2018

Art Competition at Brune Park School, Gosport

The Trustees decided to utilise funds left over from the centenary to support a Hampshire school on a tour of Gallipoli. Brune Park School in Gosport was chosen. It was decided to select the students by holding an art competition amongst Year 9 students. Ten winners would get a place a five day visit to the peninsula, the following year. An artist in residence, funded by the GA, supported the students. The competition attracted a great deal of interest and the quality of entries was very impressive. The exhibition evening was one of the best attended parents events ever.

Some of the art work at Brune Park

Teaching at Bristnall Hall Academy

I taught a number of lessons on Gallipoli at Bristnall Hall Academy, Oldbury, West Midlands, using materials adapted from the GA website but with a focus on the 9th Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. The lessons went very well and the behaviour of the students was excellent. They were very interested in the Gallipoli campaign. 180 pupils were involved and all took material home to engage with their parents. At the end, students were asked why we should remember Gallipoli. Here are some of their responses:

“Many, many soldiers died in battle there, yet they are often forgotten about because not many people know much about the campaign.” (Kate)

“It is important to honour the soldiers who fought in the campaign and to show that even if it was a hundred years ago we wouldn’t be where we are today without it happening.” (Keely)

“It shows that Britain and her Allies were not unbeatable but only human.” (Adam)

“Many men died so our lives can be as carefree and safe as they are today. Remembering them is a way of honouring them and thanking them for their heroic services.” (Harvey)

“It shows how a lack of planning and good strategy can change a war.” (Arjan)

Year 9 students studying the medals of a soldier killed in Gallipoli.

2019

The 29th Division Memorial project

As part of this project I spent a day with Year 6 at the nearby Knightlow School, planning “mini memorials” to remember the 29th Division V.C winners. They also wrote poems about Gallipoli. The attitude of the pupils were excellent and they were particularly interested in the background to the monument, which was so close to their school. The poems were judged by the Trustees. They chose the following to be printed on the new information board at the memorial. Interestingly the school secretary’s great uncle was killed in the campaign.

Knightlow pupils hard at work

By Jessica Scuffle and Sophie Gambling

Krithia, a violent place,
Will we survive the dark and hate?
Too hot, too cold, can never decide,
Our boredom, all feelings are kicked to the side.

With No-Man’s Land flashing red,
Wire, wood, earth and mud all we have left.
Krithia,
Will you let us live?

Kingshurst Academy History Club

The GA has good relations with the History Department at Kingshurst Academy in East Birmingham. The Academy also has an outdoor education centre that also includes a replica World War One trench. Two volunteers, David Vaux and Paul Jaques, who have been great supporters of my work, created this. They also assist with the weekly History Club. I did two sessions with at the club, one on 2nd Lt. George Dallas Moore the V.C. and the other on the Quintinshill railway disaster. The attitude of the students was excellent.

Members of the Kingshurst History Club in discussion.

The Warwickshire Project

This was a follow on from the Gallipoli Day in Warwick, involving the Warwickshire Yeomanry Museum and the Fusiliers Museum. I produced teaching material based on original documents and photographs provided by the Curator (a Gallipoli enthusiast). The students had to engage in historical detective work and make conclusions about the evidence I provided. The attitude of the students was excellent. Six volunteers were later involved in a Skype meeting with the Curator, which involved a virtual tour of the Museum. The six have also produced an audio clip.

Bristnall Hall students working on their script.

Cadet Tour of Gallipoli

The GA is committed to supporting groups of young people on tours of the Gallipoli battlefields. One of our members, John White, organised a five day tour of the peninsula in September 2018. Stephen Chambers, our historian, accompanied the tour. It was a great success. Two of the cadets came to the GA AGM to talk about their experiences. They conducted themselves very well.

The cadets wait to cross from one continent to another.

