Former pupils and teachers of Redcar’s Sir William Turner School who fell during the First and Second World Wars were remembered today (11th November).

The Mayor of Redcar and Cleveland, Cllr Olwyn Peters and other Civic Dignitaries, members of the Sir William Turner’s Foundation, Old Boys of Sir William Turner’s School, present and former College students and staff, current and serving members of the armed forces, and members of the public, attended the annual Remembrance Day Service at Redcar & Cleveland College.

In total, 102 young men from the School were lost on the two World Wars.

This year the main wreaths were laid by Mr. Ray Stockton, an Old Boy of Sir William Turner’s, and Mr. Alan Jones, who taught both at Sir William Turner’s Sixth Form College and Redcar & Cleveland College.

Mr. Stockton attended the School in the war years 1939-1945 and was School Captain in his final year, before going immediately into the RAF in 1945. He said:

“It was very strange to be at School one week and then in the Forces the next. Yet when I read the names on the Memorial I can remember many of them very well. I am proud to be here to honour them, as I know Mr. Jones is.”

Students from Redcar & Cleveland College also took part in the service and laid wreaths on behalf of today’s students. An Honour Guard from the Royal British Legion led a march to the College’s War Memorials before members of the congregation laid wooden crosses for each of the 102 young men listed on them.

This year, the service was opened by Peter Chester, a trustee of the Sir William Turner Foundation, and the prayers were led by the Revd. Graham Pacey, the Rural Dean of Guisborough and an Old Boy of Sir William Turner’s. Mr Chester commented:

“It is very important that we do not forget the past sacrifices that have been made by many young men from Redcar and across the country. They gave their lives so that we can be here today.”

Sir William Turner’s School, and now Redcar & Cleveland College, possesses two War Memorials. The Celtic cross in the College grounds commemorates those former pupils who were lost on the First World War. Inside the College is a large bronze memorial which was commissioned in 1948 to honour those young men lost in the Second World War as well.

The service is a tradition dating back to 1922 when the Celtic cross War Memorial was first consecrated and it has taken place every year since then. Nowadays, the Sir William Turner Foundation plays an important part in Redcar & Cleveland College and the maintenance of the tradition of Remembrance symbolises that link.