‘I wish those people who write so glibly about this being a holy War, and the orators who talk so much about going on no matter how long the War lasts and what it may mean, could see a case – to say nothing of 10 cases – of mustard gas in its early stages – could see the poor things burnt and blistered all over with great mustard-coloured suppurating blisters, with blind eyes – all sticky and stuck together, and always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke.‘

Vera Brittain lost her brother, her fiancé, and several friends in the 1st World War, and the record she has left of those terrible years makes for very stark reading.

As we prepare to mark the centenary of the end of that War, we remember with pride and gratitude those who went to fight and those whose lives were so terribly damaged.

Truly, 100 years later, we should be able to say: Never Again.

With barely a month to go until Remembrance Sunday, and the centenary of the end of the war to end all wars, we hope your pupils will benefit from the resource pack we have put together, with lessons for English, History and Religious Studies. Designed to be used alongside our new anthology, Never Again, pupils should be able to deepen their understanding of the terrible events of the 1st World War and form their own views as to why we have still failed to stamp war out of our lives.

For details of how you can put Never Again at the heart of your school’s commemoration of the centenary of the end of the Great War, including details of how you can order class sets please contact us at info@gresham-books.co.uk or visit the Never Again webpage CLICK HERE