Friday, November 6th 2009. Half of the year nine students from the Boswells School visited the battlefields and memorials that dotted the Ypres Salient in Belgium, an area that almost a century ago played host to bloodshed and death.

Thought-provoking scarcely begins to cover the feelings that can only be experienced when we stood in the huge graveyards, from the sombre and moody atmosphere of the German Langemark Cemetery to the huge expanse of solemn white headstones at Tyne Cot, where two minutes of silence were held in remembrance of the fallen by the students.

Throughout the day memorials were visited, stories told, reflection made. We marched through trench replicas, were told of the sacrifices made by the thousands who died at Ypres alone, and dealt with topics such as the causes of the war, the underage boys who fought and died as young as fifteen and the medics and doctors who fought to save lives. The atmosphere of the loss that had been suffered here hung over us; not gloom, but remembrance, respect. It was not just an educational trip – it was a profound, provocative experience . It was a long, moving day, and one not to be forgotten.

By Jack Swan