Year 11 concentrated on the events of the Battle of the Somme 1914 in our annual Remembrance Assembly delivered to the whole school. As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle, Joe began by reminding everyone that 20,000 British soldiers were killed on the first day alone, when they went over the top of their trench and were shot by the Germans. This marked the worst day in British military history.
Gloria then explained how whole communities were affected by the battle, as athletes often signed up as volunteers to form a “pals” Battalion. Tragically, this meant that many of them would fight but also die together on the same day. Ben went on to talk about the Commanding Officer of the Somme Lieutenant Colonel Alan Roderick Haig-Brown, who joined the second Football Battalion, and was sadly killed in March 1918. He was later described as a man of “unwavering patriotism” by his son Roderick Haig-Brown, who had barely known his father as Grace explained.
McKinley then read a poem by Ivor Gurney who served with the Gloucestershire Regiment and was wounded in the Somme. He suffered terribly from shell shock after the war. McKinley was followed by Aleeha, who read extracts from the diary of Private William Roberts of the 18th Durham Light Infantry. He was killed at Etrun just one year after the Battle of the Somme, aged just 23.
After watching a factual DVD about the Battle of the Somme, Jack reminded our school that we must also remember all those who perished in more recent conflicts, including the ongoing conflict in Syria. We finished with a 2 minute silence, in addition to the silence observed at 11 am during break time on Remembrance Day, which fell on a Friday this year.
