PUPILS and staff at Barfield School in Farnham took inspiration from The Tower of London to pay their respects on Remembrance Day.

The children and teachers had previously been busy designing and painting their own poppies which were planted in preparation for their Remembrance Day service.

The school came together as a mark of respect for those who have died for our nation in the line of duty. Headmaster James Reid said: “Every poppy which was planted at The Tower of London represented a life lost and this inspired us to make our own poppies as an act of remembrance.”

During Mr Reids address, children from each year group in turn planted the final few poppies to commemorate individuals or groups of people.

The first one planted remembered John Parr, who at just 17 years of age, was the first British soldier to die in The Great War, while the final poppy recalled George Ellison, who at 9.30am, just 90 minutes before The Armistice came into effect, became the final British soldier to die.

These two poppies were planted, facing one another, just as the graves of John Parr and George Ellison are, in the St Symphorien Cemetery, east of Mons, in Belgium.

Following the planting of the final poppy, The Exhortation was read, The Last Post played and some prayers were said, as Barfield School respectfully paid its tribute to ‘The Glorious Dead’.