POIGNANT and horrifying stories of the first and second world war were brought into perspective when school children embarked on a history trip abroad.

Pupils at Peterhouse Primary School in Gorleston departed for Normandy, France, on a historical tour revealing the landmarks and battles which shaped one of the darkest eras of European history.

The Year 5 and Year 6 children spent five days visiting the places they had learned about in class including the Caen Memorial, the Juno Beach Centre, Pegasus Bridge and Omaha Beach, one of the D-Day landing sites.

Headteacher Martin Scott took the youngsters on the trip between November 7 and November 11, Remembrance Day.

He said: “The school organised the whole trip. The children were involved in choosing which beaches they wanted to see, which were all linked into the topics they had been studying.

“The parents were not asked to contribute anything towards the trip - except for a �30 museum entry - and the uptake was fantastic.

“It was brilliant because the children wanted to know the history and wanted to see these places. Everywhere we went they received positive comments about their behaviour and people were blown away by their knowledge - they were a real credit to this school.”