Inspiration from the past

As part of the 100 years commemoration of the end of WWI, I am teaching the topic to my class (not one I have taught before). 

The children are extremely into it, and we are even doing a play for the village that is coming together really well.

A friend of school heard that we were doing it and mentioned that he had done some family research that was linked to the war.  He very kindly lent me some letters written by his great uncle in 1916 from the trenches of the Somme.  There was also one from a chaplain to the family telling them that he was doing well after being wounded in battle - a total lie as it turned out as he was suffering from horrific injuries and died two days after that letter.  Alongside some scanned documents made available from the Australian government that we could access on the web all about the him, this has really brought us closer to events over 100 years ago.

It has been a fascinating experience, and I have learnt a great deal about how letters were scribed, censored, edited and played such a pivotal role on the views of the war back in England at that time.

The children are going to be writing some letters of their own 'from the trenches', and I hope these real-life examples have been an as amazing inspiration for them as they have been for me.



RIP Clem