The children at an English school who look after Newfoundland war graves make a journey of discovery across the Atlantic.

Students at the home of Silas Edgecombe in Ochre Pit Cove. (Paul Daly for CBC)

In March 1915, 22-year-old Silas Edgecombe  enlisted in the Newfoundland Regiment to fight in the First World War. A little over a year later, he was seriously wounded in battle at Beaumont-Hamel, in France. Shipped back across the English Channel for treatment, Pte. Edgecombe died in the 3rd London General Hospital on July 11, 1916. He was buried nearby, in Wandsworth Cemetery.

This picture of Silas Edgecombe appears in the Roll of Honour of the Methodist Church
in Ochre Pit Cove. It depicts people from the community who served in the First World War.
 (Paul Daly for CBC)

On Magdelan Road in London, right across from that cemetery, sits Beatrix Potter School, where for the last 15 years students have made it a mission to care for the graves of the 18 Royal Newfoundland Regiment soldiers who are buried there. Students from the school visited Newfoundland as the culmination of a school project that has touched hearts on both sides of the Atlantic. It's a truly heartwarming story.


Read about their journey here. There is also an audio documentary.