The staff and students of Withernsea High School marked this year's Armistice Day with a number of commemorative activities in remembrance of those who have died in conflict since the First World War.

After a three-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, there was a welcome return to tradition as students from the school were once again able to join representatives from other local organisations for the Remembrance Day service at the town’s World War One memorial.

Each of the school’s five year groups, from years 7 to 11, were represented at the ceremony by two students from each cohort - accompanied by Cover Supervisor and Chairman of the Withernsea Branch of the Royal British Legion, Paul Whittaker, and Headteacher Mark Crofts.

As part of a service led by Deacon Diane Berry, students laid wreaths on behalf of the Withernsea High School community and the trustees of the Meridian Centre. Year 11 students Abigail Little and Corben Catt were also honoured to add a youthful voice to proceedings by reciting the exhortation.

Commenting on the commemoration, Headteacher Mark Crofts said: “It was a privilege to attend last Friday’s Remembrance Day service alongside members of the community and other local organisations who had joined together for this important moment of reflection.

As always, we remain incredibly proud of our school community for the respect shown on such occasions. This year, students of Withernsea High School were not only honoured to lay a wreath on behalf of the school community, they were also invited to read the exhortation – a task which our Year 11 students, Abigail and Corben, completed with confidence and clarity.”

Meanwhile, back at the school, the daily routine was paused shortly before 11am when a special assembly was broadcast to classrooms around the campus. Introduced by Deputy Headteacher Beci Pindar, students were reminded of the reasons for remembrance and the significance of the occasion.

A short presentation, created by Teacher of History Stephen Edwards, was delivered - combining images and poetry to powerful effect. This was accompanied by a recording of The Last Post, which could be heard echoing around the corridors of the school as it signalled the start of an impeccably observed two-minute silence.

Elsewhere in school, a focus for remembrance was created by the school’s Art department with an eye-catching installation positioned in the school’s front entrance hall. Inspired by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae’s poignant war poem ‘In Flanders Fields’, Year 7 and 8 students helped to create their own poppy-covered cenotaph inscribed with lines from the poem.

The work was completed in partnership with the school’s English department who supplied various texts to the Art students for inspiration. After much discussion, the members of the Key Stage 3 Art Club settled upon In Flanders Fields as the basis for their creative vision and set to work on their design.

Supported by their Teachers of Art, Alison Hawkins and Holly Foster, around eight students helped to create the final piece during weekly after-school art club sessions. The finished result, which featured well over 100 handmade poppies, proved to be an impressive addition to the school’s remembrance activities.

Finally, in recognition of the strategic importance of a former airfield that once occupied the present-day site of Withernsea High School, and to remember those who died in airborne conflict, Year 9 students laid a wreath on a commemorative stone, located in the school grounds, in acknowledgement of the site’s history.

The stone tablet was installed in May 2019 on behalf of The Airfields of Britain Conversation Trust (ABCT) – a national charity that aims to honour historical sites, particularly those which may not be quite as well-known, by erecting memorials at disused airfields in an effort to raise their profile and help celebrate an important part of British aviation history.

Officially opened in February 1917, Owthorne airfield was initially classed as a Third-Class Night Landing Ground. By the time of its closure just over two years later, it had been upgraded to an aerodrome complete with timber and canvas Bessonneau aircraft hangers which housed a fleet of Airco DH.9 aircraft.

Despite its relatively short operational life, the airfield helped to play a part in the winning of World War One by first acting as a Home Defence landing ground for fighters and later as an aerodrome for anti-submarine patrol aircraft.

In June 1919, Owthorne airfield closed when its final Flight (No 506) left for disbandment at Killingholme in North Lincolnshire.

Kenneth Bannerman, a trustee and founder of the ABCT charity, commented: ‘Owthorne airfield, along with countless others in Britain at the time, helped to stop the aerial bombing threat and also prevent Germany’s U-boat fleet from potentially forcing Britain in to surrender.

Although Owthorne airfield is not entirely undocumented, information regarding it is scarce. Therefore, our plaque scheme epitomises how crucial it is to record and preserve a less obvious aspect of British history for future generations. Our commemorative plaque will play a big part in this and I am grateful to Withernsea High School for their support in allowing us to mark the strategic importance of this site.’

The wreath was placed on the stone tablet by Year 9 student Aiden Jumps, marking the first time such a commemoration had taken place at the school. Throughout the afternoon, groups of Year 8 and 9 History students were led outside by their teachers to inspect the wreath and commemorative stone, where the history of the site was explained to them and stories of its past were shared with great interest.

Over 100 years ago, students of the time also showed a keen interest in the airfield. Four months before becoming officially operational, school records show that great excitement was generated by the landing of a single-seater Army biplane on the field next to the school.

Courtesy of an entry in the 1978 ‘Withernsea and its Schools’ centenary booklet, a record of a plane landing on the field on Tuesday 21^st November 1916 captures the moment that the Headteacher, Mr Durrant, reported that staff and students were allowed to inspect the plane closely but ‘without interfering with the men in charge’.

First-hand accounts of the landing, also captured in the centenary booklet, recall how Mr Durrant informed the students that it ‘might be their only chance of seeing an aeroplane’ with another recalling how they were all reluctant to leave it! Little did they know that aircraft landings were soon to become a regular occurrence, at least for a little while.

Shortly after the closure of the airfield, records also show the school’s determination to secure some of its land for outdoor games and sports use. This was a successful endeavour, the legacy of which lives on for present day students. 

ABOVE: Inspired by the poem In Flanders Fields, the school’s Key Stage 3 Art club designed and made this tribute to the fallen. 

ABOVE: Year 9 student Aiden Jumps places a wreath at the base of the commemorative stone for Owthorne airfield, watched on by History classmates and subject teacher, Stephen Edwards. [Photo Credit: Tim Nuttall]

ABOVE: A close-up of the commemorative stone which was installed in May 2019 by the Airfields of Britain Conversation Trust (ABCT).