The Great War

Begin februari gingen al onze vijfdes op uitstap naar Ieper en omgeving. Als opdracht moesten de leerlingen er een verslag van maken en een bijhorend gedicht uitkiezen. We geven u het verslag van Loubna Buimejene uit 5 MtWe mee, gekozen door mevrouw DeVreese.

On Thursday February the 6th we went on an outing to Ypres. In the classes English, French and History we talked about the First World War. The city Ypres is known for WWI when it was surrounded by German troops.

We started our trip at the Memorial Museum Passchendaele.There was a guide and he gave us a bit more information about the war while showing us the objects that were used during WWI. It was very interesting to actually see the uniforms and the weapons the soldiers used. At the museum you could also walk through the trenches which gives you a small perspective of how the soldiers lived during the war.

We continued the day by going to two cemeteries. The first one was Tyne Cot. It is a British military cemetery for the deceased of the First World War. When you walk into the graveyard you immediately notice all the white headstones. They are all perfectly lined up and well kept. This cemetery was my favourite part of the trip. It was really breath taking. Seeing all the graves you realise how many people died in that war. I felt sad walking around the graves and seeing that even people of my age who died, they still had their whole life in front of them. Then we went to Langemarck German war cemetery. German soldiers who died during the battles of Ypres are buried there.

The trip to Ypres was very educational. Going to the sites and seeing it with my own eyes was different than just learning about the war in school. The Tyne Cot cemetery was one of the sites that really stood me by because it is sad to see the amount of people who died during the war.

Here dead we lie, by A. E. Housman

Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.
Life, to be sure,
Is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.

I have chosen this poem because a lot of young soldiers fought during the war to not shame their land. They were encouraged to go and ended up dying while they had their whole life in front of them.

De foto’s werden toegestuurd door onder andere mijnheer Lösken en mevrouw Deboodt, waarvoor dank. Mochten er nog leerlingen zijn die foto’s hebben, ze zijn meer dan welkom bij mevrouw Rombaut. Alle foto’s zijn te bekijken in ons archief hier.