Tag: remembrance day

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Remembrance – Annamarie Vickers-Skidmore

Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres

With Remembrance day now less than a month away, on such a poignant year, the sacrifice of World War One is highly present on all of our minds.

We’ve recently received a phone call from a customer of ours thanking us for listing one of her ancestors names on page 14 of our Battlefields brochure. The name, Mr E. Payne, is etched into a panel at the Menin gate and you can see the picture on the right hand panel of the brochure. You can view the brochure here.
A member of our reservations team, Annamarie, was so humbled by the call and that one name was recognised out of so many, that she was inspired to write the following poem of remembrance.

Remembrance.

Thousands of names,
Carved into the wall,
On Armistice Day,
We remember their fall.
 
The young and the old,
A battlefield of hate,
The bugles will play,
To honour their fate.
 
Names embedded,
Their graves unknown,
Fighting for our country,
Feeling so alone.
 
Their legacy lives on,
As their ancestor’s wait,
Heads bowed in respect,
At the foot of Menin Gate.

We would like to thank Annamarie for sharing this beautiful poem with us and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
We are forever being impressed by these displays of talent from customers and staff alike, if you have something you’d like to share, email us at social@leger.co.uk.
 

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Road to Remembrance for UK Youngsters

It’s been a hot topic in and around Leger Holidays HQ. As battlefield touring specialists, we were delighted to hear that around £50 million has been set aside to mark the WW1 Centenary across the UK. Having toured with thousands of Brits over the last 30 years, we know that this moment in history is as close to the nation’s heart now as it ever has been.

Remembrance Day and the sea of red poppies displayed on lapels across the country demonstrate that better than anything.

We’ve seen first-hand the impact that battlefields and memorials, so steeped in history and sacrifice, can have on a person. And, whether it’s a personal pilgrimage or an educational expedition, we’re not sure there’s anything quite as powerful as taking a trip back in time with a battlefield tour.
We’ve seen customers respond in all manner of ways to a battlefield tour. One thing you can be sure of, however, is that they will walk away with a deeper understanding of our history and a greater appreciation for those that lived through the wars.
For those of us who are slightly more mature (ahem), we may well have heard tales passed down through our families that help to make the wars feel more relevant, or personal, or just bring home that these were real. But, with each generation, those stories become fewer and farther between.
On the initiative, Paul Reed – head specialist battlefield guide – said: “I’m delighted about the government’s promise to help the next generation learn about the Great War by experiencing the awe of visiting the battlefields for themselves.
“Learning about our ancestors in the classroom or through a text book is essential, but to bring history to life there needs to be another dimension to that study, so that students really grasp what the past was all about.
“During my 15 years at Leger it has been amazing to see how great an impact the experience can be; iPads and state of the art graphics all have their place, but when it comes to real interactive learning, nothing beats walking the ground where these battles took place, guided by someone who can help you appreciate what it was like to be an ordinary person in extraordinary times.”
All of us at Leger can’t wait to see how this initiative unfolds.
For more information about our battlefield holidays visit our website