history pupils from Hassenbrook School, in Stanford-le-Hope, recently returned from the First World War battlefields of Ypres, in Belgium, and the Somme in France.

Anglia Battlefields tour guides accompanied the group to the various sites and cemeteries including the Tyne Cot Cemetery, at Passendaele.

Visits to mine craters, trenches and museums helped the group understand what the soldiers endured nearly 100 years ago.

Pupils felt privileged to take part in the Last Post Ceremony, at the Menin Gate, in Ypres, laying a wreath in remembrance of those who fought and died in the First World War.

Arrangements were also made for Year Nine pupil Charlie Parker to pay his respects to Walter Siewertsen, a distant relative at the Aristocrats Cemetery, in Zonnebeke.