The Royal British Legion paid a visit to Bridstow C of E Primary School on Tuesday, November 7th, to lead an assembly about the act of remembrance, a brief history and the significance of the poppy and the two-minute silence.

The assembly was led by Mary Sinclair-Powell, who began by introducing her fellow Legion members, including Councillor and Mayor of Ross, Nigel Gibbs.

Mary continued by saying to the pupils that “November is very important, with acts of Remembrance to remember those lives lost.”

She added, “it was not only men who lost their lives. Women lost their lives as nurses attending to the wounded on the battlefields in WWI.”

Mary discussed how Legion members collected in 1923, in order to build war memorials for those who had fallen, pointing out the war memorial just outside of Bridstow school, and those in Ross-on-Wye.

Diana Gaylard held up pictures during Mary’s speech, so that the pupils could more easily visualise the topic at hand.

Mary then discussed the significance of the poppy. That “poppies drop seeds that then go to sleep. They start to grow when the soil is churned up, like it was during the war.”

“Many people have graves on the battlefields, and poppies grew around them, which is why it is such a special symbol.”

During the assembly, the standard bearer, Derek Griffiths, held the Royal British Legion Standard, and Mary explained its significance.

Mary then explained the Act of Remembrance, and pupils participated in the ceremony.

This included a short poem called "The Exhortation," read by President, Air Commodore Vivian Warrington. This ended in “we will remember them,” to which the pupils repeated, “we will remember them.”

Then a short piece of music was played called the “Last Post,” and during this, the flag was lowered by Derek.

Then there was a moment of silence, and the silence was ended with a piece of music called “Reveille” or “Wake Up,” and another short poem called "The Kohima" was read by Vivian.

The assembly then finished with the Bridstow pupils beautifully singing the Royal British Legion members a song in return, as they exited their school hall in their assembly lines.