As Mr Matthew Fogg, Head Master, explained, the reason for gathering on the cricket pitch is because it was laid as a memorial in 1946 by the boys of The Oratory who came back from the war, to remember those Old Oratorians who gave their lives. The trumpet voluntary was played by Dr Moses, Assistant Head (6th Form) as our Oratory trumpeters and CCF had the honour of taking part in the commemorative community service at St Thomas' Church in Goring-on-Thames.

After the nation's 2 minutes' silent, The Oratory was delighted to welcome 95-year-old Morris Clegg, who shared his wartime memories with 3rd Form Historians and L6th Form History & Politics students. Morris' talk covered many aspects of his childhood experiences during the war, from the impact of rationing, sheltering from the Liverpool bomb raids, and carrying gas masks at all times, through to cars "melting" from the roads due to the restriction of petrol, the sight of sandbags outside public buildings to protect them from air raids and how children entertained themselves with comic books and cinema trips during these difficult times. Morris also spoke of the resilience of the British people and how there was never a sense of despair or defeat in spite of the challenging prospects. Many excellent and thoughtful questions were asked by pupils at the end of the seminar, from what was in Morris' rationed bag of sweets, to the continuation of war in Asia and the impact of Hiroshima, We thank Morris for his interesting and compelling talk, which gave a real living insight into a period of history that our pupils are studying.

After the talk, VE Day celebrations were in full swing with a delicious street party style BBQ lunch, followed by our Inter-House bake-off competition judging! Some fantastic entries were diligently tasted - winners to be announced!

Later that afternoon, 1st and 2nd Form pupils took part in the VE Mail initiative, a brilliant opportunity for our young people to exchange letters with a living Second World War veteran. Through these letter exchanges, this initiative helps bring history to life, fostering personal connections and a meaningful way for our pupils to engage with the lessons of WWII. 

In the evening, VE Day commemorations came to a fitting and thoughtful end with an evening 'Lamp light of Peace' led by Fr Rocks, Oratory Chaplain.

#VEDay80 #LestWeForget