THE YPRES TIMES
103
The Third Army Corps.
Mrs. L. K. Briggs.
Hon. Alice Douglas Pennant.
Lady Pulteney.
Sir Charles Harington.
Waterman's Ideal Pen Company.
Cheltenham College.
In conclusion, I would mention how greatly parents, children and teachers appre
ciate the presence of so many distinguished visitors on Prize-day, which they regard
as the red-letter day of the year. It is not only that they see them intimatelybut
the fact that they have crossed the Channel for the specific purpose of attending the
function proves that they take an active interest in the welfare of the school and all
that pertains to it.
H.B.
Readers of this magazine will, I feel sure, be interested to read of further accounts
of Battlefield Tours carried out by certain units of the 56th (1st London) Division, T.A.
during the training year,
Incidently we are again much indebted to the good offices cf the Ypres League
for their ready assistance in making all the necessary travelling arrangements, accommo
dation and transport over the battlefields.
Tours of this kind are becoming more and more popular as time passes onsome may
ask themselveswhv are they called "Instructional"? Are they not more in the nature
of "JOY RIDES"?
Well, perhaps, an explanation and a brief account of what is actually done may not be
out of place.
Firstly, the object of these tours
It is now twenty years ago since our grand little army first embarked on the soil of
France, and in consequence every opportunity should be taken to pass on some of the
lessons to the new generation of officerssome of whom were only just born when the
mighty struggle began. New weapons of war have since appeared, modern armaments
have changed many of our ideas of warfare of the future, still the fact remainsThe
principles of war stand unaltered; hence the value of study.
A battlefield tour entails a mass of work in preparation, both for the directors and
to those who partake in it. Tours are initiated in this way
Particular battles or incidents are chosen for study; the next step is to scrutinise all
the relevant and Official History connected with the event, combined when possible, with
personal experiences of officers who were present, to supplement the detail and to add the
touch of local colour.
When the Directing Staff is satisfied that every point of detail is known and thrashed
out, the next step is to pass the complete story to those partaking in the tour.
This is done either in the form of lectures, or exercises, or both.
With all this preliminary work completed, the tour begins, all fully conversant
with what they are about to see.
