AN EMOTIONAL trip to the First World War Battlefields brought history to life for a class of GCSE students.

The Humanities trip saw the students from Haslingden High School visit battlefields, cemeteries and craters and hear a playing of Last Post and a wreath laying ceremony at Menin Gate.

Neve Harris-Summers, 14, said: “We went to a lot of graveyards where the gravestones were all lined up so neatly and there were so many that did not have names on. "Sometimes they knew the regiment but other times it just said it was a grave of an ‘unknown soldier’.

“I found a member of my family listed on Menin Gate. I have always felt emotional when thinking about the First World War and through studying GCSE history I have learnt about it."

Eva Saunders, 14, said: “I thought it would be useful to know first hand what it was like and it was very sad to see how many graves there were. They gave their lives for the future of our country and they were really brave.”

The tour took the students to Tyne Cot Cemetery, Langemark Cemetery, the Lochnaghar Crater, the Accrington Pals memorial at Sheffield Park, the trenches at Hooge Crater and to Essex Farm.