World War One was the focus of the Prep School Curriculum Collapse Day on Tuesday 7 November 2023. Throughout the special day, boys swapped their usual lessons to explore a whole carousel of activities, in particular the bottle poppies created
and placed in the lawns of the school, that opened their eyes to some of the realities of soldiers’ lives in WWI and allowed each boy to learn the personal story of an individual Old Bedfordian who lost their life in the conflict. It proved a poignant, enriching day that developed many themes beyond traditional classroom boundaries.
However, starting the day before, in a special assembly with Old Bedfordian Richard Galley (72-82) boys began their WWI journey by learning about Bedford’s Highlanders. The 17,000 Highland troops became a part of Bedford in 1914, with Bedford School being a central hub in the Highlanders’ lives as they trained, paraded, and even held (the largest ever) highland games on the school estate.
The boys also saw the names of all the Old Bedfordians, some 497 boys (the youngest just 17 years old) and men who lost their lives in WWI. Poignantly, this is a total higher than the number of boys in the Prep School today. Their names took on renewed significance as each boy was given a unique identity card with a fallen Old Bedfordian that they could read about. Included among them was OB Charles Pulley, who was brought to life for the boys in the assembly in a unique AI animation, in which ‘he spoke’ verbatim from his diary about the Christmas Truce – one of the most widely shared moments of the Great War. 
On Sunday, we paid tribute to the sacrifice made by many Old Bedfordians, servicemen, servicewomen, and civilians from around the world in our annual Remembrance Sunday Service, which took place in the chapel. The CCF Colour Party looked smart, and the Chapel Choirs’ singing was very moving, with several people commenting on the anthem ‘Exhortation’, which uses the words from “For the Fallen” written by Laurence Binyon. The playing of the ‘Last Post’ and ‘Reveille’ was also very touching.
Following the service, Major Tony Kironde-Strain (05-10), laid the wreath outside
the Memorial Hall, in memory of the Old Bedfordians who had made the ultimate sacrifice. The Club was also represented by OB Club President, Richard Northern MBE (63-72), and Chairman, Craig Mitchell (64-74).