One of the cadets later wrote:

We certainly enjoyed some good Turkish cuisine and some vibrant life in Çanakkale. We had some great views despite the generally overcast weather as we daily crossed over to the peninsula and back. We realised how important Gallipoli has become to the modern Turkish state in recognising this campaign as a significant Turkish and Muslim victory. We saw a good number of coaches with Turkish nationals visiting the battlefield. We also learnt about how the campaign brought Mustafa Kemal to prominence with him becoming Atatürk, the first President of modern Turkey from 1923.

We are very grateful for this tour and the opportunity to visit and learn about something which we really didn’t know anything about before we went.

Project with Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum

The GA was delighted to be involved in a project with the Royal Hampshire Regiment in Winchester. This has a very good collection on Gallipoli, including the very famous painting of the River Clyde. One of their volunteers, Kayte West, organised teo days of activities involving a local school, South Woonston Pimary. They came to the musuem and did a range of actitvies based on the landings of April 25th. The pupils behaved brillaintly. One of the activites was to study biographies of soldiers and write about them. Their writing was included in a booklet which is now avaialble in the museum.The activities led to the production of a commemorative picture based on a collage. Their parents and other members of the community were invited to the unveiling of the picture, which is now displayed permanently in the musuem. Kayte then repeated the activity with a locla scout group.

The pupils study the painting.

The pupils get ready to re-enact the landing in the garden of the Museum, led by Kayte.

The scouts working hard.

The unveiling of the picture.

Brune Park School Tour 2019

The students who produced the best artwork were given subsidised places on a tour of the peninsula. As usual, we used the excellent services of Battle Honours Tours. Stephen Chambers, the GA historian, and Ian Binnie, the Education Co-ordinator, accompanied the tour. It was a great success. The behaviour and attitude of the students was outstanding. The students attended AGM three months later and made a presentation about their experiences. This was in conjunction with a visit to the Imperial War Museum. To quote the teacher in charge, Tom Andrew:

“In 25 years of teaching it was the most enlightening and deeply joyful experience I have ever had … The impact on the students - all of them - has been profound … an unbelievable life affirming experience”.

The Brune Park party.

Students place poppies in Green Hill Cemetery.

2020 – Lockdown

An on-line lesson

As we entered lockdown, I was asked to produce a short on-line lesson on the Gallipoli campaign. This was the first time I had done anything like this. The result can be seen on our YouTube channel. It has been viewed over 250 times.

Dedication of the information boards, Monument Island, Stretton

The poem Krithia, written by Jessica Scuffle and Sophie Gambling, was printed on the new information board for the 29th Division Monument. This was dedicated at a special, socially distancing, get together of six people. This included Jessica and Sophie, with their parents watching proudly from afar. Below is an excerpt from the press release.

It was both an honour and pleasure to be involved in the recent event to dedicate the new information board explaining the importance of the 29th Division memorial. It was a small informal ceremony due to Covid 19 restrictions but it was most appropriate to have both Cllr. Bill Lewis, Mayor of Rugby and Mr. Mark Pawsey, MP for Rugby, in attendance. The two students from Knightlow Church of England Primary School, who wrote the most poem "Krithia", which is included on the board also joined us.

Our thanks go to Lucy Hawker of Dunsmore Living Landscape for co-ordinating this project so well.

The new information board at the memorial.

2021

An online Gallipoli/ANZAC day dedication

As it was, understandably, difficult to get into schools I was asked to produce some on line material to help schools commemorate Gallipoli/ANZAC Day. The result can be seen on our YouTube Channel. It has been viewed over 300 times.

2022 – Normality!

Henley Green primary school, Coventry

Using the good offices of an organisation called Artists in Schools, I commissioned an artist to work with students on a Gallipoli themed piece of artwork. The artist, Heidi, spent two days with two Year 5 classes designing and producing felt banners about Gallipoli. Henley Green is an excellent school serving an area of Coventry with many challenges. I spent time with the classes teaching them about the campaign. The two days went very well. The students were very well behaved and showed a real interest in the campaign.

Heidi in action

The EC at Henley Green School