Lewis School Pengam Commemorate The Battle Of Mametz Wood
A group of year 10 pupils from Lewis School Pengam will be commemorating the 100th Anniversary of The Battle of Mametz Wood by tweeting a collection of diary entries and poetry on Caerphilly County Borough Councils Twitter account @CaerphillyCBC
Working in partnership with Caerphilly County Borough Council pupils have examined source material including an officer’s diary which charts the developments of the battle between 7 – 12 July. A selection of the emotional entries which tell of gun fire, men going over the slope and the exposed position soldiers found themselves in, will be tweeted exactly 100 years after they were first written, with the hashtag #LSPMametz. Pupils have also had access to a range of artefacts from the school’s History Department including an officer’s whistle and a gun damaged spade, which they have photographed to accompany the tweets.
In 2014 pupils from Lewis School Pengam visited the Mametz Wood Memorial and produced and performed a play at Blackwood Miners’ Institute titled ‘Yesterday Never Returns’ a hard hitting piece that highlights the sacrifice and lasting legacy of war, focusing on the work of ex-pupil Morgan Jones who was a conscientious objector during World War One. Short films of both will be released on the council’s Facebook page to look at the wider work Lewis School has done to commemorate World War One.
Speaking about the project and how Lewis School Pengam is commemorating the First World War year 10 student Jacob Argent said: “There’s always been a big awareness that a lot of boys from our school, as with any school, have fought in wars. We have a plaque with all their names, and there are numerous reminders around the school. With many projects including a play produced in 2014, ‘Yesterday Never Returns’ everybody has always tried to make us remember that people like us, from this school served.”
Spotted something? Got a story? Email News@News.Wales