An the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Old Carolians joined together to commemorate the past pupils of the School that gave their lives in the two world wars and in more recent military conflicts in the Falklands and in Afghanistan.
Woodfield Hall - my first memories of King Charles I Grammar School. The Honours Boards; the narrow stairs up to the forbidden closet of the Sixth Form; the wooden panelling; doors off to laboratories and the Remove corridor; sitting cross-legged on the floor on my first day with sixty other new boys; four huge House Captains with the job of allocating you to a house. A small runt of a child, who had told John Drake his ambition was to be a jockey and who was interested only in climbing trees and building dens in Brinton Park. The indelible memory of morning assembly, the stage where John Drake and begowned staff would frown down at us. The frequent tongue lashings. 'There is a rat in the place,' he had said, rubbing at his appendix. 'Someone has scribbled an obscenity on the detention sheet.'
And now forty of us stood in this Hall to remember the old boys and girls that had made the ultimate sacrifice. This was a much higher attendance than last year. The service was led by the Rev Canon Paul Brothwell, retired Hospital Chaplain and Vicar of Wilden. Old Carolians Association President Ian Sandall read the names of World War I dead and Senior Vice-president Dave Laverty read the names from the deceased of World War II, the Falklands War and the Afghanistan War. Ian commented that human nature has not changed since these remembered conflicts and that it was essential that mankind should learn from the mistakes of the past. Past President Brian Gittins read the famous lines from Robert Binyon's poem 'For the Fallen'.
'They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.' Binyon wrote his poem in mid-September 1914, shortly after the Battle of Mons. He had been too old to enlist in the military forces, but had worked for the Red Cross as a medical orderly. He lost several close friends and his brother-in-law in the war. Dave Laverty then read the poignant piece 'Aftermath' by Siegfried Sassoon.
'But the past is just the same – and War's a bloody game.
Have you forgotten yet?
Look down, and swear by the slain of war that you’ll never forget.'
Ian Sandall placed a wreath under the stained glass memorial window, the top half of which displays the crests of the School and the Town. Underneath is Christ on the cross, and, below that, representations of soldiers, sailors and airmen in worship. The bottom half of the window shows King Charles I, the School and the Church, welcoming scholars. It is yet another example of the essential history of King Charles I School, which should be preserved into the future.
Finally, we also need to thank ex-President Peter Picken, who liaised with the security company now looking after Woodfield for the County Council to ensure that the Hall was open for the ceremony. It goes without saying that we all hope Old Carolians in the future will be able to repeat this ceremony of Remembrance on or around 11th November.
'Captain' Peter Vaughan, Home Affairs Correspondent