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Queen Elizabeth’s School commemorated Elizabethans who gave their lives in conflicts in traditional fashion, while pupils and staff deepened their knowledge of QE’s wartime history through a special Remembrance quiz.

The QE Combined Cadet Force took their places in the Remembrance Sunday parade and service in High Barnet, and then also played a leading role in the Armistice Day event at the School yesterday.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The Armistice Day ceremony here is an important opportunity for today’s young Elizabethans to honour forebears who made the ultimate sacrifice in the two world wars and other conflicts. This year’s quiz creatively reinforced that aim by teaching pupils interesting facts about what war meant, both generally and for QE Barnet in particular.

“I am, of course, very grateful to the members of our CCF who represented the School so effectively in the civic Remembrance Sunday parade.”

The CCF set off from – and returned to – 240 (Barnet) Transport Squadron RLC on St Albans Road. The service took place at St John the Baptist Church and at the Chipping Barnet war memorial outside the parish church.

The ceremony at QE took place as in previous years in the ‘Crush Hall’ in the Main Building at 11am. The poem, In Flanders Fields, was read, the Last Post played, and wreaths were laid at the School’s war memorial. A two-minute silence was observed across the School.

The Remembrance Day quiz, compiled by Enrichment tutor and Mathematics teacher Nadeem Kydd, was made available to form groups over the past few days. Many staff participated.

Form tutors were encouraged to use the 17-question, multiple-choice quiz as a springboard for discussions about the significance of the Armistice Day events and QE’s history during the world wars.

Here are some of the questions. (Answers are at the bottom).

1. During World War I, QE pupils who won prizes were given money. But what did most choose to do with their money?
2. Where were soldiers’ horses kept during World War I?
3. In 1637, plans to unite QE with which school were shelved because of increasing political uncertainty in the run-up to the English Civil War?
4. Why were loudspeakers at Founder’s Day originally installed?
5. A memorial to Commonwealth soldiers, including those from the Indian sub-continent, Africa, Nepal, and the Caribbean, can be found where in London?

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Answers

1. Donate it to refugees
2. The School playground
3. Merchant Taylors’
4. To warn of bombing raids
5. Constitution Hill

Click on the thumbnails to view the images.

Queen Elizabeth’s School remembered its war dead in traditional fashion with a wreath-laying ceremony, the 11am two-minutes silence, and the participation of the Combined Cadet Force in the High Barnet Remembrance Sunday parade.

But this year has also seen some of the youngest boys wax lyrical in a poetry competition, one Old Elizabethan publish a novel based on the experiences of a soldier in the two world wars, and hundreds of pupils and staff take part in a Remembrance Day quiz.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We reflected with gratitude on those whose service in sacrifice in the two world wars and other conflicts paved the way for the peace and freedom we enjoy today, while also being mindful that wars are raging today in various places around the world, with all the horrors that that entails.”

At the School, the Armistice Day wreath-laying took place at the memorial to Elizabethans lost in the First World War. The CCF led the proceedings, with the Last Post and Reveille played by Year 13 trumpeter Joel Swedensky.

The School observed the national silence, with a silence also held before each of the weekend’s rugby fixtures.

On Sunday, the parade took the CCF members from the Army Reserve Centre on St Albans Road to the parish church. After the church service, Last Post and a wreath-laying ceremony, the boys joined in the march-past, with the Representative Deputy Lieutenant of the London Borough of Barnet, Martin Russell, taking the salute.

More than 600 pupils and staff took part in QE’s Remembrance Day quiz. Presented to the boys in a colourful PowerPoint presentation, its 18 multiple-choice questions included both some relating to international matters and others directly connected to the School. Here are three examples (scroll to the bottom to see the answers):

1. After the outbreak of war in 1914, QE offered scholarships to refugees from which country?
2. On 11^th November 1941, QE was hit during the Blitz. The bombs damaged the old refectory and which other area of the School?
3. Where did QE’s loyalties lie during the English Civil War (1642–1651), and why?

The quiz was fiercely contested by the boys: none got full marks, but Krithin Jaichandran, of Year 12, achieved 15/16. The staff winner was English teacher Yioda Menelaou.

One 2024 leaver, Tharun Dhamodharan, has recently published a novel that spans both the First and Second World Wars. It tells the story of a former soldier at the Somme who later becomes a teacher and has to confront his memories in the classroom during the Second World War. A copy of the novel, entitled The Forgotten Warrior, is available in The Queen’s Library. Tharun thanked Jenni Blackford, Head of Library Services, for her help and guidance.

