Year 7 & 8 students from Brooklands School had the opportunity to attend a residential trip to Northern France on the Cote du Opal.
During the four-day trip students visited a chocolatier, a bakery and a snail farm where all tried snail pate and escargot cooked in garlic.
During the trip they went to visit the Military Cemetery at Etaples, which is the largest in Europe.
Prior to the visit to France, one student, Tom Scanlon,researched the names of the deceased soldiers in the cemetery.
Tom is in the St John’s Ambulance Cadets and visited the war memorial in Church Square, Leighton Buzzard, to obtain the names of the fallen in World War One.
Tom then went online to see if any of these soldiers had been buried at Etaples.
There were two soldiers buried there and Tom decided to research the history on Private W Toms and also handmade a cross to be placed at the headstone of this soldier during the visit.
Tom found out that Private Toms was aged 34 and was the husband of S J Cowley (formerly Toms) from North Street in Leighton Buzzard.
Private Toms had also been awarded the Victory Medal and British War Medal.
When the school arrived at the cemetery the staff and students went to Private Toms’ grave for Tom to lay his cross. The students found the cemetery a very moving a reflective place to be.
Headteacher Steve Harrington-Williams, who also attended the residential, said: “The students we took to the cemetery showed the upmost respect and regard for those that were buried there and reflected on how these people, many of them not much older than the students, had fought for their country and lost their lives.
“Tom has certainly shown that young people can be thoughtful and respectful and his research into the soldiers’ history is to be commended.”