106 Years
Armistice Day this year falls upon a Monday.
The School and the OBA will be holding a combined Service of Remembrance, to which all OBs are cordially invited, in the Quadrangle, on Monday 11th November.
We are aware of an OB, Peter Jordan, who died in service of the North Rhodesia Police in 1964. North Rhodesia became independent of Britain as Zambia in 1964. OBA Archivist Marc Stewart is researching Peter and would welcome contact with any OBs who were at School with Peter or contact with him after School days. Please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
As we draw near to Remembrance Day we remember the last Old Bordenian known to have fallen in service of his country. Michael Simpson (who left the School in 1972) served with the Royal Engineers before being commissioned in the Staffordshire Regiment. He was shot whilst on patrol in Northern Ireland by IRA gunmen on 3 October 1974 and died three weeks later, aged twenty-one.
The Combined Service of Remembrance for the School and the OBA was held on Armistice Day, Friday 11th November 2022 at 10:45, with representatives from each of the School’s year-groups and the Old Bordenians Association.
The School held its 2021 Remembrance Ceremony on 11 November and invited members of the OBA to attend.
On 11 November, the School held an Assembly to mark Remembrance Day and in particular Old Bordenians who served and died fighting for their country in conflicts since 1914. There was no OBA Remembrance Sunday ceremony this year due to Covid restrictions.
A video of the School proceedings can be found here:
Unfortunately, the OBA's Remembrance Service has been cancelled this year because of Covid19. However, by kind permission of the Headmaster, the OBA will be represented at the School's Remembrance Service on Wednesday, 11 November by committee members Neil Hancock and Mick Pack, who will lay a wreath on behalf of the OBA.
The Sittingbourne Heritage Museum has produced an excellent video about the School's boys who died in the First World War. We are grateful to Ann Sefton from the Museum for sharing this with us.
As those who studied history at the School will know, the First World War formally ended in 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. As we prepare to mark that final WWI centenary, there have been two noteworthy events to report on. There is also an important date for your diary.