlefield sites of the Western Front through developing post tour community projects.
All schools are invited to enrol on the programme, which includes free resources, free teacher CPD, the four-day tour itself and other opportunities.
Limited places are still available on tours departing in February and March 2016. Email WW1@inspiring-learning.com or call 01273 810770 to sign up. For more information, visit www.centenarybattlefieldtours.org