Armistice day


Monday 11th November – Armistice Day

An impressive and moving Armistice day at MHS!

I had attended last year as Vice President. Last year saw the 100th anniversary of the conclusion of the first world war, and the service had been focused on those who had died during that conflict.
This year the organisation and standard was every bit equal to that of last year. 

Angela attended with me and the focus this year was on those who died in the 2nd world war. Photographs of each former pupil were displayed on the chapel walls and as Jane Sanchez read out the name of each one their picture appears on the screen above the alter.

The weather was perfect – cool but dry. The ceremonies had begun with the school lined up in the quad and the “planting” of a bell in the chapel garden for each OM who died during the 39-45 years. We then proceeded to the memorial arch on the Ridgeway for the laying of the wreaths and the last post. I was honoured to lay a wreath on behalf of the Old Millhillians Club.

Then on to Chapel for the service. The Chaplain Richard Warden conducted a moving service and sermon reading passages from a collection of letters and recollections of those who had died, thus bringing a very personal touch and context to the proceedings and hopefully some meaning to the pupils present.

Several OMs were present; I noted the following:
Peter Wakeham, Andy Mortimer, Gerry Westoby, Mike and Nick Leon, Richard Llewellyn, Marcel Mann, David Short, Elliot Lipton, Tim Corbett, Mike Petersen, Robert Harley, Roger Chapman.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

....and finally

 12/10/2021 ....and finally a few words of reflection and summary about the past couple of years. I am not going to write a report, or indeed a summary of all the events and activities I was involved with (or missed). Rather I shall try to write about my feelings, experiences of being OMC President during these hopefully highly unusual times. When I was approached about taking on the role I was initially reluctant. I couldn't see how this fitted with my personality and indeed what I saw myself doing during this phase of life. However, after much thought, persuasion and discussion with Angela I decided to accept and give it a go. We also thought that it would be quite fun to both be Presidents of our respective clubs/societies at the same time (Angela is President of Corona Worldwide a charity focusing on friendship and community to women both at home and abroad). Having accepted the role I had more than a year, including as VP, before assuming the role. I joined the OMC Committee a
Read more

My Annual Dinner

Image
 1st October 2021 Well this has finally come around - my Presidential Annual Dinner at which I hand over to my successor. The dinner was held at the beautiful and impressive Plaisterers Hall close to the Museum of London. I had been concerned that a combination of Covid caution together with a conflict of dates as a result of so many things being postponed would reduce the numbers attending. Indeed, this has happened to a small degree with several "regulars" not able to attend. However, overall the 140+ attending was a very respectable number, and I can say that I was delighted. I was pleased to see good representation from my era at school, the 1960s, as well as golfers, Oakers, and engineers, all groups with whom I have had the pleasure to associate with over many years. The feedback that I have had has been very positive. Everyone was impressed with the venue and the food was excellent much as we had hoped after our tasting experience. And then of course the speeches....!
Read more

Inaugural virtual reunion for Australian OMs

Image
 26/11/2020 Today we held the first virtual OM reunion for Australia. I was delighted that we were 14 participants including Jane Sanchez (MHS Head), Peter Wakeham (OMC Chair) and myself as President acting as chair for the Zoom meeting. It was wonderful to see quite a number of those whom Angela and I had met during our trip in January, which now seems so long ago (almost another era). After introducing ourselves, Jane gave us an update on how the school is coping with the Covid challenges and examples of the arrangements that have had to be undertaken. Jane also touched on developments at the school and emphasised how much the school and Foundation have grown in the past few years and that demand for places remained strong. I then invited Peter to say a few words about the OM Club. Peter explained about the changes in structure, the life membership developments and some of our plans for the future, especially the careers and alumni websites. Below is a screenshot of those who joined.
Read more