SENNYBRIDGE
CAMP
S PR I N G
2013
PG 2
SHOOTING—MY
FIRST TIME
PG 3
UNIFORM
INSPECTION
PG 3
Cosford
altitude
BELGIUM YPRES CULTURAL CAMP
By Cdt. N. Cook
5th—7th April 2013
A group of cadets from Cosford Squadron and other squadrons from the
West Mercian Wing and Staffordshire
Wing attended this cultural camp
about World War 1.
This camp involved visiting the war
graves and also visiting the battlefields
where the British, Canadian and German servicemen had fought for their
lives. We also visited Europe’s largest
war grave cemetery
When we visited the war graves it was
quite upsetting seeing the amount that
had died. It was also quite upsetting
to see the German war graves because
they were not treated the same as the
British. They were not kept clean and
they were either faced away from the
British Graves or placed flat on the
ground. A German grave would not be
just for one soldier it would be for a
few, so the soldiers were buried very
closely together. One of the battlefields we visited was Hill 60. Hill 60
was blown up by the British by laying
a few mines. When it was getting
blown up it was heard in London.
On Saturday evening we had the
chance to take part in a ceremony at
the Menin Gate where the Last Post
was played. The Menin Gate is the
site of the memorial to the missing of
the Salient.
It lists the names of
54,332 servicemen who fell in the Salient and who have no known grave. It
was an honour to take part in this ceremony and to pay our respects to
those who had fought for our freedom
and our future. This ceremony is performed every night at 8pm this is so
they are never forgotten.
Before the journey home we got the
chance to go around buying souvenirs
and then we did our last visit to the
trenches where the British had fought
in the appalling conditions for their
lives and their country.
As we never forget the British soldiers,
we should also never forget the German soldiers, as they were forced like
the British to go and fight when they
did not want to. I was told by one of
the staff that some of the British soldiers were no older than we are now
and that some of the German soldiers
were Cadets like us. >>
2497 (Cosford) Squadron Altitude | 2497cosfordsquadron.moonfruit.com
Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing
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