Historical researchers

Year 9 History students participated in the final of a school competition this week, in which they had been challenged to research a person with whom they have a connection from World War One and create a presentation about them.

The four finalists had been chosen as the result of a vote by all of the girls in the History classes and they were asked to present their projects to Librarian, Mrs Harris, English teacher, Miss Maddock and Head of History, Mrs Tinnelly.

The first finalist chose to focus her presentation on her Great Grandfather, Arthur E Overton, who served in WW1 as part of the Westminster Dragoons. He was injured several times, dug trenches, galloped through the trenches on his horse and saw many awful things. He then became a member of the RAF in Egypt, but crashed his plane as a result of a heart attack and was discharged. He missed the army, but not what he had seen and experienced.

The second entrant selected Ernest Brooks, the first professional WW1 photographer, as the person she chose to research. Brooks photographed a large portion of the war and, through his pictures, he told stories that were shared and used both as propaganda and for strategic and military purposes. He was involved in both the Battle of the Somme and Battle of Broodseinde.

The third presentation was all about Valentine Joe Strudwick. During the recent History trip to the World War One Battlefields the finalist had seen his grave, noticed his age and decided to research him. He was a rifleman in WW1 in the 8^th battalion who had gone to war with just six weeks’ training, having enlisted aged just 14 years old. Tragically Valentine died when he was 15. The presentation depicted a typical day in the trenches and included the letter Valentine’s mother had received as notification of his death which led to a consideration of how hard it was for a mother to experience this loss.

The final presenter spoke about her Great-Great-Grandfather, Jon Fleming. She told of how he had walked 85 miles across Ireland to enlist as a gunner, serving from 1915 until the end of the war. The focus of the presentation was on Jon’s involvement in the Battle of the Somme, including the fact that he had rescued a senior officer from No Man’s Land. The presentation included a monologue from the point of view of a young man experiencing fighting in the war and how harsh and unjust it all was.

Many congratulations to Grace J who was selected as the overall winner of the competition for her impressive research and attention to detail.