A new plaque to commemorate former Fenland pupils who died in the First World War was presented by the Neale-Wade Association on a trip to Ypres.

Cambs Times: New plaque to commemorate former Neale-Wade pupils on Ypres trip. Picture: CHRISTINE THORPE.New plaque to commemorate former Neale-Wade pupils on Ypres trip. Picture: CHRISTINE THORPE. (Image: Archant)

Members of the group, which is celebrating its centenary this year, travelled to Belgium on March 17 to attend a moving service in St George’s Memorial Church.

On the day, a new school plaque to commemorate all former students was presented by the association and dedicated.

The church was built as a memorial to the tens of thousands of British Empire troops who lost their lives within the Ypres Salient battlefields.

Many former students of Neale-Wade visited St George’s on Battlefield Study Tours undertaken by the school.

Cambs Times: New plaque to commemorate former Neale-Wade pupils on Ypres trip. Picture: CHRISTINE THORPE.New plaque to commemorate former Neale-Wade pupils on Ypres trip. Picture: CHRISTINE THORPE. (Image: Archant)

During the trip, association members also visited the graves of former pupils and laid poppies of remembrance.

St Wendreda’s Church in March also kindly welcomed the installation of a similar plaque which will be dedicated later this year.

The Neale-Wade Association was formed in 1919 as March Grammar School Old Boys’ to raise funds for a school memorial plaque to commemorate those who had died in the Great War.

The plaque now hangs in Hewitt Hall in the Neale-Wade Academy alongside a further plaque recording the names of former students killed in subsequent conflicts.

The group welcomes former students from March Grammar School, Neale-Wade and March High School to their centenary reunion programme of events.

Readers can find out more by visiting the website at www.nealewade.org