ANZAC Tour Report

Nikita Papastamatis from Year 10 won the NSW Premier's Scholarship to accompany the Centennial Memorial Tour of the Western Front in France during WWI.  Below is Nikita's report from this significant recognition of our servicemen and women one hundred years ago.  Congratulations to Nikita on an outstanding report.

Mr J Counai - Principal

After Tour Report:  Nikita Papastamatis

An experience of a lifetime. This is the only way to sum up a scholarship like this. It is hard to imagine that the lush country side with rolling hills and wheat fields were a war zone in which hundreds upon thousands of men and women lost their lives for their country. The tour on the whole was an amazing once in a life time experience which I will remember for the rest of my life. Some of the highlights of the tour are down below.

Lest we forget. These three words will echo in my head for life. Visiting the Commonwealth War Cemeteries was a definite highlight. To see the mass amount of people who chose to fight for their country and never made it back was truly emotional. For each headstone that was in the cemetery there was also a story that went with it which made the experience all the more personal. Before the tour each scholar was required to do research on a person from the First World War and hearing the stories of courage, mateship and sacrifice practically brought these men and women back to life though our words and commemoration.

To be able to visit the places where exactly 100 years ago thousands of people lost their lives is an amazing honour. The Battles of Fromelles and Pozieres took place on the Western Front and were one of the most costly battles for the Australian Imperial Force. C.E.W Bean, the Official Australian War Correspondent of World War 1, describes these locations as being ‘more densely sown with Australian sacrifice than any other spot on earth.’ This makes it all the more of a privilege to visit these sites and pay respects to those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom that we have today.

The whole idea of the tour was to follow in the footsteps of the ANZAC’s and through this have a better understanding of the war. Another way we did this was the “Life at the Front” program which allowed all the scholars to dress up into full Australian World War 1 kit and experience a day in the life of a solider. This made us truly realise what life as a solider was. Heavy clothing, kit and rifle combined with running, ducking and crawling really gave us all the feel of what it must have been like, but you could never replicate what the real soldiers of 1914-1916 experienced.

This scholarship was an amazing experience for me as a person. To see what we learn at school first hand is something I will remember for the rest of my life. The 23 other students who came with me made the experience all the more better and I am now moving forward with new friendships, a deeper and more empathetic view of war and a heap of new information about World War 1.