Our History Teachers’ Association of Victoria Major Prize Winner Talks About Why Travelling Here is so Poignant
The day after the Third Battle of Ypres came to an end Canadian staff officer Lieutenant General Launcelot Edward Kiggell visited the front. He burst into tears and muttered: “Good God, did we really send people to fight in that?” The answer to that question was: “It’s worse further on…”
Many of you were at the History Teachers’ Association Annual Conference last year and witnessed first-hand the excitement when Kara Taylor from Irymple Secondary College won our Grand Prize of up to $20,000 off the cost of a History Tour.
Kara’s dream was to take her students to the Western Front and we are very excited to say that the dream is now becoming a reality for 40 students from the Mildura region. Irymple Secondary College have joined with Mildura Senior College and Red Cliffs Secondary College to take their students on the trip of a lifetime to Paris and the Western Front.
Like all of our custom designed itineraries, this Western Front tour includes plenty of experiential learning activities including the opportunity for students to become World War 1 Diggers for the day and to use art to represent one of the 600,000 victims who lost their lives in Belgium.
The Platoon Experience is something the students will not forget. They will step into the shoes of an Australian platoon from 1917, fully clothed and equipped including uniform, kit and rifle. They even eat a warm Tommy Tucker meal, soldiers fare from 1917.
One of the most exciting aspects of the tour is the opportunity for students and teachers to connect with their past and visit the graves of ancestors who were killed during the War. Kara Taylor’s great uncle was only 19 and had been on the battlefields for 2 weeks when he was killed. He is buried in a cemetery on the road into Ypres and Kara will be the first member of her family to see his final resting place.
If you are interested in a unique history tour, personalised for your school, contact us now!