Albert - The Somme
The students have a busy itinerary today as they begin their tour around the Somme. They will visit many of the graveyards in the area where their adopted soldiers are buried. A brief commemoration for each soldier is planned as each student will place a stone or a handful of soil from the soldier`s native county as a mark of respect for the sacrifices these young men made.
After such in-depth research, each student now has a personal understanding of their soldier, and laying soil at their grave side will not only be a moving experience but will also re-unite each soldier in some small way with their homeland - something, no doubt, that each soldier would had wished for 100 years ago.
The students will visit some of the most famous locations in the Somme including the Lochnagar Crater and the Ulster Tower. They will also be given a guided tour of the trenches in this area.
The Lochnagar Crater.
The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.
Below is a list of the Cemeteries the students plan to visit today:
- Gordon Dump Cemetery - Soldiers from Sligo & Galway
- German Cemetery, Fricourt
- Quarry Cemetery - Soldiers from Longford & Waterford
- Guillemont Cemetery - Soldiers from Carlow, Cork & Meath
- Delville Wood Cemetery - Soldiers from Clare, Donegal, Kerry, Leitrim, Tipperary & Laois
- Longueval Cemetery - Soldiers from Tyrone & Kildare
- Caterpillar Valley Cemetery - Soldier from Dublin
- Pozieres Cemetery - Soldier from Roscommon
- Authuile Cemetery - Soldier from Armagh
- Lonsdale Cemetery - Soldier from Cavan
- Mill Road Cemetery - Soldiers from Fermanagh & Down
- Thiepval Memorial Ceremony - Soldiers from Derry & Wicklow and a commemoration of the Soldiers from the four provinces
- Villers Bretteneux Cemetery - Soldier from Antrim
The longueval cemetery.
The Ulster Tower.