On parade with Wessex Archaeology

The Blue Skies Level 2 students from the Glenmoor and Winton Academies had a wonderful day on Salisbury Plain. Our host for the day was Wessex Archaeology and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) and we enjoyed activities at the Bedlam Trench. Bedlam Trench was used in WW1 as a training area for soldiers from Australia and New Zealand before they were deployed to the Somme. Richard Osgood, the Chief Archaeologist for the DIO explained about how valuable men with good leadership skills were at the time. The group had the opportunity to try on uniform that would have been worn in 1915.

The students were able to look for old trenches using a modern method called resistivity. Everyone had a go at this and we even discovered where an old trench had been.

We met veterans of more recent conflicts and the group learned how vital teamwork, communication and leadership was in modern warfare. Luckily the weather was beautiful and everyone gained a great deal from the session. Richard Osgood said how great it was that the Blue Skies participants were so enthusiastic and took everything on board.