The Poetry Plane 2025 – The Plan, Thiepval

The Poetry Plane is about Remembrance – Lest We Forget.

Children from around the World will be writing poems in recognition of the sacrifice of the Great War, The poem papers will be seeded with  Memorial Flowers – the Poppy, the Cornflower and the Forget-Me-Not. We will be making 3 drops of poems written by children from around the World on 1 July 2025 at the Great War Somme Commemorations at Lochnagar Crater and Thiepval Memorial and at the Kiwi Memorial in Le Quesnoy.  We also hope to drop poems at the Remembrance Service at the UK National Memorial Arboretum on 9 November 2025. I will be explaining the Plan, the Planes, the People and your Part in the Programme over the next 3 months. 

Help us build a network to pass the word on. We seek to make the Poetry Plane an annual global act of Remembrance.

Where ever you are in the World, you have a part to play – pass the details of the Poetry Plane on or get involved. To School Teachers particularly, this programme is massively popular with children. You can get guidance, lesson plans, and poem paper at the links below.  If you have a question, contact

 info@ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk. 

The Plan, Thiepval

The Memorial to the Missing at Thiepval is an Anglo French Monument to those who died at the Battle of the Somme. The French launched their own offensive to the south of the River Somme at the same time. There are over 72000 names of the missing from Britain and South Africa inscribed on the lower supports of the monument.  Those missing in the Battle from Australia, New Zealand and Canada are recorded in their own National Memorials. The Thiepval Memorial which towers over the surrounding Somme landscape was designed by Edward Lutyens and built 1928-1932. It took some time to come into being as there was considerable debate about the scale of structure needed to reflect the enormity of the sacrifice.

The first day of the Battle was a disaster with over 56000 dead, wounded and missing – a figure that seems unbelievable today.  It was preceded by a 7-day artillery bombardment expected to clear paths through the minefields and wire obstacles and destroy the enemy in their trenches.  It did not work and merely signalled the allied intent so the Germans were forewarned.  It churned up the ground and did not remove the wire obstacles as expected. The result was the enormous loss of life on the first day. The Germans tenaciously held on to Thiepval, the first day objective, for 3 months till the end of September 1916. As winter approached, the Germans retreated to the newly prepared Hindenburg Line but there was more fighting over the Somme Battlefields when the Germans launched their Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. The names on the Memorial include those who died at the Somme up to this date.

Want to know more? Want to join in?

https://ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk/index.php/ww1-poetry-registration/

Buy Poem Paper?

https://roamwildproducts.co.uk/collections/seeded-paper/products/roamwild-seeded-paper

Download Lesson Plan, Video and Slideshow?

https://ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk/index.php/poetry-temporary-landing-page/

Help us fund the project.

https://wwoneaviationheritage.enthuse.com/cf/the-poetry-plane