WWI Centenary Project set to Continue in Belgium

July 2015

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The group visited The Imperial War Museum in London.

Members of our WWI History Project group have recently returned from a trip to London where they pursued their investigations into King James soldiers who fell in the war. In October, research will continue in Belgium.

Following our successful bid for funding, the Heritage Lottery Fund has granted £9,900 towards our World War I Centenary Project, All the Kings Boys and we have since been granted a further £5,000 from the Lefevre Trust which will enable the project to progress on an international platform.

Students and staff have been working enthusiastically on the research aspects of the project, tracing the names on our own memorial, as well as looking into their personal family history with the help and support of local historians, Kevin Richardson and Paul Simpson, and working closely with the Durham Light Infantry Museum and Friends of the DLI.

In May, some of the group travelled to the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. This incredible site is filled with many memorials, gardens and tributes, not only to our Armed Forces regiments, but also to overseas forces, campaigns and individuals. The National Memorial is a stunning sight and many of the group were moved by what they saw and read during the visit. We were accompanied on our trip by Mr Wilf Proctor of the DLI Museum, who shared his great knowledge, not only of the DLI but of our military history as a whole.

The group also took part in a tour and discussion session at the Shot at Dawn Memorial and a workshop on the history of the poppy in remembrance whilst at the Arboretum.

In July the group travelled by train to London. Arriving at Kings Cross Station, the first thing the group saw was the Great Northern Railways WWI Memorial on the platform which lists all those who worked on the railways and who gave the ultimate sacrifice; the significance of the memorial's structure was not lost on our students.

They spent the morning at the Imperial War Museum, which now houses a new WWI exhibition. As well as taking in the huge amount of information, students were also able to collect ideas for their own exhibition which will take place in 2016.

Students then moved on to locate some of the WWI monuments around the capital, including the Cenotaph in Westminster and the Edith Cavell Monument in Trafalgar Square, before making their way back to Kings Cross/St Pancras and the last monument, the Meeting Place Statue in St Pancras Station, which depicts various aspects of soldiers' departure and return.

We now look forward to the next exciting part of our journey through history along with our international partners. In October a group of 16 will travel to Ypres in Belgium to meet with students and staff from our partner schools in Belgium, France and Germany. Together we will visit the World Heritage sites, Commonwealth War Grave Cemeteries and Germany Cemeteries, and take part in memorial presentations.

The group will spend time at the In Flanders Field Museum and students from King James will be laying a wreath during the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate; this is a huge honour for our school and our students during this world renowned act of remembrance.