For Christine Boal, the social impact of the visit was the most important: it had been ‘a life-changing experience‘ for the students from Leith Academy.

Lauren Thow from Portobello High School felt that the trip helped her students to see how the war affected all sides.

Craig Maughan was struck by how the students came face to face with the reality of war when they visited the cemeteries.

Students

Fraser describes the reasons for his school’s visit to Gallipoli, tracing the Leith soldiers who arrived there after a harrowing and tragic journey.

For Cameron, past and present were connected at Gallipoli: for centuries people have fought there, and Turks are close to a war zone again today.

Thomas had travelled abroad before but Gallipoli was a very different experience. He tells us about something he found on the battlefield.

Kian was struck by how many cemeteries and memorials there were, yet there was a personal story behind every soldier’s name.

Before coming to Edinburgh, Joe had lived in America and found the Turkish school more like an American school than a British one.

Aimee was struck by the geography of Gallipoli: the harsh terrain was tougher for the soldiers than the landscape of the Western Front.

Maria was struck by how close together the trenches were. She was also amazed at how well the Turkish students spoke English.