On Thursday 2 and Friday 3 April, after several weeks of discussions, a collaborative project between the Museum, the Town of Le Quesnoy and the Le Quesnoy–New Zealand Association came to fruition.
This initiative enabled Year 4 and Year 5 students (CE2, CM1 and CM2) from Sainte-Thérèse School, as well as Year 5 students (CM2) from Chevray School, to take part in a day discovering the history of the Liberation of Le Quesnoy.
The day began with a classroom presentation by Jean-Philippe Froment, President of the Association, during which students were introduced to — or deepened their knowledge of — New Zealand. The morning then continued with a guided tour of the Museum led by our Learning and Engagement Officer, Lindsay Vanstavel, exploring the origins of the unique ties between Le Quesnoy and this distant country.
On Friday afternoon, the experience continued with a visit to the extension of Le Quesnoy Communal Cemetery with students from Chevray School, where many foreign soldiers are buried, including fifty New Zealand soldiers. In the presence of representatives from the municipality, their teachers, and David Renaux, conductor of the Gamin-Gamine choir, the students recited poems, sang the New Zealand national anthem, and performed Epo i Tai Tai E, a Māori love song now well known in French schools and community programmes.
This visit also provided an opportunity to explain how Commonwealth cemeteries operate: how to locate a soldier’s grave using the cemetery register, how to recognise New Zealand graves, and how to trace the story of a soldier who fell on 4 November, the day of the Battle of Le Quesnoy.
The visit concluded with a symbolic gesture: the laying of poppies on the graves of New Zealand soldiers. These took the form of poppy-shaped pinwheels made by the students in class, gently turning in the breeze on that beautiful afternoon in Le Quesnoy.
We hope this first edition will be the beginning of a long series of days dedicated to exploring the history of Le Quesnoy and its friendship with New Zealand, in partnership with local schools. Following this visit, discussions with the municipality have highlighted a shared ambition: to create more opportunities for and with children, enabling them to better understand the history of their town, take ownership of it, and in turn become custodians of remembrance.