ARMISTICE PRIZE
One of the objectives of the Western Front Association (WFA) is to educate the public in the history of the Great War with particular reference to the Western Front. At a national level in the WFA, branches (of whom the North Lancashire branch is one) have been encouraged to engage with schools to promote interest and knowledge of the Great War.
The Armistice Prize was introduced by the North Lancashire Branch of the WFA to mark the 90th Anniversary of the Armistice in 2008 and in the first three years the Prize has been awarded as follows:
2008: Poem from St Cecilia’s, Longridge.
2009: Soldier’s Diary from Bispham High School.
2010: Poem from St Cecilia’s, Longridge.
2011
There has been a welcome increase in entrants for the 2011 Armistice Prize with three schools putting forward a total of 18 entrants. Many of the submissions were poems but others included prose text, diaries, a painting, drawing and a wooden model.
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The winning entry is from Stacie Byers and comprises two diaries. At home Poppy writes of her father somewhere in France whilst Dad (Jim) writes of his feelings in France and the news from home. For her work Stacie has won £100 and a book (H.P.Willmott's "WORLD WAR 1"). Her school, St Cecilia’s Roman Catholic Technology College, Longridge will also hold the Armistice Prize Trophy for the coming year.
To give a flavour of Stacie’s work here are the last diary entries of her father Jim in France and Poppy at home:
JIM: 27th April 1915
Dear Diary,
I have to write this quickly as I have just been told that me and 5 other soldiers in my trench have to crawl out into No Man’s Land, find a crater made by a bomb, and wait all day, watching for movement in the enemies trench. As soon as we see anything, a light or movement … we shoot. With no hesitation. I am not a man who can kill easily. I have never killed a man in my life, and I hope I don’t have to. I don’t belong in this place. I belong with my wife and daughter, at home with each other. And I will get there, no matter what it takes. I love them.
I will write when I get back.
POPPY: 28th April 1915
Dear Diary,
Something scary has happened to mummy. A telegram came this morning, and the second she opened it she collapsed onto her knees, sobbing so loud it sounded like she was in pain. I asked her if she was ok, but she just replied with more floods of tears. I retreated to my room, and when I came out after an hour, she was curled up on the sofa, a photo of daddy pressed to her heart. It was wet with tears, and so were her cheeks. She was sleeping gently. I’ve come back to my room again but I am very frightened, so I’m going to sneak out and look at the telegram.
Love Poppy xx
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This is my daddy, Jim Walters. He died on 27th April 1915 fighting in the British Army. He was a hero and very brave. I love him to the moon and back, and always will.
R.I.P. daddy
2012
Following interest from a number of History Advanced Skills Teachers (ASTs) in the prize it is hoped that more schools who undertake course work relating to the First World War will enter the competition in 2012.
As mentioned earlier the WFA is keen to encourage schools to include aspects of the First World War in their teaching and has developed resources for use of schools for this purpose. For more information please visit: www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-for-schools.
For 2012 the first prize will again be £100 plus book and there will be three area prizes (North & West: Blackpool, Fylde, Lancaster, Preston and part of Cumbria; Central & South: Chorley, Preston, South Ribble, West Lancashire; East: Blackburn, Burnley, Pendle, Rossendale, Ribble Valley and Hyndburn) of £25 plus book. The school of the winning pupil would also hold for one year the Armistice Prize trophy.
Submission of Entries:
- Entries can take the form of poems, essays, news articles, artwork, reports of visits, drama, videos and others from eligible pupils.
- Eligible pupils should normally be in years 9 and 10 but submissions can be from pupils in other year groups if the school feels the entry to be particularly worthy.
- Entries should be sent by the Head of History, or equivalent to competition@wfanlancs.co.uk. If it is not possible to email the submission because of its nature, then details of the submission should be described and arrangements will be made for it to be considered.
- Entries can be made at any time up to the closing date of 1st August 2012.
Marking
As for previous competitions each entry will be awarded 20 marks for the following:
- Content
- Structure
- Presentation
- Reasoning/understanding and
- Grammar/diction
giving a total potential mark for each entry of 100
This should fairly cover the vast majority of submission types mentioned above. However special consideration may be necessary for a submission that is entirely artwork or for any other submissions that do not lend themselves to the marking scheme envisaged.
Details of the winning entries will be made available to the press so that they can consider using them to help mark the anniversary of the Armistice.
As mentioned above it is hoped that the 2012 Armistice Prize competition is of interest to more schools and we look forward to receiving entries.
Any queries can be sent to the email address above or contact Terry Dean (Tel: 01772 864182 or Mob: 07866 493210).