However, the purpose of the tour was not forgotten when we arrived at the Somme. Ms Manning conducted a tour of the memorials and battlefields of WW1, an area in which she is very knowledgeable. It was an experience that will stay with us forever. Some of the places that we visited were Passchendaele, Thiepval, Pozieres and Beaumont-Hamel. We walked through row after row of graves of Australian soldiers, known and unknown. A few of us have family members who have died in WW1 and this part of the trip was very poignant for them and also for some of the students, when they realised that many of the soldiers who lost their lives were not much older than them.


Written by: Ms Yew Wooi Choo – Music Co-ordinator