WW1 Medicine

Day 1 - Wellington Quarry & Arras

Begin with an early start, collecting your Battlefield guide (if included) before crossing to Calais (Eurotunnel or ferry crossing available) and heading on to Ypres. En route, your guide will give a full introduction to the First World War and set the scene for your journey to the Battlefields.

Arriving in Arras, take a guided tour underneath the city streets to Wellington Quarry, which was created by New Zealand tunnellers. These tunnels served as a hiding place and home to thousands of soldiers and included accommodation, a chapel, and a hospital—complete with operating theatres. Just a few metres from the front line, soldiers launched themselves from here in a surprise attack on German positions on the 9th of April, 1917.

From here, pay your respects at two of the memorials in this area dedicated to servicemen with no known graves. Firstly, the Arras Memorial, which commemorates over 35,000 Commonwealth soldiers, and then the Royal Flying Services Memorial, which commemorates 1,000 airmen. Lt Walter Tull and Maj "Mick" Mannock VC are just some of the names you will investigate and learn more about.

Then it’s time to head to your hostel for check-in and dinner.

Day 2 - Ypres

Today students spend a full day exploring the battlefields and memorials around Ypres in Belgium. First, head to Lijssenthoek, where many soldiers started their journey to the front. As well as a training camp and front-line logistics hub, it was also the site of the largest evacuation hospital in the Ypres Salient. Students of WW1 medicine can begin in the visitor centre, before heading out to the cemetery, where you will find 10,785 burials including French, British, German, two Americans, and one woman—Nurse Nellie Spindler.

The story of mining in the First World War is brought to life at the next stop, Hill 60, a small area of elevated land in an otherwise flat landscape, still showing the battle scars from over a hundred years ago, with craters and bunkers.

At Hooge Crater Museum, the war comes to life, with full scale reconstructions of war scenes, an extensive medical display, including an original Ford T Ambulance and reconstructed German and British trenches. Learn how the trenches were built and gain a greater understanding of trench diseases and their treatment. At the rear of the museum, follow the front line in the footsteps of the soldiers with a walk to Railway Wood.

Continue the school trip to Ypres with a stop at Vancouver Corner, the site of the first-ever large-scale gas attack during the Second Battle of Ypres. Here, in the 48 hours they held the line, one in every three men became a casualty of the gas, with 2,000 killed. Students can learn more about this type of warfare under the watchful eye of the St Julien memorial. Also known as The Brooding Soldier, this memorial is dedicated to the men of the Canadian First Division. 

The tour continues with a visit to Langemark German Cemetery, one of only four German cemeteries in the Flanders region. Students can witness the stark contrasts between Allied and German cemeteries, including a mass grave containing 25,000 soldiers. Students of Hitler’s Foreign Policy 1933-39 will be interested to hear about Adolf Hitler’s visit during the Second World War. The cemetery is the final resting place of many inexperienced young soldiers, earning it the moniker “Studentenfriedhof” (Student’s Cemetery).

The final visit today is Tyne Cot CWGC Cemetery to learn more about the third battle of Ypres and the misery of the mud at the largest Commonwealth War Cemetery in the world.

Then it’s back to the hostel for dinner, followed by free time and chocolate shopping.

Day 3 - Ypres

Another packed day on this WW1 Battlefield tour for students. First, travel to Poperinghe, site of the death cells. Here, British soldiers condemned to execution for crimes, including cowardice, waited to be taken to the execution pole and shot at dawn. Many soldiers suffering from shell shock were branded cowards and faced the toughest form of military justice. Words from Kipling’s Poem ‘The Coward’ are inscribed in a panel next to the execution post, with lines such as ‘blindfolded and alone’ making for sobering reading for students of history and World War One poetry.

From here, move on to Brandhoek New Military Cemetery and hear the stories of many of the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) burials, including Captain Noel Chavasse VC, one of only three men to have won the Victoria Cross twice.

Continue to Essex Farm. Here, a basic medical station was established in rough dugouts to treat wounded soldiers. As the war progressed, these were expanded and reinforced with concrete to create an Advanced Dressing Station. These concrete medical shelters have been renovated and preserved and can now be explored as part of a visit to Ypres trenches for History students of World War One or Medicine Through Time. For English students and students of war poetry, it was here that Canadian doctor John McCrae wrote the famous poem “In Flanders Fields” after burying his friend in 1915. 

Next, make your way to the Passchendaele Memorial Museum, an interactive exhibition giving a good overview of the Battles of Ypres, with emphasis on the horrific Battle of Passchendaele in 1917. The museum’s reconstructed dugouts and trenches bring the battlefield to life and allow students to experience first-hand the miserable conditions of underground warfare.

Heading back to Ypres, visit the Menin Gate, to hear the story of this “Memorial to the Missing” and the Last Post Association. Following dinner, attend and participate in the Last Post Ceremony, where a few selected students will lay a wreath on behalf of the school. Highlighting the theme of remembrance, it is a time for reflection, to show respect for others and recognise the sacrifices made by an entire generation on our behalf.

Day 4 - The Somme and Vimy Ridge

This morning, head for the Somme. En route, your guide will tell you about the first day of the Battle of the Somme and show supporting videos. The first stop is Sheffield Memorial Park, where you will learn about the Pals Battalions and the New Model Army.

Then it is onto Newfoundland Park, which is on the grounds over which the Newfoundland Regiment made their attack on the 1st of July 1916, resulting in them being all but wiped out. The ground remains largely untouched, and among the memorials and cemetery can also be found an excellent visitor centre.

The largest British Memorial in the world can be found at Thiepval, which is the next stop. Learn more about some of names found amongst over 72,000 inscribed on this Memorial.

Just a short drive on, stop at Lochnagar Crater, the result of a huge mine that was placed under the German lines and whose massive explosion signalled the start of the Battle of the Somme. Here, take time to discuss underground warfare and the reasons behind this type of warfare.

On the way back to Calais, make a final stop at Vimy Ridge, the Canadian National Memorial on the Western Front. The memorial, took eleven years to build and is visible for miles around, it makes for the perfect location to hear about the Battle of Vimy Ridge and to pay your final respects before departing for the coast and your journey home.