Earlier this term, to coincide with International Day of Peace, pupils in Year 7’s Underne form wrote poems about peace. The winning poem was written by Vivaan Karalkar. It was picked by Head of English Robert Hyland, who described it as “very good indeed”. He praised its “creative use of perspective and form, using the 1st person to tell the story with imaginative use of rhyming, and presenting peace in an original way through the imagery of strength”.

The poem, set out below, was also the popular choice among the boys.

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I fly through the breeze, a wave of calm,

I lurk in the tides, tranquillity my psalm,

Warm and comfortable, I surround you, a fleece,

I protect you from war, for I am peace.

 

I live in the soul, free and untouched,

Unrest and violence, my power has crushed,

In frightened hearts and minds, my strength will soothe,

For I am peace, bound to protect you.

 

I flow through all blood, an endless force of qi,

I thrive in all places, whatever there is to see,

I am passed down from generations, a young face looking into an old,

For I am peace, a fire against the cold.

 

Life can be a struggle, a perpetual night,

But war and unrest can truly make light flight,

But fear not now, I’ll tug you from quicksand,

For I am peace,

Ready to make a stand.

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Remembrance Day quiz answers

1. Belgium
2. Rooms L and Y
3. The School was on the royalist side because many of the Governors had royalist sympathies.

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• Click on the thumbnails to view the images below.

QE’s senior Combined Cadet Force members experienced five days that tested their knowledge, skills and endurance at Exercise Endeavour – their summer camp in Lincolnshire.

Cadets from Year 10 and above headed to the Beckingham Camp training area, where the challenges came thick and fast. They took part in simulated attacks and ambushes, held compounds against attack, and were given an introduction to urban warfare.

There were challenges from the weather, too: during two nights and three days out on the terrain, they had to deal first with the cold and camping on wet ground, and then with very hot temperatures towards the end. The other two nights were spent in the site’s military accommodation.

Captain Richard Scally said: “The focus of the camp was on field training – on practising and assessing field craft and tactics, which involved boys applying skills they have gained during the year.

“It was a fully immersive experience for our cadets, who did very well, under the expert guidance and supervision of my colleagues.”

QE’s CCF was joined for the camp activities by the CCF from The John Warner School in Hoddesdon.

Also sharing the venue were personnel from RAF Cranwell and Lincolnshire Constabulary’s Armed Police Unit.

With days that began at 6am with the ‘reveille’ wake-up call and ended as late as midnight after evening activities, the camp was not only exciting, but tough and disciplined, too. Alongside the ‘recce patrols’, ‘preparation for battle’ and ‘platoon attack’ listed in the programme, there were also sessions dedicated to weapon-cleaning and administration.

It was not all hard work, however: there was an opportunity to relax at a movie night on the first evening.

QE is one of very few state schools to have its own CCF. Established in 1992, it is sponsored by the Corps of Royal Engineers, with the Regular Army providing support in training and administration.

 

The Combined Cadet Force remembered QE’s own war dead in an act of remembrance at the School, before then playing their part in Sunday’s commemorations in High Barnet.

One hundred and thirteen old boys of the School died in the First and Second World Wars, while others have been injured and killed in conflicts since.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “On this important day, we remember all those lives lost in conflict, reflecting upon the sacrifices they and others made to secure our freedoms and security.

“We honour the Elizabethans killed in the two world wars, and think, too, of all those affected by conflict around the world.”

On Friday, the School day closest to Armistice Day this year, the whole School paused for a two-minute silence at 11 o’clock.

The act of remembrance was led by the School’s CCF. The boys marched to the School’s World War I memorial in the Crush Hall before laying a wreath, demonstrating funeral drill they had learned for the occasion.

They were overseen by Staff Sergeant Rhys Peto, the CCF’s School Staff Instructor, who is a member of QE’s Facilities Team.

There was a reading from Laurence Binyon’s poem, For the Fallen, from which the Ode of Remembrance is drawn. The Last Post was played by Joel Swedensky, of Year 12, on the trumpet.

On Remembrance Sunday, 24 cadets turned out, joining High Barnet’s Remembrance Sunday parade, marching from the Army Reserve Centre in St Albans Road down the High Street to St John the Baptist Church, where all attended the church service. Wreath-laying at the war memorial there was carried out by Shubh Rathod and Chinthn Santhalingam, both of Year 13.

The School has recently fielded a number of enquiries from the families of Old Elizabethans killed in the two world wars and has been able to use QE Collections to provide them variously with images and information about their relatives from the digital archives.

