Private School News

Headmaster’s Armistice Day Service

Oswestry School held its Armistice Day service in the Peter Humphreys Centre on Tuesday. Headmaster Mr Paul Stockdale began with an explanation of the history and purpose of Remembrance Day and the significance of wearing poppies to mark the occasion. He pointed out that young men of a similar age to the school Sixth Form students had been prepared to fight and die to preserve the freedom that we enjoy today.

As he led the prayers for peace, understanding, compassion and forgiveness, the School Chaplain Mr Ray Evanson reminded the pupils that there are few people whose families have not been affected by war in the past or in the present day.

Head Boy Liam Chambers and Head Girl Katy Yates read out the names of the Old Oswestrians who had died while serving in the armed forces in the two world wars. The staff and students then stood to observe the two minutes of silence at 11am.

The guest speaker was Mr Derrick Fisher, the grandfather of three present Oswestry School pupils. Mr Fisher, who was a tank commander at the end of the Second World War, helped pupils to understand something of what it was like to live through the horror of such circumstances. He described his experience as a teenage plane spotter in the Civil Defence, when he had warned of an enemy bomb attack on a town shopping centre and had then worked through the night to rescue the survivors. Mr Fisher then went on to read extracts from the diary of his uncle Philip, who had been an army chaplain during the First World War, caring for and comforting soldiers during the Battle of the Somme, in which there were 57,000 British casualties.

Mr Stockdale closed the service by thanking Mr Fisher for his personal memories and very moving address.

Picture: Head Boy Liam Chambers and Head Girl Katy Yates read out the Oswestry School Roll of Honour