Bellerive Pays Its Respects

Students and staff from Bellerive FCJ Catholic College visited the World War One battlefields and cemeteries of France and Belgium during a recent trip
Mr McVeigh, head of histroy picks said: “We left Bellerive on saturday 28 June at 6am, arriving at our hotel in Ypres in the early evening. We spent Sunday visiting sites in Northern France.
“The girls were particularly taken with the Thiepval memorial, listing the names of over 50,000 soldiers missing as a result of the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
“We got a great insight into the harsh realities of trench warfare when we visited the excavated trenches at Vimy Ridge where thousands of Canadian soldiers perished.
“We also visited several museums near Ypres and laid a wreath at Tyne Cot cemetery, where over 11,000 soldiers are buried with over 60% of the identities of the soldiers in the graves unknown.
“We conducted a brief service and offered up our prayers for all the dead of all wars. As ever, our students were excellent ambassadors for Bellerive and the FCJ values.”