11th November 2012 was an even more poignant day for all the members of the Bancroft’s Combined Cadet force (CCF), both the Army and RAF sections, as it was the first Remembrance Day service since the Inaugural of the Daniel Clack Trophy. In 2011, Bancroft’s CCF suffered a double tragedy as two former members were killed while serving in Afghanistan; Lance Corporal Paul Watkins of the 9th/12th Royal Lancers (Prince of Wales's), and Lieutenant Daniel Clack of the 1st Battalion the Rifles.
 

More than a hundred people attended the annual Remembrance Day service, at Bancroft’s School, as they watched the Combined Cadet Force, Sea Scouts and Cubs honour the fallen soldiers. Many of the guests in attendance stated that the service, led by Reverend Ivan Moore, was "moving" and especially encapsulated the soldiers’ sacrifice for the country. Wreaths were laid at the main war memorial in the centre of the school’s Quad, and also at the respective memorials for Daniel Clack and Paul Watkins inside the school itself.
 

At the first stroke of 11am, in coordination with The Queen’s service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall and the many services being carried out throughout the UK, silence fell upon Bancroft’s School. In these two minutes, all the soldiers, named on the gates in front of the school, were remembered for their heroism throughout each of the world wars. This was followed by ‘The Last Post’, sounded by a cadet of the RAF section. Flight Sergeant Hannah Edmundson, head of the RAF section, said, “I took great pride in playing a part within the service, on behalf of the contingent, as we honoured those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in war.”
 

All the cadets were praised for their high standard of turnout and participation throughout the service. Head of the Army Section, Regiment Sergeant Major Frederick Thomas – Bowman wanted to praise his contingent by saying, “Remembrance Day is a very special event which gives the whole school community and the contingent especially, the opportunity to pay their respects to the British men and women killed during the two World Wars and other conflicts. It was a real honour for everyone to play such an important part in the Remembrance Day commemorations. They did themselves and Bancroft’s proud.
 

The event, which had an audience of the school’s staff, the cadet’s families and Old Bancroftians’, was intended as a moving tribute to the country’s fallen.
 

On the same weekend, there was a Year 11 GCSE History trip to the Battlefields of the First World War. On the Sunday the students and accompanying staff held their own ‘Remembrance Sunday Service’ at Tyne Cot, Britain’s largest military cemetery, containing over 11,000 graves and 35,000 names of more missing. The cemetery was built on the site of the third battle of Ypres, Passchendaele, notorious for the endless mud. They laid a wreath at the tablet commemorating Old Bancroftian John Outram who joined Bancroft’s in 1908 as a day boy. He was killed in action during an attack towards the end of the battle, aged 22, on 6 November 1917.