Two students from University Academy Holbeach – Charlotte Bycroft (Year 13) and Eleanor Palmer (Year 11) – were part of a tour of World War One battlefields.
As part of their follow-up work, they have taken part in Legacy 110 – an initiative which encourages students from the tour to deliver a community-based First World War project to spread the word.
This is Charlotte and Eleanor’s account:
With Britain deep in the commemorations for the centenary of WWI, we were privileged to have the chance to visit the Somme and Flanders earlier this year.
We are two pupils from University Academy Holbeach, both studying history as part of our curriculum. The trip to France and Belgium is a government funded project that allows two students and a teacher from each school across the UK to visit the WWI battlefields. We both saw this opportunity as a once in a lifetime experience and were proudly able to represent our school and local community in remembering those who fought and died during WWI.
While on the trip we were given the chance to research soldiers from our local area. It was during this time that we found Private Felix William Hilliam, of the Royal Fusiliers. He lived in Holbeach at 18 Fishpond Lane and his death is commemorated in Holbeach church.
After completing further research, we discovered that Felix William Hilliam was killed in action on the 9th October, 1917, aged only 20. He is also commemorated at the Tyne Cott memorial in Belgium. We visited this memorial and cemetery site in person and found Private Felix William Hilliam’s name.
We were privileged to be able to leave a cross in his remembrance, and as a mark of respect. We later discovered that it is likely that Felix would have fought and possibly died in the Battle of Poelcappelle which was raging through Ypres on the day of his death.
The battle involved both Australian and British troops who fought in terrible conditions against the Germans and were subject to heavy machine gun fire which claimed many thousands of lives and injured thousands more. The troops withdrew at around midday due to the heavy German fire. We do not know for certain if this is the battle that Felix William Hilliam died during, but it is quite possible that it was.
The Great War carries so many millions of individual stories, just like Felix’s, each one slightly different from the next. This is why remembering such an event is vital to keep these stories alive and not let them or WW1 ever be forgotten.
