The Institute of Education
launch 5-year First World War education programme
Mike Peters writes:
I attended the official launch of the First War Education
programme in London this week with Guild Partners Equity. The press release
from the event is below and some photographs of the event can be seen at http://gbg-international-news.blogspot.co.uk/
Thousands of school children and teachers in England will be
given the opportunity to take part in a unique education programme and
battlefield tour run by the Institute of Education (IOE) which is designed to
help teachers and pupils develop a deeper understanding of the First World
War.
Last year, the IOE and their school travel partner, Equity
(formerly known as STS - School Travel Service) were selected to run the First
World War Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme on behalf of the Department for
Education (DfE) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG)
as part of the Government's plans to commemorate the centenary of the First
World War.
Throughout 2014 to 2019, two pupils and one teacher from
every state-funded secondary school in England will invited to join a 4-day
tour to the Western Front accompanied by IOE staff and professional battlefield
guides. These tours will visit sites such as Tyne Cot Cemetery and the Indian
Memorial at Neuve Chappelle, the Newfoundland Memorial Park on the Somme,
France and all will take part in the Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate in
Ypres, Belgium. A number of pupils and teachers have already attended pilot
tours have described them as ‘an experience we will remember forever and will
take through for the rest of our lives’.
All teachers will be able to take part in an innovative
IOE-led Professional Development programme which will challenge them to think
about what, and how they teach the First World War both in the classroom and on
fieldtrips. This professional development programme will be delivered through
face-to-face courses and through online learning on a dedicated programme
website.
Professor Stuart Foster, Executive Director of the programme
at the IOE, said:
“What sets this apart from other battlefields tours is that
the IOE, the world’s leading research university for education has created a
programme to complement the centenary battlefield tours which will help
teachers and their pupils engage with different historians’ interpretations of
the First World War.”
“We will encourage teachers and pupils to think critically
about the causes, how the war was perceived at the time, and to go beyond the
popular cultural view that has emerged since that the war was an exercise in
futility exacerbated by incompetent military leadership.”
“This programme will empower teachers to deliver more
effective lessons and future battlefield tours and support schools in
establishing commemorative projects.”
The IOE’s First World War education team are already
supporting a number of schools and academies in developing commemorative
projects and ensure that a lasting legacy is created from the centenary programme.
IOE and Equity will be working with organisations including
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), Ancestry.co.uk and Ballista
Media to deliver an exciting and innovative education programme.
The IOE and Equity will be hosting a press launch event for
the Programme at the Guards Museum in London on 6 May 2014 at 5.30pm ahead of
first official tour which is on 16-19 May 2014. A number of tours will take
place over the next 5 years.
Inconsiderate Battlefield
Visitors
Secretary writes:
I have received the following from Philip Pearce:
M. Jean-Louis Legrand is the farmer who owns the land
around Serre Road Cemeteries 1 and 3, Queens Cemetery and Railway Hollow
Cemetery/Sheffield Memorial Park in the Somme. He knows me and knows I
speak French; he came to me when I was working with a group there last
weekend and gave me a real ear bashing about the behaviour of British tour
groups in recent weeks.
Recently, and over the Easter weekend in particular, cars
have been parking on his land (once actually in his farmyard!) without
permission and coaches have been driving all the way up his track to Sheffield
Park, despite a sign saying that this is forbidden. On three separate
occasions he has also found coach-borne British tourists trampling across the
emerging seedlings in his fields, apparently looking for artefacts.
He is extremely upset by this, and I have considerable
sympathy with him. Those tour operators who have been taking groups there
for years and will still be doing so after the Centenary has passed have worked
hard to establish good relations with landowners and local authorities, and
these risk being jeopardised by this sort of behaviour.
As a Guild we should be doing all we can to maintain good
relations with landowners. Can I therefore ask that if any members see people
trespassing or causing damage that they try, obviously avoiding confrontation,
to make them see the error of their ways and if possible get the details of the
tour company so that we might write to them to explain why they should not
allow this behaviour. ETOA will be passing the same message to their relevant
members.
Road Closures
Andrew Thomson writes:
From May 5th the bridge between Hill 60 and the Caterpillar
is to be closed for work (unsure for how long). Access only possible
therefore from the north (the route that is signed no heavy vehicles!)
Guide Wanted
Secretary writes:
Can anyone help with this or recommend someone that could?
Please let me know.
Hello, I have your contact from the Battlefields
Tour people as they do not cover the area I wish to visit, and was wondering if
you have any knowledge of guides in Greece that would take me privately for a
one or two day trip from Athens to Pharsala (Farsala). My father was
stationed there in WWII at the NZEF General Hospital site, before being
captured, which I am having trouble locating exactly.
