QE’s Combined Cadet Force led staff and visitors in a ceremony of remembrance for Elizabethans who have fallen in conflict, including the 70 who died in two world wars.
The cadets paraded into the Crush Hall, the area just outside the Main Hall, at 10.55am to take up their positions ahead of the 11am silence. They were led by Cadet Staff Sergeant Lucas Lu, of Year 13, who gave the commands and laid the wreath at the World War I memorial on behalf of the CCF and School.
Boys throughout the School observed the silence, with a three-bell advance warning at 10.59, followed by a single bell to mark the start and finish of the two minutes.
This year’s 11th November event took place shortly after last month’s ceremony at the School to mark the centenary of the unveiling of this memorial in October 1921.
It comes as the Royal British Legion celebrates its own 100th anniversary and also marks 100 years since the nation’s collective remembrance traditions were first brought together – the poppy, two-minute silence, Armistice Day, the service for the Unknown Warrior, and the march-past at the Cenotaph .
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We attach great importance to commemorating all our old boys who have fallen in war.
“In saluting th0se Elizabethans from generations past who gave their lives for a cause greater than themselves, we firstly pay tribute to their sacrifice and secondly encourage our current pupils to reflect on the School’s long and continuing tradition of service.”
The ceremony included a short reading by Anubhav Rathore, of Year 12, while Theo Mama-Kahn, also of Year 12, played the Last Post and the Reveille on the trumpet either side of the silence.
The message on the wreath laid by Lucas read: “We commemorate those who gave their future to protect ours.”
Teachers of classes too far away to hear the trumpet at the ceremony were given the option of playing a video from the National Memorial Arboretum.
A range of resources was also provided to tutors so that they could explain the event to their tutor groups.