Among the thousands of artefacts in QE Collections is the speech made by Headmaster E H Jenkins (1930–1961) in 1948 at the dedication service for the School’s World War II memorial. Of the 65 who died in that conflict, 52 had been his own pupils, and, he told the congregation, he remembered them all.

“Their graves are worldwide. In the Far East, in Burmese jungles, on the Western Desert, in the waters that wash around Crete, among the Guards on the Tunisian frontier, in Salerno’s bay, beneath the flak of Berlin, in our own seas… in our own dear homeland, on Normandy beaches, at the crossings of the Rhine – to all of these they have borne, and left to eternity, a part of our Elizabethan heritage. They are gone from us.

They will not grow old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,

but we will remember them: we will take up the charge they have left to us, the service of our country and the cause of tolerant freedom which they loved, and for which they died. God helping us, we can do no other. And to masters and boys of this school, as they pass it upon their daily vocations, this bronze, which is now to be dedicated and unveiled, shall be at once a reminder and an inspiration,” Mr Jenkins concluded.

QE’s Combined Cadet Force headed into East Anglia for their longest and most ambitious field exercise yet.

The five-day summer camp at the Barnham Training Area close to the border of Suffolk and Norfolk featured a wide variety of activities, from attacks on ‘enemy’ cadets to weapon-cleaning and administration.

Contingent Commander Mev Armon said: “This was a fantastic exercise, organised by QE staff, supported by Army Cadet Force (ACF) instructors, and with maximum effort and enthusiasm shown by all cadets involved.

“The sheer numbers of troops from the three schools involved made this the largest exercise for us since COVID, with a total number of 124 cadets and adult staff on the ground.”

The first two days consisted of further development of section and platoon-level tactics for those cadets who had already had training, together with a ‘recruit cadre’ for those who had not had field craft and tactics training. This brought the latter group up to speed for the 24-hour ‘tactical phase’ that began one night and continued through to the following evening.

It was during this phase that the QE group, (1 Platoon), and two rifle platoons from Forest School, Walthamstow, (2 Platoon) came together to form a ‘composite company’ and performed a ‘company attack’ on multiple enemy positions. The enemy platoon came from St Ignatius’ College, Enfield. The attacks were supported by the ‘recruits’, now trained, who formed ‘Fire Support Group’.

All the platoons then conducted ambushes on enemy patrols to complete the exercise.

The final day featured the battlefield first aid training and weapon-cleaning as well as general administration.

Cadets set up their own shelters and ate a mixture of operational ration packs and fresh food provided by nearby RAF Honington during the camp.

“The cadets administered themselves well in the field, maintaining their cleanliness and hygiene. We were very fortunate in not having the extreme weather conditions often found during UK summers,” said Major Armon, who is a Biology teacher.

 

After a successful joint camp with the Beds and Herts Army Cadet Force, members of QE’s CCF are now looking forward to working with their near-neighbours again.

The School is planning a series of exercises so that QE’s Combined Cadet Force can try their hand against the local ACF.

The initiative follows a weekend camp in February, where cadets including those from both cadet forces received training in fieldcraft and personal development.

CCF Contingent Commander Major Mev Armon said: “The joint training at the camp was very successful. Our boys got to meet cadets from other places, collaborating and teaming up with new acquaintances, and adapting to new strengths and weaknesses in their units. This all led to a better and more realistic overall experience.

“Our boys found that they and the ACF cadets had a like-minded approach. New friendships were made, and there are now plans to work with them again. ACF will play the enemy in QE exercises, creating more realism – as our cadets don’t necessarily know how they will think.”

The half-term camp involving ten Sixth Form CCF cadets took place at the Cadet Training Centre Bassingbourn Barracks, Royston, north Hertfordshire.

During sessions on fieldcraft and tactics, some 3,600 rounds were fired among the QE group.

“Crucially, they also focused on how to communicate with each other under pressure and stress,” said Major Armon, who is a Biology teacher. “Cadets had to make small leadership decisions, learning quickly that these have consequences in the field.”

Another key element of the camp was the opportunity for cadets to try using a Dismounted Close Combat Trainer, which employs very advanced technology.

It is essentially a screen that plays out like a video game, yet allows users to try real weapons with the correct action, recoil, and so on. The trainer reacts to the user’s decisions and execution, thus demonstrating the impact of his actions.

The boys used it for range work competitions – such as practising marksmanship using digital glass bottles and plates.

The trainer can, however, be extended to full-battle scenarios, involving field combat, urban combat, and terror attacks, with different outcomes based upon the user’s inputs.