I shall be in Greece from the 6th August 2014 until the
11th August
Normandy 70
Secretary writes:
For those guiding around Normandy on the 6th June 2014 the
road closures have now been published as well as details on how to get a car
pass to get you around the restricted areas. See http://www.le70e-normandie.fr/dedicated-areas/traffic/?lang=en
Free Commemorative Show at
Bastogne
John Greene writes:
Members may be interested to note a free commemorative show
being held at Bastogne:
Sound and light show : Texas Aggies Go to War
Friday May 16th, 2014 at the Mardasson Memorial, 6600
Bastogne (Belgium)
Commemorative show “Texas Aggies Go to War” that will form
part of the commemoration and celebration activities to take place in Bastogne
as part of Memorial Day and the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the
Bulge.
This live show will consist of a projection on the Mardasson
Monument and will be presented in the form of subject-based and historical
tableaux, that will recount the lives of 5 Aggies and the key moments in the
Second World War and the Battle of the Bulge.
To design and produce this show, organised by the Bastogne
War Museum, Tempora has joined forces with the Luc Petit CREATION company to
develop a joint production, which has been staged by Luc Petit CREATION.
The show presentation can be seen at: http://we.tl/Qia3irMdZO
Update from the Holts
Secretary writes:
I have received the following news updates from the Holts:
1. On a recent visit to the Somme with a BBC 'From Our Own
Correspondent' Radio 4 journalist we popped in to Notre-Dame de Lorette to see
what progress was being made on the huge project of the 'International
Circle of Death' project, listing the names of all the 600,000 soldiers
killed in French Flanders and Artois during the Great War. The names are
inscribed on panels, in alphabetical order, regardless of nationality or rank -
British and Dominion, Belgian, Czech, French and N African, German, Polish,
Portuguese, Russian etc... a massive task.
It is still very much a building site but already the impact
of the sheer size is strongly felt. We were fortunate to arrive the day
the very first panels were put in situ. Members can see some work in progress
at www.facebook.com/tonie.holt.1
It is hoped that it will be finished for 11 November this
year.
2. Today we were invited to a discussion at CWGC HQ at
Maidenhead with Colin Kerr (technically Director of Finance but now totally
immersed in WW1 100th and WW2 70th anniversary events and planning) Andrew
Stillman, who has special responsibility for this area and Claire Douglas,
2014-18 Production Co-ordinator.
We will be working with them on their Somme Remembrance
Trails. They also told us of their huge programme for the Anniversary
years. We thoroughly recommend that all GBG members keep a regular eye on
the CWGC website. There are many changes and important projects in the
pipeline and there will be a launch of their totally revamped website in July
of this year.
One practical piece of information of interest to guides is
that the first main commemoration on 4 Aug at St Symphorien, Mons (attended by
William, Kate & Harry, Belgian Royals, German President etc) is
strictly by invite only and no-one else will be able to get near the cemetery
on the 4 Aug and a couple of days before. The town is setting up a huge
screen to relay the ceremony in the Grand' Place for members of the general
public. An 'Open' event will take place at the cemetery on 23 August -
perhaps a more sensible day to aim for when taking groups to commemorate the
battle of Mons.
Also on that day the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regt are
inaugurating a new memorial at Tertre. For details contact nigel_bristow@sky.com
3. There are discussions ongoing about awarding some,
or even all, Normandy Veterans with the Legion d'Honneur during the 70th
Anniversary commemorations.
4. Our greatly expanded and updated Western Front -
North Guidebook, with GPS locations at each stop, in-text battle maps for each
of the 14 battles should be arriving in the UK (printed in India!) in mid-May.
It contains all the early battles of the War - Mons, Le
Cateau, N-D de Lorette, the Yser, 1st Ypres... .
Very best wishes
Tonie and Valmai
RAF Operation Circus 157
Ceremony: Monday 7pm May 5th 2014
Chris Lock writes:
Members may be interested to read about special
commemoration ceremony which took place during the early evening of Monday May
5th 2014 within Ypres Town Ext CWGC cemetery in Ypres, Belgium for the dead of
Operation Circus. See the story and photographs at http://gbg-international.blogspot.co.uk/
Sicily Tours
Robert Piccione writes:
Members may be interested to note that I have now developed
a new website in English for those interested in battlefield tours of Sicily -
see www.impavidus.it
Organising a WW1 Event?
Secretary writes:
Members who are organising events around WW1 may be interested
to note that member Kenneth Wright has formed a group called the 'Trench
Raiders' to provide an entertainment event with anecdotal stories and songs
from the Great War. They are available for parties, fund raising and charity
events. Contact Kenneth on 01384 371100/07710 225576 or info@battle-tours.co.uk
Best Regards
Tony Smith
Guild Secretary
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