The sight of over 1,300 boys gathered in School Yard is rare event, and on Thursday 8 May, the occasion was a reflective one as the School marked the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe, commemorating the end of the Second World War on the continent.
Led by the Conduct, Revd Gray, the service also commemorated the 700 Etonians who gave their lives in the conflict. It was a moment of gratitude for their sacrifice and for the peace that has endured in Britain since. As recorded in the first post-VE edition of the Eton Chronicle published on 17 May 1945:
‘Eton’s casualty list had been long: to those named in it [the Eton boy] owed all that he held most dear, liberty, traditions, perhaps even his very life.’
This was followed by an address from Rabbi Hughes, who shared with us his experiences as rabbi to Zigi Shipper, a Polish survivor of the Holocaust. Shipper dedicated much of his life to working in schools to educate young people about the Holocaust, not to overwhelm them with the trauma of the past, but to inspire action in the present – to develop understanding and cooperation. His message was one of hope and responsibility:
‘There is nothing we can do about the past, but we can do a lot about the present and the future, and it’s up to young people, the most important people in the world.’
A two-minute silence followed, heralded by the Last Post. In those moments, 1,300 boys and staff stood in quiet contemplation, reflecting on the words they had heard and also on the suffering still unfolding in Ukraine, Gaza, and many other regions across the world. It was also a chance to contemplate their own connections with the Second World War and its enduring legacy.
Standing among them were the School’s CCF cadets, for whom the service was even more impactful given their experience with the Armed Forces. For the boys in their final year, this was one of their final engagements wearing uniform, adding to the poignancy of the event.
Perhaps the most fitting summary of the day’s sentiment comes once again from the edition of the Chronicle in 1945:
‘And yet they had not died in vain. The ideals for which they had striven and died had not perished with them but remained; it was the duty of those who had survived to build on the foundations so dearly defended, a world worthy of their memory, a memory that could never be forgotten while courage and honour and self-sacrifice were still respected.’
