AN ACT OF REMEMBRANCE AND A CELEBRATION OF THE LIVES OF ALL THOSE THAT MADE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE: At 3 pm on 11th November, the Old Carolians Association, the Kidderminster High School for Girls Old Girls' Association and the Hartlebury Old Elizabethans Association joined to commemorate past pupils of their schools that gave their lives in two World Wars and in more recent military conflicts in the Falklands and Afghanistan.
This was the first time that I had been to the old school site since 2017. As seen in the Magazine, there is a new housing development, and so many of the old King Charles buildings have disappeared. The only ones remaining are the old School Hall, the 4A and Sixth Form building, and those rooms attached to the Hall. The dance studio, which now uses the Hall, has been extremely obliging in providing us with a warm, friendly welcome. The transformation of the hall into the dance studio with sprung floor, mirrors and bars the whole length, is nothing short of excellent. There are also display cabinets filled with splendid trophies won by the studio.
President Stephen Wyer welcomed a large group of Old Carolians, Kidderminster High School Girls, Old Elizabethans and other friends to the Remembrance Service. All attendees were handed a commemorative booklet of the service - a superb addition. There was an introductory prayer, followed by the President's reading of 'Attack' by Siegfried Sassoon. The names of those that died from the three schools in the First World War were read by the President, Senior Vice-President Martin Wall and Junior Vice-President Laura Hutchins Payne. Richard Woolley then read 'Remorse' by Siegfried Sassoon, and Norman Broadfield read 'In Flanders' Fields' by John McCrae. The names of those from the schools that died in World War Two were read by Dave Laverty, Peter Guy and Stephen Wyer, while Ken Ryder gave a very emotional reading of 'Dulce Et Decorum Est'. Finally, Laura Hutchins Payne read the names of male and female scholars who had died in World War Two, the Falklands War, and the war in Afghanistan.
Stephen placed the wreath underneath the Memorial Window in the Hall while the collects for Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday were read. Past President Arthur Miller led us all in prayers followed by a blessing. The traditional 'God Save the Queen' ended the ceremony. Special thanks are due to all those who played such a large part in the success of the Schools’ Remembrance Day - Arthur and Richard for the striking booklet; Peter Picken for contacts with M and M; the research work done by Dave Laverty and Margaret Miller; the printers from Worcester; and last but not least, the dance studio contacts, who provided the very welcome refreshments on such a cold November day.
You may have read recently that a 14-year-old Tenbury pupil was tasked at school to write a poem for Remembrance Day 2019. The poem went viral on the internet and it is printed here. I wish I could have laid claim to this creativity when I was 14.
ONE THOUSAND MEN ARE WALKING
'One thousand men are walking, walking side by side
Singing songs from home, the spirit as their guide,
They walk towards the light milord, they walk towards the sun
They smoke and laugh together, no foes to outrun.
These men live on forever in the hearts of those they saved,
A nation truly grateful for the path of peace they paved.
They march as friends and comrades but they do not march for war
Step closer to salvation, a tranquil steady corps.
The meadows lit with golden beams, a beacon for the brave
The emerald grass untrampled, a reward for what they gave.
They dream of those they left behind and know they dream of them,
Forever in those poppy fields, there walks one thousand men.'
'Captain' Peter Vaughan, Armed Forces Correspondent