The Poetry Plane programme is suitable for 10-15 year-olds and happens annually.

We are planning 4 drops in July 2026 for the Commemorations of the Battle of the Somme – Lochnagar, Thiepval, Le Quesnoy (liberation by Kiwi Forces in the last week of the War) as before and hope to add a commemoration to the Battle of Le Hamel on 4th July. The Battle Le Hamel was led by Australian Forces who made first use of infantry to support tanks to great advantage and it is also memorable because it was the first battle that American soldiers were deployed in WW1. 

We made 3 drops of poems on 1 July 2025 from a Tiger Moth at the annual commemorations at Lochnagar Crater, Thiepval Memorial and the Kiwi Memorial in Le Quesnoy. Children from more than 60 schools from England, France, Germany, Poland and USA wrote 2400 WW1 poems which were dropped France on 1 July at the Commemorations following on from the year before. More and more schools from around the world are getting involved. The Poem paper is seeded witth poppies, cornflowers and forget-me-nots –  memorial flowers of Britain, Northern Ireland and the Commonwealth, , France and Germany. Once on the ground, the poems self-seeded, or were read and then planted in individual gardens, as homage to our forebears.

We provide links below to a WW1 poem writing-video, a slideshow and lesson plans in English and French and to obtain the special paper seeded with the memorial flowers of Britain, France, and Germany – Poppies, Cornflowers and Forget-Me-Nots.

Once your children have completed their poems, you need to select your top three poems and send these to the Trust at the address below. As well as being flown and dropped at the commemorative sites they will also go into a competition to win one of three decorative WW1 aircraft holograms.

WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust, 3 The Willows, North Warnborough, Hook, Hants, RG29 1DR

Your Children can plant the remaining poems to create their own memorial gardens. Poems for France must reach the Trust by 10 June.

We have interest from schools from New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere. They and any other Country that cannot send seeded paper to Europe can link up with schools in Britain or Europe whose Children will transcribe their poems onto seeded paper for the drops, please contact info@ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk to be put in touch.