Conor's great-grandfather is wearing the spiked German helmet
Year 9 visited the Somme Centre in Conlig on the 30th November 2009. We went to first period and then made our way to the front of school to board the bus to the Somme Centre. The bus journey took roughly half an hour – forty five minutes but the time flew by and before we knew it we were there. We entered the Somme Centre and were introduced to our guide before we were taken into an exhibit on things such as weapons and uniforms etc. There was a model of an escape tunnel which was also interesting! We were then taken into the weapons talk where we were shown many weapons from both the German Army and the British Army. Things like Hand Grenades and Helmets were passed around for us to see. I got to hold a British “Lee Enfield .303 bolt action rifle“, which was rather awkward to hold as I am left handed! We were then taken on the Main Tour of the centre which highlighted things such as the soldier’s living quarters and medical facilities. We then neared the end of our visit when we were taken through a life sized model of the trenches, which was very realistic! We were shown a presentation on the battles of the trenches and the total casualties which was interesting. The end of the tour was special for me as there on the wall was a picture of my Great Grandfather, Eric Wallace, who served as a Second Lieutenant/Acting Captain in the British Army Machine Gun Corps until he was wounded some time into the First World War, after which he was sent home to recover for around four months. He was later drafted back in to help with the Army campaign in Persia. I would like to thank the Somme Centre staff and Mr. Armstrong for making this trip possible.
Conor Sholdis 9J