Old Dunstonian Association Ypres 2004

Remembrance Day – Ypres 23 April 2004

On St George's Day 2004, a permanent memorial plaque to ODs lost in the two World Wars was dedicated in St George's Memorial Church, Ypres, in Belgium.

More than 80 years have passed since the Armistice was declared in The Great War, nearly 60 since the fall of the Axis Powers in 1945. ODs have strived to play their role in many walks of life since St Dunstan's College was re-founded in 1888, but never at such cost as in the battles of the two world wars.

Today, with conflicts between former enemies in Europe almost unthinkable, it may be difficult for many to appreciate the scale of events in the first half of the 20th Century. It is, thus, to the College's eternal credit that its pupils now make trips each year to the battlefields of WW1 in France and Belgium to ensure that the sacrifices of those involved in the two conflicts are appreciated and better understood.

Ours was among schools with little tradition of military service whose former pupils met the call to country and thus faced the dangers of war. Many, if not most, of the ODs who gave their lives for freedom from tyranny were less than five years from the classroom in Catford.

The Dedication of a permanent memorial plaque, in the St George's Memorial Church in Ypres, to more than 350 ODs who fell in the service of their country in both World Wars is a just and important reminder to us all of the sacrifices they made.

"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
We will remember them"
[from For The Fallen (1914) Laurence Binyon (1869-1943)

Click on the pictures to see full size pages that may be printed out.

On St George's Day 2004, a permanent memorial plaque to ODs lost in the two World Wars was dedicated in St George's Memorial Church, Ypres, in Belgium.

More than 80 years have passed since the Armistice was declared in The Great War, nearly 60 since the fall of the Axis Powers in 1945. ODs have strived to play their role in many walks of life since St Dunstan's College was re-founded in 1888, but never at such cost as in the battles of the two world wars.

Today, with conflicts between former enemies in Europe almost unthinkable, it may be difficult for many to appreciate the scale of events in the first half of the 20th Century. It is, thus, to the College's eternal credit that its pupils now make trips each year to the battlefields of WW1 in France and Belgium to ensure that the sacrifices of those involved in the two conflicts are appreciated and better understood.

Ours was among schools with little tradition of military service whose former pupils met the call to country and thus faced the dangers of war. Many, if not most, of the ODs who gave their lives for freedom from tyranny were less than five years from the classroom in Catford.

The Dedication of a permanent memorial plaque, in the St George's Memorial Church in Ypres, to more than 350 ODs who fell in the service of their country in both World Wars is a just and important reminder to us all of the sacrifices they made.