PUPILS and staff at Bloxham School have built a Garden of Remembrance to commemorate 136 past pupils who have been killed in action.

The school’s head of IT Eddy Heddon, above, a former officer with the Army’s Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, came up with the idea.

He said: “Bloxham School always observes the traditions but, being an ex-Army regular, I really wanted to raise the profile of Remembrance in the school this year, and create a visible reminder of the sacrifice of past pupils.

“The garden of crosses is small and very simple, but seemed very fitting; Each cross represents a former pupil who lost his life in the wars between the Boer War and Korea – including a holder of the George Cross.”

Pupils and staff, some of whom are related to men who have lost their lives, have been visiting the monument and students have also been learning about the wars in school through a library exhibition about Old Bloxham and via the school’s electronic messaging boards, which have been featuring photographs of the men who were killed in action.

Dr Debbie Herring, head of theology at the school, laid a cross for her great-grandfather’s brother, Victor Cyril Brame, who was a bombardier in the Royal Marine artillery and went down with the HMS Invincible at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

She said: “Now the generations who remember the two world wars are no longer with us, it's important to keep alive the memory of those whose lives were lost in these two conflicts.”

Mr Heddon said: “The names of the men who died have been read out in our chapel during two services leading up to Remembrance Sunday and, on Sunday, both pupils and staff will walk up to the Bloxham War Memorial to take part in the village’s Service of Remembrance.”