GWENT Archives visited Abersychan School as part of the First World War commemorations.

The History Department at Abersychan School has been committed to commemorating the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War.

Following on from the school's battlefields tour of Ypres and the Somme at Easter, Gwent Archives visited the school on Monday to spend time working with the Year 9 pupils as well as Year ten and 11 GCSE History pupils to put the First World War into a local context.

The exhibition told the story of the Frist World War through the eyes of the people of Gwent.

The pupils were intrigued to learn about Belgian refugees being housed in Blaenavon, the fact that the first soldier to be killed after the Christmas truce of 1914 was Ernest Palfrey from Abersychan and the Pontypool Potato Riot of 1918 also piqued the pupils’ interest.

The archive also brought specific documents pertaining to Abersychan. Pupils were able to see photographs of Egbert the tank visiting Abersychan in 1918 to raise money for the war effort – local pupils had indeed raised £3 in order to see the tank.

The archive also brought a series of letters from William O’Brien, a soldier from Abersychan who died in France in August 1914, to his sweetheart, Rose, who was back home in Abersychan.

Lewis Hancock in Year 11 and Naomi James in Year 9 highlighted the importance of allowing pupils to engage with local History when both were able to locate their Great Great Grandfather on regimental photographs.