Remembrance

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:

https://youtu.be/pEvjUpRt0ac

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.

More than 30 relatives, pupils, governors and old Bordenians attended this year’s annual service of remembrance on Saturday 11 November 2017, for the 104 former pupils of Borden Grammar School who lost their lives in two world wars and other conflicts.

A recent email alerted us to the fact that, despite the sterling work carried out over the past few years by Old Bordenian Marc Stewart to identify all those Old Bordenians who have been killed whilst on active service, the names are not available on the website.  This article rectifies this oversight.  This document provides a full list of those casualties: BGS War Casualties

Of the 103 Old Bordenians whose names are now commemorated on the School's war memorials, the most recent casualty is Michael John Simpson. After having left Borden in 1972, he briefly served in the ranks of the Royal Engineers before being selected for officer training at Sandhurst. Commissioned into the Staffordshire Regiment, he was soon posted to Northern Ireland: 'The Troubles' were then at their height and while leading foot patrol in Londonderry, Michael was shot by an IRA gunman on 3 October 1974. He died as a result of his injuries three weeks later, aged only twenty-one, and was posthumously mentioned in despatches for the gallantry he had shown during his final patrol. 

As part of his on-going research into the lives of all those Old Boys whose names are recorded on the School's war memorials, Marc Stewart (BGS 97-04) is now collating information relating to Michael Simpson. Unlike the School's casualties from the two world wars, relatively little information is publicly available about Michael. His place of burial, for example, is unknown - and hasn't even been recorded by the Staffordshire Regimental Association - and it has so far proved impossible to track down his family. If members therefore have any memories of Michael that they would be willing to share, especially relating to his schooldays and funeral (which is believed to have been attended by a number of Old Boys), Marc would be grateful if they could contact him via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . 

The 99 Old Bordenians who gave their lives in the two world wars and other conflicts were remembered in a service at Borden Grammar School on Saturday 12 November 2016 attended by more than 20 people including relations of the fallen and members of the OBA committee.

A service of remembrance for those Old Bordenians who gave their lives in two world wars and other conflicts will be held at Borden Grammar School at 11 a.m. on Saturday 12 November, 2016.