Queen's girls pay their respects to heroes
GCSE students from The Queen’s School, Chester, have returned from a moving and fascinating trip touring the World War One battlefields of France and Belgium. Today these regions have become open air museums, scattered with hundreds of memorials, cemeteries and trenches.
The thirty-five strong group, accompanied by five members of staff, saw their history lessons come to life as they explored the sites and paid their respects to those who lost their lives.
Attending the Last Post ceremony at Menin Gates in Ypres, the girls listened to the haunting bugle call and gave particular thought to soldiers who died but had no known grave.
The students investigated the tunnels used to attack the Germans at the second battle of Arras in 1917, as well as visiting Tyne Cot cemetery – the biggest British and Commonwealth cemetery with over 11,500 graves.
In comparison, the group visited a German cemetery in Langemarck that contained the remains of over 44,000 German soldiers, many of whom were students only a couple of years older than the Queen’s pupils.
Áine Jackson, age 15, said: “The whole trip was very moving and really demonstrated the enormous scale of World War One. It was so much better than a text book.”
One pupil found the trip to be a particularly personal journey. Frankie Humphreys age 15 found the name of her great great uncle Roger Humphreys on one of the memorials. Roger had signed up for the war at just 17, lying about his age on his application form to become a private in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
Once Roger was posted and the horror of the war became real, Roger wrote to his mother for a copy of his birth certificate to prove his real age. Sadly, just two days before the duplicate certificate arrived, Roger went missing in action aged just 17 years and never returned home.
Frankie was able to pay her respects to her relative and was photographed next to his name on the memorial in Thiepval.
Ends: 334 words
Captions -
090310 War memorial I.jpg – Queen’s students at Vimy Ridge – the Canadian National Memorial.
090310 War memorial II.jpg – Frankie Humphreys, at Thiepval standing next to her great great uncle’s memorial.
Press Contact:
Mrs Jane Taylor, The Queen’s School, City Walls Road, Chester, CH1 2NN
Tel: 01244 312078 Fax: 01244 321507
Email: jtaylor@queens.cheshire.sch.uk
The Queen’s School, Chester, Cheshire is one of the country’s leading independent schools for girls aged 4 – 18. We have a nationally renowned reputation for academic excellence and our girls consistently achieve outstanding results at GCSE and A level.
Our school celebrates young women and their potential. We prepare our girls to face their future with self-belief, energy and a ‘can do’ philosophy. Academic success is only one aspect of life at Queen’s and all girls are encouraged to explore their abilities, interests and passions in a wide range of extra-curricular activities. From drama, art and music to sports, community work and overseas adventures, the girls benefit from an education of the whole person, experiencing new challenges inside and outside the classroom.
At The Queen’s School, we seek to develop in each student a risk-taking spirit, leadership abilities, confidence and a love of learning. Our individual approach ensures each girl has the support she needs to thrive and succeed throughout her time here.
The school inhabits elegant Georgian and Victorian buildings, situated in a beautiful setting within walking distance of historic Chester. These surroundings prove a constant reminder of the heritage and traditional values that have shaped the school for more than 130 years.
Mrs Catherine Buckley is the headmistress of The Queen’s School with Mrs Felicity Taylor as head of the Lower School on Liverpool Road. The school has a number of bursaries available to very able students.
Past pupils include Beth Tweddle, Olympic Gymnast, Sarah Kelly, founder of the UK’s Neuromuscular Centre for muscular dystrophy and Vivienne Faull, the first woman to become Dean of an English Cathedral.
More information available from www.queens.cheshire.sch.uk
Return to The Queen's School, Chester, Cheshire listings
> Return to Client Press Office
