Biddick Academy falls silent at poignant service
STAFF AND PUPILS WERE JOINED BY MEMBERS OF DURHAM ARMY AND AIR CADETS
Pupils and staff at a Washington secondary school were joined by army and air cadets as they paid their respects at a remembrance service a century after one of the bloodiest battles of the First World War.
Biddick Academy’s poignant annual remembrance service was held in the Biddick Lane school’s Memorial Garden on Monday morning.
This year marks the 100-year point since the Battle of Passchendaele.
Also known as the Third Battle of Ypres it was one of the most notorious battles of the war.
The battle took place on the Western Front, from July to November 1917, where hundreds of thousands of British soldiers lost their lives.
A group of young Durham Army Cadets and air cadets from local detachments took part in the parade.
A bugler then played The Last Post during the time of reflection.
The poignant service was supported by Remembrance-related lessons and activities across the academy in the days leading up to the service.
Year 11 student Stephen Plant was chosen to lay this year’s poppy wreath to commemorate those who gave, and those who continue to give their lives serving the country in conflicts around the world.
The service was open to all members of the community,
Biddick Academy teaching assistant Ellen Metcalf is a lieutenant of the Durham Cadetforceandwasinvolved in organising the remembrance parade.