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.
They sang music by composers including Mozart and Stanford, while three QE organists took their places at the console of the cathedral’s mighty 1897 instrument.
The organ music played before the service by Year 7’s Zach Fernandes, Year 9’s Noah Morley and Year 11’s Joel Swedensky was written by Bach, Pachelbel, Böhm, Green and Stanley.
“It was super to see some visitors who had just wandered in stay for the duration of the service. There was lovely feedback from the Cathedral’s volunteers. I am grateful to the Cathedral clergy and staff for their welcome,” Miss Partington added.
“We were both exhilarated and a little depressed at how much rubbish the QE Together team pulled out of a tiny section of the Dollis Brook. Thanks also to Ben from CURB for the inspiration!”
Many leading rugby schools joined the fray, with Tonbridge and Harrow both unbeaten on the way to their U16 and U14 Cup victories, while Framlingham College and Ipswich School respectively took the U16 and U14 Plate titles. Tonbridge’s results included two victories by a margin of more than 50 points, while Harrow saw off Berkhamsted School convincingly in their final.
The tournament usually uses nine pitches, with games played at Barnet Elizabethans RFC, as well as at the School.
“My huge thanks go to everyone who made the day possible.”
“As for the U14s, they acquitted themselves brilliantly. Led by Victor Varbanov, they got off to a great start with a hard-fought 19-14 victory over Reigate Grammar School, Surrey. Caterham School, Surrey, proved too strong in game two, and it all came down to the final group game to decide whether QE would progress to the knockouts. An emphatic 40-0 win over Norwich School, Norfolk saw QE duly progress in second place and move into the Plate competition quarter-finals against local rivals St Albans School.
“Overall, some really competitive performances, though, among many of the best rugby schools in the country.”
Mr Enright said today: “My congratulations go to all our prefects on their success. By virtue of their appointment in this momentous year for QE, they will, in a sense, themselves become part of the School’s history.
Darren is both a keen linguist and an enthusiastic engineer. He has won prizes and commendations in a number of language competitions, while he and his fellow Year 12 student, Yash Patel, were also named as recipients of highly prized Arkwright Scholarships after successfully navigating a long and exacting application process. As Arkwright Scholars, the pair will enjoy financial and mentoring support throughout their A-level studies.
Through the two events, today’s Elizabethans remembered the 113 old boys who lost their lives in the 20th century’s two world wars and those who have been injured or died in wars since.
QE’s traditional 11.00am act of remembrance took place at the School’s World War I memorial in the Crush Hall. It was led by representatives of the School’s Combined Cadet Force, who were joined by Colour Sergeant Rhys Peto, the CCF’s School Staff Instructor, who is a member of QE’s Facilities Team.
Two days later, 36 of the School’s cadets and CCF staff representatives participated in High Barnet’s Remembrance Sunday events. After assembling at Barnet Army Reserve centre in St Albans Road, they paraded down Barnet High Street and joined the church service at St John the Baptist Church, where there was the playing of the Last Post and a wreath-laying ceremony. Events concluded with a march-past, where Martin Russell, the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of Barnet (and the parent of an Old Elizabethan) took the salute.
Helen Edmunds, Head of History & Politics, said: “Hampton Court provides excellent contemporary sources, including a display of diaries and letters written by the soldiers who were there just over a century ago. This links in well in with the work our pupils will do next year when they enter Year 9 on the role and importance of Empire troops during World War I and World War II.