Westbourne Remembers 11/11/2024
This week marked Remembrance Day, Monday 11 November, which is the date when the guns fell silent at the end of the First World War. Westbourne CCF felt it right that this day was honoured and the sacrifices that our Armed Forces made for our freedoms today were respected.
On Monday 11 November, 10 and 11 platoons attended the Remembrance event at Christchurch Park together with School Staff Instructor Carr, Mr Farinos and me. The event was attended by several schools and local dignitaries. As Suffolk’s only state school Combined Cadet Force (CCF), we attended in uniform. Our cap badge is that of the Royal Anglian Regiment, a regiment formed from several local regiments and which is the descendant of the units in which many local soldiers served and lost their lives. Our troops were excellent in their turn out and drill movements. A wreath and crosses were laid and it was a very moving and thought-provoking event.
On Tuesday, our parade night, we marked our own very local remembrance outside the school. The Royal British Legion were kind enough to send a representative who played the bagpipes and a short ceremony was held. The main focus of this service was our mural wall commemorating Private Aaron McClure – a Royal Anglian and former Westbourne student who sadly lost his life in Afghanistan at the age of 19 years. It was also our privilege to have his mother, Lorraine, in attendance as well as other people who knew and loved Aaron.
Sometimes, Remembrance can feel abstract and the numbers involved in conflicts can remove us from the fact that every life lost is a story of a family affected and in mourning. It provided a moment for our cadets to reflect on someone so similar to them who paid the ultimate sacrifice and for us to give our thanks and remember him, as well as others.
Next year, we will look to make an event where we can allow the community to get involved and to show that both the CCF and Westbourne will always remember.
Please follow this hyperlink to our website Gallery page where you can view some of the images taken of our cadets in Christchurch Park:
Galleries – Westbourne Academy
In addition to the two-minute silence held in school on Monday morning to mark Remembrance Day, House assemblies this week focussed on the act of Remembrance. Students heard about the reasons why we have Remembrance Day and some of the different ways around the world that other cultures honour and respect their dead. Our thanks go to History teacher, Mr Archer, for delivering a captivating series of House assemblies this week.
