Remembrance Day

S. Anselm's held its Remembrance Day service in time for the minute's silence at 11am.

It was a moving service at which Mr Eaton explained all about Pals Regiments and in particular the Accrington Pals who were devastated at the battle of the Somme in 1916.

As usual the youngest boy in the Prep School laid the wreath and the Prefects read out the names of the fallen.

The second half of the service was all about promoting peace and it included the awarding of this years Peace Medal. The history behind  the medal is that a certain Captain Lock, remembering his dead and wounded comrades of the Second World War, had his war medals melted down and recast as peace medals. As an old boy of Gresham’s School, Holt, Cpt Lock presented six of these medals to the then HM (now HM of Malvern), who in turn presented five of them to selected schools, of which S.Anselm’s is one. The medals are designed to make the children think about the waste and futility of war and to promote the cause of peace. (Our medal is inscribed ‘Let Peace Be Indestructible’).

Captain Lock wished the children to write on the subject of peace and war, and for the best production to be awarded the medal, to be presented at our Remembrance Day service. It falls to the Head of English to co-ordinate this noble effort, in which, of course, taking part is far more important than winning.

The thinking about war and the futility of war is of course very vivid on a day like today. It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce the runner up and the winner of the peace medal for this year.

The runner up is: Henry F

The Ambush

As poppies sway, in the breeze,
The guns rattle, still proceeds.

The ruthless shells, of the tanks,
Rip through the ground, and our flanks.

Up go the flares, as evening falls,
Then we hear the battle calls.

From the darkness the bullets came,
And hit me with perfect aim.

I hit the ground with a resounding thud,
And in my mouth I tasted blood.

I tried to breath but I could not,
For my heart felt like it was in a knot.

My lips were dry as I coughed up blood,
Then I fell static like a plank of wood.

Staring into space,
And heaven above.

By Henry F 8A

The winner is: Nicholas T.

The War, The Peace, The Dead

The guns are aiming, firing, killing.
The men are running, walking, falling.
The people are waiting, hoping, suffering.
The children are laughing, crying, screaming.

November has passed, the guns are still.
Some return, some move on, some are forgotten.
November has passed, the people rejoice.
Some laugh, some hope, some mourn.

The guns are silent, broken, rusted.
The men are mourning, remembering, dead.
The people are rejoicing, hoping, still.
The children are running, playing, growing.

The guns are gone.
The men are dead.
The people are different.
The children are men.

Nicholas T aged 11

Many thanks to Mr Weller, Mrs Lings and Mr Eaton for their powerful service.

We will remember them.