MAY 8TH 2020 ISSUE 41 www.gms.bucks.sch.uk This Special Edition of The Voice is being published on 8th May 2020, officially a Bank Holiday to celebrate Victory in Europe Day - 8th May 1945. It has been said on a number of occasions, by a wide variety of people, that our current situation is the most challenging time that this country has faced since the Second World War, which took place between 1939 and 1945. IMPORTANT DATES Despite the current hardships and multitude of other responsibilities at difficulties I do not believe that the two home. events are truly comparable but it is, We will endeavour to keep I would, again, like to take the opportunity the whole GMS community probably, the most difficult time that the to thank all members of staff for the updated with the latest majority of people, in this country, have commitment and dedication at this time. information and advice through faced in their lifetime. As was the case notices on the GMS website with World War II, the hardships faced To our students, I fully recognise that or through letters sent out varied greatly from family to family and this situation is far from your ideal, but via Groupcall Xpressions. from person to person: no one family or it is for the time being the position you person’s experience will be exactly the are in. Experience teaches that the most Please check the website same. At this time, we have been asked successful people in life will always make regularly for current notices. to follow social and physical distancing the most of every situation, however rules. We have been asked to “Stay challenging or unfair. This is a time home. Protect the NHS. Save lives.” This where you are being asked to take on has changed our working and social more responsibility for your learning and lives, significantly. It is our time to make development than ever before; it is an old sacrifices for the greater good of this and simple adage but the more you put country, it has been for just seven weeks in to it the more you will get out of it. in contrast to the six years of sacrifices that were made by the people of this Finally, I would be very grateful if you, as country approximately 80 years ago. I parents, carers and students, continue sincerely hope that we are, in the near to share your Personal Best examples future, able to start to restore some sense so that we can celebrate these through of normality to our lives and particularly future online publications of The Voice. I to the schooling of our students. However, would appreciate seeing pictures, videos it is vital that this only occurs when it is and stories of how you and your family appropriate and safe to do so. celebrate VE Day, particularly from our Service Personnel Families. Please I would like to thank you, the parents send your contributions to info@ and carers, for your support during these gms.bucks.sch.uk Don’t forget to view the online difficult times, you are showing your gallery for photographs resilience, resourcefulness and readiness Best Wishes relating to many of the on a daily basis to support your children Kevin Ford articles in this newsletter. in their learning, whilst managing the GMS Stories Victory in Europe 1945 Queen Elizabeth II’s 2020 speech is timed to be broadcast at 9pm. She was active in the war, her GMS Stories memories of that time, of the victory and of the VE Day rejoicing, are part of her, and our, national This Special Edition of The Voice is being published on 8th May 2020, officially a Bank Holiday to heritage. Poignantly, her address is scheduled to be aired at the exactly the same time as her father’s celebrate Victory in Europe Day - 8th May 1945. was, all those years ago, on 8th May 1945. Just browsing the photographs of VE Day underscores the jubilation of all the people who King George hoped that all the “blood, sweat and tears” would not be in vain. In that he has had his celebrated. Women, men and children poured out onto the sunny streets - dancing, singing wish. There has been peace between the European nations since and long may peace continue. and drinking to cheer the end of hostility. Many communities organised thanksgiving services, street parties, parades, bonfires and fireworks of the most communal kind. Cameras clicked and Today, VE Day is as important as ever; it is historically significant: human beings died defending captured the images for prosperity. freedom and for that we must commemorate and applaud them. War in Europe came to an official end with the signing of surrender by Germany on 7th May 1945. GMS hope you enjoy your lockdown 75th Anniversary of VE Day. B Winston Churchill declared 8th May a National Bank Holiday. To mirror that event, Bank Holiday By Mrs M Morgan and Mr and Mrs Chapman Monday in 2020 was moved to Friday 8th May. These selection of photos Sadly, with the country in lockdown the celebrations are muted. That is not to say we should not show Sam with his brother and A commemorate the official end of the war in Europe; it was, and is, a hugely important historical date. grandparents (Louise Chaplin’s father is the son of Colonel After 3rd September 1939 when Chamberlain stated, “this country is at war with Germany”, every Warrack, the Chief Medical D Officer for the 1st Airborne person who endured that long and challenging conflict suffered. The revelry in May 1945 was Division) at Koning Willem III inevitably tainted by the huge cost in human life: everyone knew of someone who was grieving. Many Barracks (which was the British Airborne Military Hospital after still worried about those still serving in the armed forces overseas. the Battle of Arnhem). Also at the Barracks, Louise and her D-Day a whole year earlier had turned the tide, allied troops landed on the Normandy beaches. Yet, sister laying wreaths (C), the boys there were setbacks: in September, the Battle of Arnhem, named “a bridge too far” was not a successful outside the building named after mission. There were over 7,500 casualties from a total of 10,000 who parachuted in, or landed by glider. A few months later, the Battle of the Bulge, which began in December 1944, was eventually won by D E the allied forces in January 1945, yet it took another long, four months before war was declared over. To view Sam talking about his experience in Arnhem please click The hostilities involved soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians. Alas, many who lived through the Second on his here. World War, and the subsequent festivities of VE Day in 1945, have passed away. Memories of all the video diverse chapters of that long and difficult war are now kept alive in the photographs, the artefacts and in the oral retelling by descendants. One such descendant is Sam Chaplin in Year 10, whose great grandfather was the Chief Medical Officer C G at Arnhem, he was one of 10,000 men parachuted into the area with the British 1st Airborne Division. His great grandfather remained with the wounded; eventually, F he made it home with the help of the Dutch resistance. In September 2019, Sam’s family attended four days of events in Arnhem to mark the 75th anniversary of Operation Market Garden in 1944, which turned into a most momentous battle. Little did the military know that a year later the war would be over: their efforts Sam with his brother had not been in vain. their great grandfather, spending time with John Ransom, and grandparents a 97 year old veteran (B), with Captain Tattersall our host Churchill had motivated the people of the country to fight: never to and liaison officer (A), and inside the small memorial room that was Colonel Warrack’s office when running the hospital as a PoW (D), including the tiny ceiling H surrender. His famous speech to Parliament in June 1940 punched hard: space he hid in for 12 days before escaping (the space measures 1.5m high, 1 m wide and 3.5 m long and “We shall fight in France, … on the seas and oceans, … in the air, … on Colonel Warrack was a very large 6ft 3” chap!). the beaches, … on the landing grounds, in the fields and in the streets The other photos are of the mass (1500) commemorative parachute drop, including a tandem jump … in the hills”. The people of our nation did fight in every way described by a 93 yr old veteran) (E), dinner with the Dutch family who’s relatives hid and helped Louise’s grandfather(F), and finally some from the more formal Airborne Memorial Service held at the in Churchill’s address to parliament and no-one surrendered: eventually Commonwealth War Graves Commission Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery on the Sunday(G,H). If you the allies were victorious. look closely in one of the photos you will see some young primary aged children with flowers by the Sam and his brother headstones. 1600 local children came in during the ceremony and each laid flowers at a headstone. at the barracks GMS Stories Art & Design An April Birthday in 2020 YEAR 8 LOO ROLL CHALLENGE Art and Design students in Year 8 have been April. At 01.50, I was born. Declared healthy, I was placed in the nursery. flexing their creative skills with a special set Sleepless, my mother mourned my being locked of distance learning challenges, set every two away from her; she wanted to cuddle, weeks.