No . 132
The Trusty Servant
Update on the Western Front Way
AD Gillespie ( Coll , 1903-08 ) is mentioned elsewhere in this publication . He , like many of his contemporaries , kept the then Headmaster , Monty Rendall ( 1911- 24 ) informed about life in service during the First World War . One of Gillespie ’ s letters to Rendall included the inspiring concept of a via sacra memorial :
‘ These fields are sacred in a sense , and I wish that when the peace comes , our government might combine with the French Government to make one long avenue between the lines from the Vosges to the sea , or , if that is too much , at any rate from La Bassée to Ypres . The ground is so pitted and scarred , and torn with shells , and tangled with wire , that it will take years to bring it back to use again ; but I would make a fine broad road in the No Man ’ s Land between the lines , with paths for pilgrims on foot , and plant trees
Gillespie brothers . ADG ( l ) and TCG for shade , and fruit trees , so that the soil should not be altogether waste . Some of the shattered farms and houses might be left as evidence , and the regiments might put up their records beside the trenches which they held all through the winter . Then I would like to send every man , woman and child in Western Europe on pilgrimage along that Via Sacra , so that they might think and learn what war means from the silent witnesses on either side . A sentimental idea , perhaps , but we might make it the most beautiful road in all the world .’
It was these words that so inspired Monty Rendall , leading to the surprisingly swift design and construction of War Cloister , dedicated in 1924 . More recently they have inspired The Western Front Way . Rory Forsyth , CEO of the project explains :
What is it ? We are connecting a continuous 1000km walking and cycling route the length of the trenches from the First World War . Many observers are staggered this does not exist already , especially school children . How can one of the most important stretches of land in modern memory have no accessible , free-to-use and publicised route for travellers ? The reason is that the route – the same distance as between Brighton and Inverness – traverses several nations , which each remember the First World War differently . But there are common bonds of remembrance , especially about the First World War , which have helped us , despite the difficulty of being a post-Brexit British organisation in France and Belgium .
There are thousands of sites along the Western Front , and hundreds of paths , but most of them are areafocused and rarely extend beyond the boundaries of a town , memorial , or commune . Remembrance looked inwards . For the most part it was designed to be driven in a car – ridden on a horse in the 1920s – going from memorial to memorial , battle to battle , town to town . School trips now tend to stop at sites of importance in coaches , but by doing this , the very ‘ story ’ of the history is missed , as is the landscape on which so many sacrifices were given .
Our initial role was to find common ground across this massive distance and share an idea so simple it would appeal to all : a pathway for peace , words first written over a century ago by a Winchester pupil .
Why does it matter ? AD Gillespie wrote about this path for peace in 1915 , under conditions and duress none of us can even begin to fathom . He wrote from the front , shortly before being killed in action , of a pathway for all nations , a rare view at the time in the crucible of war . The letter was rediscovered by Suzanne Foster , the College Archivist , and picked up by Sir Anthony Seldon , one of Britain ’ s leading contemporary historians . As soon as
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