Our Year 8 History Club paid their respects to those who lost their lives in World War 2 in assembly on 8th May as they marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day where they remembered the end of the war before focusing on VE Day.

Using the school's archive, the students were able to research how the end of the war was portrayed in The Hymerian magazine and then remembered in the following years. In April 1951, additional panels were added to the school's war memorial to include those who gave their lives whilst serving in the Armed Forces during the years 1939-45.

The Hymerian: July 1945

There are 89 brave Old Hymerians who are sadly named on the school's Memorial and the students spoke in more detail about 4 of them, who were known to have died in the last few months of the war.  They were Harold Bell, OH 1922-30, Maurice Moore OH 1903-13, David Kay OH 1934-39 and Raymond Escreet, OH 1933-38.  Additional research from the Development Office has potentially identified Raymond as the navigator in the WW2 painting, "Take Off" by Laura Knight.

Acknowledging that the end of the war still led to a period of hardship, the students read out the memories of a pupil from The Hymerian in July 1945, when he wrote about volunteering at a Harvest Camp:

Well done to the students who delivered a well researched and informative assembly.

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