11 November 2019
This year, as in previous years, boys and staff stopped for two minutes at 11am on Monday 11 November as part of our and national remembrance commemorations. The two-minutes’ silence was respectfully observed, and was punctuated by the poignant strains of ‘The Last Post’ and the ‘Reveille’, this year played by Max in Year 8.
Boys will have had their own particular people or memories to consider. However, many may have thought back to the previous week’s assembly in which Michael, a local historian and ex-Abingdon parent, came in and taught them about some of the local men who had gone off to fight, and, in some cases, did not return. These included Charles Bond, who actually lived in what is now Josca’s House, before he went to the Western Front. Sadly, Rupert Aldworth, the son of a local farming family who owned land in Frilford, was one of those who did not return. Michael also emphasised the influence of the war on local families, especially the women and children left behind, some of whom suffered multiple losses which inevitably impacted greatly on what was then a largely agricultural community. We are very grateful to their contribution, as we are to those who continue to serve our country.
