Public services students spoke of what Remembrance means to them at Redcar and Cleveland College’s 103rd annual service.
The commemoration focuses on the 103 Old Boys of Redcar’s historic Sir William Turner’s School, who lost their lives during the First and Second World Wars.
John, 18, of Redcar, said: “All of those young people sacrificed their lives to make our country safe for us in the future. Many of them will have previously been in the exact same position as us, living and studying at school and college in Redcar.
“They must have felt scared and nervous going into battle. Some didn’t come home but the courage and bravery they showed is outstanding.”
Proud to speak at the annual college ceremony, it is not lost on John that he shares his name with one of the 103 fallen Old Boys. Serving in the Second World War, John Pearson, a pilot in the RAF, died in May 1944, aged 22. How he met his death is unknown.
Currently in his second year of the college’s public services course, John said: “Each of those names means something in a different way. They will all have come from different backgrounds and different families. Some will have had different ethnicities, but all came together through the school.”
Hearing the small details of the lives of the people whose names are listed on the Celtic Cross War Memorial outside the college from Peter Chester, a historian and former lecturer at Sir William Turner’s Sixth Form, is an important reminder of the reality of the loss to the local community and the devastating impact it will have had on family and friends.
Public services student Taliah, who also spoke at the service, said: “We should honour each of them like they honoured us.”
Admitting to feeling a few nerves beforehand, the 17-year-old from Redcar explained: “I talked about what Remembrance means to me. This isn’t something I would normally do, but I have family members who have served, including my granddad who was a paratrooper.
“As a public services student you see Remembrance from a different perspective, it gives you an appreciation of how important it is.”
The annual Remembrance Service at Redcar and Cleveland College brings together former Old Boys of the Sir William Turner’s School and Sixth Form, friends and family, the Royal British Legion’s Redcar branch, members of the community, and current college staff and students.
Following the service an Honour Guard led the congregation from the college to the Celtic Cross War Memorial, on the corner of Corporation Road, where guests laid wreaths and small wooden crosses bearing the names of the Old Boys.
“It is a privilege for the college to host this Remembrance event that not only pays tribute to the lives lost in service but highlights the real impact and loss the community must have felt here in Redcar and Cleveland,” said the college’s vice principal Sarah Johnson.
Some 350 students and staff of the former school and sixth form served in the armed forces during the First World War and 650 served in the Second World War.
To learn more about Sir William Turner’s School and brief historical details of the Old Boys visit: www.sirwilliamturner.org.uk
