The Anzac centenary is undoubtedly a popular source of inspiration for classrooms throughout Australia.

However, Damascus College teacher Brendan Bawden and a dozen secondary school students from throughout Victoria furthered their knowledge of World War I on the hills, fields and shores that were once the battleground of the Gallipoli campaign and the Western Front. 

Mr Bawden and students earned their passage as recipients of the Premier’s Spirit of Anzac Award. Between March 28 and April 12, they visited Lemnos in Greece (the site of an Australian-run hospital), Gallipoli, the Somme, Ypres, Villers-Bretonneux and the Menin Gate Memorial.

It was not Mr Bawden’s first trip to the war sites, but he said it was an education for himself as much as it was for the 12 students.

“I think you get to understand the scale of it all and the madness of those in the hierarchy in trying to take ground off the Turks at Gallipoli,” he said.

“When you are actually there and you can see where the snipers were on the hill – it is madness. 

“It also brought home the scale of the loss of life, particularly on the Western Front. Many times more Australians died in France than at Gallipoli and it is a story that is not told as much.” 

The Spirit of Anzac Award is a statewide competition for year nine and 10 students. The 12 winners, among 650 applicants last year, were from 12 different schools (none from Ballarat). However, the 16 runners-up, who will spend three days in Canberra in June, included two year 11 students from Damascus – Brooke Hutchinson and Gian Carroll.

Mr Bawden, meanwhile, was selected from a shortlist of about a dozen teachers. 

“I had to apply as well,” he said. “There were two teacher chaperone positions.”

He said the students were asked to research an Australian soldier – to adopt a Digger – who they chose based on family connections or a local identity. 

“They visited the graves, which was very touching for them and very emotional. They really connected with the people they researched.”