Soldiers who served in the First World War will be remembered tonight in a film made by Dagenham students.
War Story was produced by Year 10 students at Eastbrook Comprehensive School, Dagenham Road, and will be screened at the Broadway Theatre.
The film tells the story of four sons of the Gay family, who owned the Eastbrook End farmhouse, who went off to fight in the war 100 years ago.
It was produced with help from English heritage as part of the Heritage Schools Showcase for the war’s centenary.
The students trailed through archives at Valence House and Dagenham Curch to research the film, and travelled to Ypres in northern France to walk in the soldiers’ footsteps.
They focussed on the lives of Cecil Gay, who survived the war and received the Military Cross for gallantry in the Ypres offensive in 1917, and Frederick Gay, a reconnaissance pilot who was wounded in action and died on the March 25 that year, aged 19.
While in Belgium, the students visited the Flanders Fields museum, the Menin Gate and Tyne Cot in Ypres, and visited Frederick’s grave in Bruay, France, to pay their respects.
Talia Angucho, one of the students who worked on the film, said: “Visiting Belgium after studying war poems in English made it all the more realistic.
“It was quite upsetting visiting the war memorial sites and it makes you feel privileged and value life more as most of the soldiers died very young.”
The film can be viewed on Youtube by searching for War Story Eastbrook School and select the 5 minute version.
Read more:
Remembrance Day: List of services in Barking and Dagenham
Mum of killed Dagenham soldier: I’m glad we’re out of Afghanistan
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