Following soldier's footsteps

A trio of Lutterworth High School students, Charlotte Henderson, Charlotte Mitchell and Jaya Kang, have written about their trip to Europe to visit some First World War battlefields and about their research into a fallen soldier from our area.
By The Newsroom
Published 16th Jan 2017, 13:31 BST
Updated 16th Jan 2017, 13:32 BST

“Last term, the three of us and our history teacher Mr Snowden went on a battlefield tour. The trip was funded by the Department of Education and we visited a range of battlefields, memorials and museums. One of the highlights of the trip was Charlotte having the honour to present a wreath during the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate. Charlotte’s fondest memory was our visit to the Memorial Museum Passchendaele where we had the opportunity to explore a reconstructed trench system. It is Jaya’s opinion that the most enjoyable experience was being able to contribute to a commemoration project which allowed us to create personalised clay sculptures. On the whole, the visit was very thought-provoking and it enabled us to experience a once-in-a-lifetime trip.

As part of the trip, we researched a local soldier who was killed in action on July 30, 1915. The soldier who was the focus of our research was Frederick Ernest Marriott who originally lived in Cotesbach Hall before he joining the war effort. Following our return to Lutterworth we continued our studies into Frederick. For this research we contacted Cotesbach Hall which has recently opened its own archive. We spent the morning having a tour around Cotesbach Hall led by the owner, Sophy Newton. Following the tour, we delved into the archives about the Marriott family. We were able to find a very interesting range of sources including artefacts like diary entries, letters and school reports. After analysing the sources we discovered, we produced a presentation which was shown to a local history group as well as our fellow students on Remembrance Day. The aim of this research was to contribute to the Legacy 110 project. The aim of ‘Legacy 110’ is for every participating student to create an enduring legacy by impacting upon at least 110 people within their local community. If they achieve this then the total number of people reached by 2019 will be 888,246, equivalent to the number of British and Commonwealth soldiers who fell during the First World War.

Related topics:Europe