The School once again paused for our main act of remembrance at our Drumhead Service on Monday 11th November. Thoughtfully choreographed by Mr Williams, our resident military historian, the service took place on the Parade Square outside Top School with the whole School in attendance. The parade was commanded by newly appointed Cadet Sergeant Major Megson, as the whole CCF contingent and the recently revived Scout troop came to attention to mark the national Two-Minutes’ Silence alongside all pupils and staff who had suspended their work to make sure they were part of this important School event.
The Kingham Hill brass ensemble, led by Mr Denton, with piper Mr Jasper, led the music at this sombre commemoration of the 106th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice to end the First World War in 1918.
Mr Williams gave the address, preaching from Revelation 21:1-7, contrasting the beauty of the apostle John’s vision of heaven with the hell-like experience of Passchendaele – widely acknowledged as the worst conditions experienced by British and Commonwealth troops on the Western Front. He told the moving story of Private George Brooks of the 18th Battalion of the Canadian Infantry, who had been a boy in Bradford House before the Great War.
George died on 10th November 1917, killed by the explosion of an enemy shell at a position just outside the village of Passchendaele in Flanders: his body was never found and so he is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres as well as on our Chapel memorial.
We were honoured to have Major Vinet, one of the senior officers of Canadian Armed Forces in the UK, as one of our guests as we underlined the importance of our special historical ties with Canada owing to the number of our boys who emigrated to work on the Founder’s farm at Havelock, just outside Woodstock, Ontario. 19 of the men on the Chapel memorial had fought as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force, having volunteered whilst at Havelock Farm.
We were pleased to welcome back Hillian James Emberson, whose parents were Sheffield Houseparents in their time. He kindly played the Last Post and Reveille to signal the beginning and end of the Two-Minutes’ Silence. The Headmaster then read the names from our Roll of Honour: 64 men from the First World War and 12 from the Second World War. There was something very special in hearing their names reverberating around the Hill, bouncing off the honey-coloured buildings in the milky sunlight of that chilly November morning.
We are rightfully proud of the sacrifice of all those who have gone before us, particularly those ordinary boys who left this Hill never to return again. Through the research of successive Third Forms over the last ten years, it is remarkable that we now know more about these men than we have known for generations. Contrary to the fears of the Founder when he spoke at the dedication of the Chapel memorial in 1922, these men are not “merely names and nothing more” to us, the current generation on the Hill. We are discovering more and more about these men and we celebrate their memory. May we always be grateful to God for their service and sacrifice.
