The chairman of the Old Boys of St Thomas’s Association is hoping to rally any remaining members ahead of Armistice Day.

Each November, the Old Boys would join in with Kings’ pupils and staff in a service of Remembrance as the school falls silent - a tradition that continues to this day.

Kings’ School was established in the mid-1980s with the merging of two earlier Winchester schools – Danemark, a girls' school, and Montgomery of Alamein, a boys' school - but both trace their roots back to earlier education establishments, and one was St Thomas’s.

St Thomas’s dates back to 1893 and when it closed in 1952, a number of its Old Boys retained an affectionate connection to the school with regular social gatherings.

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They also took it upon themselves to look after the old memorial board which had hung in their school hall and commemorated those pupils and masters who had lost their lives in the Great War.

Tony Dowland, 88, who attended the school from 1945 to 1949, said: “It had a conspicuous place at the school entrance and we pupils passed it every day. It was a constant reminder of the sacrifice of those in our school who had gone before.” 

But it wasn't until more than 40 years after St. Thomas School closed that Tony and his late school friend Keith Gilmour reformed the Old Boys Association and the memorial was discovered in the caretakers’ store.

“Through the courtesy of the then Headmaster - Ray Bradbury - the memorial was brought into the light and, as Chairman of the Association, I was informed of its discovery,” said Tony. 

Hampshire Chronicle:

Pupils and staff worked to restore the memorial and it was unveiled in the school hall in 1995. 

“Sadly, but inevitably, time has reduced what used to be a sizable number from our association to the maximum of three, whom we might now be able to muster,” Tony added.

“This year, therefore, those of us who remain will gather once again to pay our tribute to the old ‘Sticky Toffee’ boys who paid the ultimate sacrifice.”  

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Kings' librarian, Edyth Miles, said: "On Friday, November 11 we will once again be gathering at Kings’ to remember the fallen.

"We would like to extend an invitation to the Old Boys of St Thomas’s School, and any alumni of Kings’ School, Montgomery of Alamein or Danemark, who would like to attend. Please contact the school on kings.school@kings-winchester.hants.sch.uk"

All 1,750-odd pupils will gather in the middle field at 10.30am. Steve Brine MP will also be attending to lay a wreath.

Those of the Old Boys who can't make the service due to ill health will be able to watch via live stream.