Armistice Day and Remembrance
Throughout this week, the message very much on everyone's lips has been Remembrance.
Recent assemblies have explored the topic from different angles, looking at remembrance in culture, the war record of Amplefordians, and the youth of so many who were called to fight. Services of remembrance were held in the Abbey on Sunday, followed by Fauré's Requiem, and a service was held in front of the Main Hall on Wednesday morning. Out in the community, our CCF contingent represented the College at services in Hovingham, and the Ampleforth Highlanders joined the schools and locals at Terrington.
Here is a closer look at Wednesday's service, and at what happened beyond the College gates.
The Service of Remembrance
The College gathered shortly before eleven o'clock on Wednesday morning for the Service of Remembrance, with the Contingent on parade. Fr Ambrose opened with a prayer for all who have given their lives in the service of their country, and for those who continue to live with the consequences of conflict around the world. Our thanks go to him for his words and prayers, a poignant reminder of why we come together on this day.
One line from that prayer is worth carrying with us: "We commit ourselves to work in penitence and faith for reconciliation between the nations, that all people may, together, live in freedom, justice and peace." Remembering those who died in conflict is not enough on its own. We also have a responsibility to learn from the past and to help create a more peaceful future.
Rupert Brooke's The Soldier was read, and Harrison (11H) then played Mist Covered Mountains on the pipes, a tune he chose himself. Wreaths were laid by the Headmaster, the Bursar, the Senior Deputy Head, the Contingent Commander, and Year 9 cadets from the Army and RAF sections. Laurence Binyon's For the Fallen followed, with the College joining in the response.
Emily (12B) then played the Last Post, and the College kept two minutes' silence, ended by Reveille.
The Roll of the Fallen
The service also reminded us of the 189 Old Amplefordians who gave their lives in the two World Wars: 64 in the First and 125 in the Second. The crosses laid out on the lawn stood in two sections reflecting those numbers, a stark picture of how many that is.
Following on from last year, ten names from the Roll of the Fallen were then read aloud. This year's ten, who died between 1915 and 1920, served in the Army, the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, the Royal Flying Corps, the Merchant Service and the Canadian Contingent:
- Captain Bernard Calic, Royal Garrison Artillery (20 August 1916)
- Second Lieutenant Raymond Calder-Smith, Royal Fusiliers (1 July 1916)
- Peter Chamberlain, Engineer, Merchant Service (25 March 1917)
- Second Lieutenant Alan Clapham, East Yorkshire Regiment (3 January 1916)
- Lieutenant Cyril Clarke, King's Liverpool Regiment (2 March 1917)
- Sub-Lieutenant Gerald Cloran, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (7 November 1917)
- Lieutenant Egbert Corry, Prince of Wales's Own West Yorkshire Regiment (14 March 1920)
- Second Lieutenant Cyril Cravos, Royal Flying Corps (2 March 1917)
- Austin Darby, Canadian Contingent (2 September 1918)
- Second Lieutenant Kenneth Dennys, Royal Munster Fusiliers (9 May 1915)
Two of them, Cyril Clarke and Cyril Cravos, died on the same day, 2 March 1917.
The service closed with the Kohima Epitaph, a final prayer from Fr Ambrose, and the lament Flowers of the Forest as the piper slow-marched through Big Passage to Big Study.
In the Community
Remembrance reached well beyond our own grounds this week. On Sunday, the CCF represented the College at a service in Hovingham, where the Last Post and Reveille were played superbly by Willoughby (8EW).
The Ampleforth Highlanders also joined the schools and community of Terrington for their service at All Saints, playing at the start and close of the service as well as Reveille.
From the Abbey to the villages around us, it has been a week of quiet reflection and of gratitude for those who gave their lives. Lest we forget.
