We all had a pretty relaxed start to the day today after finally being able to have a 20 minute sleep in, which sounds like nothing, but if you were to see us all right now a little extra sleeping time definitely wouldn't do any harm. 😜 After loading up the bus we headed out to travel further around the Western Front, the first stop being at Bedford House Cemetery where we visited and payed our respects to E. Thompson, the relatives of the Thompson's that were on the previous tour. After Mr Croft managed to get the attention of the gardeners to ask them to be quiet, Georgia read her poem, Georgie (me) recited the ode while James played the bugle and we held a minute silence.
We visited the Island of Ireland Peace Park where we paid our respects to the Irish soldiers who fought in the war. There was also some poems that were carved into stone and placed there some of these were very sombre. Continuing our journey to Arras we detoured to the Pool of Peace or Lone Tree Crater, largest man made crater on the Western Front, where we saw a freshly dug up shell in the paddock next door.
After travelling further we stopped at one of the most famous fields involved in the war. It's called Christmas Truce and it was where the two different nations, Germany and Britain, joined together on Christmas Day to celebrate together by sharing food and stories and a game of soccer which the British claim to have won (there's a first time for everything). We then walked through the woods to the all Australian cemetery, Toronto Avenue, where 37 Australians are buried, all being killed on the same day on the 7th of June 1916. Here we held another ceremony to honour those who fought for our country.
After venturing on we stopped at Rue Du Bois cemetery where Georgia's great Grandfather has been laid to rest. It was a very emotional time for all of the students as we come to the realisation of how close to home the tour is becoming. Then we headed off to the border after a quick stop over at a chocolate shop, so to all the parents reading this, don't be surprised if you get toiletries and clothes mailed home to you to make room for the chocolate. Especially the Mouldens, you may need to pay for an extra seat on the plane so James can fit. Once we fit all our bags back on the bus we started the exciting drive to cross the border from Belgium to France, after convincing Emma she needed her passport out and ready we apparently crossed the boarder, only knowing because our tour guide pointed it out! We headed to Fromelles and Cobbers memorial in France. We learned that the battle of Fromelles was the only piece of land in France that the Australians aimed to capture but failed, resulting in over 1701 deaths of our men, where only 400 soldiers have ever been found on the land that we were walking over.
After a visit to the Cobbers memorial we discovered what true aussie mate ship was about. The statue in the centre was of two Anzac soldiers from the 57th and 60th battalions where one solider is carrying the other after he had been wounded. After we reenacted the statue we left for Arras and had a quiet tea near the hotel, with snails on the menu (although James M & Miss Bottega were too scared to try)...at least it was quiet until Mr Heptinstall caused a commotion and had to be taken to hospital, worried he was having an allergic reaction! We got back and hit the sack as soon as we could before a massive day tomorrow, hopefully Liam won't be spewing again tonight after smelling putrid gas produced by one of the students!
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