On July 5th Swanshurst held its third Veterans’ Day. We were graced by the company of many different veterans’ groups including the Dunkirk veterans, D-Day veterans, Coldstream Guards, the Black Watch, the Suez Canal Zoners, the Royal Tank Regiment, Korean War veterans, Malaysia and Borneo veterans, the Land Army, the ATS and WAACs, the RAF, Minelayers and the Royal Marines.

We were also honoured to have the company of Len Gregory, Lord Mayor of Birmingham, and his wife, and David Bradnock, Lord Lieutenant of the West Midlands, and his wife. From the present day military we had Colonel McGroom and Lieutenant Colonel Arkell. On the day the veterans marched between the Sixth Form Centre and Upper School to the applause of many Swanshurst pupils. It was very emotional to watch them. Then the veterans had to face the 300 girls in Year 9 in two groups of 150. They talked to them about their experiences before during and after the Second World.

Finally the day ended with the presentation of the Standards, Last Post and Reveille. We all owe a debt of gratitude to these people and to their comrades who are no longer with us and Swanshurst has gone some way in acknowledging that debt