Battlefields Trip 2008

On Monday 4th February, the fourth form departed for a 4 day tour of the French and Belgian battlefields. After a long bus journey and a turbulent crossing of the English channel, the tour began its visit with a stop at the largest French war cemetery in the world, 'Notre Dame De Lorette'. Having set the tone for the trip, the boys departed this cemetery anticipating an exciting and sobering few days of visits to Allied and German front line trenches, monuments, mine craters and museums. The highlight of the tour consisted of the group visiting 'Loos' war cemetery (the first Merchiston group ever to do so), where several Merchistonians and relatives of the tour group were buried. 

The trip was a great success and the boys found it to be a useful way to put their knowledge into a greater context.