Jacob Tucker (L6 Hendersons) was one of a group of young people who read a multi-faith prayer for peace at the Royal British Legion’s Festival of Remembrance. He was chosen as a representative of the British Jewish community. This annual event takes place in the Royal Albert Hall, in the presence of Her Majesty The Queen, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, HRH The Prince of Wales, the Prime Minister, the Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition and other leading politicians. It was broadcast on BBC One on Saturday evening.
We are extremely honoured and deeply humbled that one of our students was invited to take part in such an important event in our national life, especially in the year of the centenary of the start of the First World War.
It is worth reflecting on the immense impact the events of 1914-1918 had on our school community. The Combined Cadet Force was re-founded in October 1914 and by July 1915 had grown to 240 members. Over 230 Old Haberdashers’ volunteered for the Armed Forces by December 1914 and 497 Old Boys by December 1916. A number of staff were commissioned: Major Blunt, Head of the Junior School, was wounded and captured at the Somme, Lieutenant Jobling was mentioned in despatches and Captain Reynolds was killed in Armentieres. The school itself, then in Hampstead, was damaged on 19th October 1917 when a Zeppelin dropped a bomb nearby, breaking 135 windows. On the very day that the Armistice was declared in November 1918 the school started to collect funds for a memorial to the 107 Old Haberdashers’ who had paid the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in the conflict. Among them was F.J. Milne, the first OH fatality of the Great War, killed in November 1914 by a shell explosion while dragging his brother back to safety from no-man’s land.
Readers with a TV Licence can watch Jacob reading the prayer for peace in his Haberdashers’ Navy CCF uniform on the link below until December 8th. He is on screen from 1:28:25:
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