Colchester Royal Grammar School aims to document every former pupil who died fighting in the First World War

The Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing is the largest cemetery for Commonwealth forces in the world, for any war.

Stretching as far as the eye can see are gravestones recalling the loss of thousands of British soldiers, who laid down their lives in some of the most horrific fighting the world will ever see.

In this remarkable place at least, their sacrifice will never be forgotten.

But 100 years on from the close of the First World War, how do we ensure generations to come don’t forget this earth-shattering moment in human history?

How do we convey the devastation and staggering bravery which was commonplace across trenches and blood-stained battlefields from 1914-1918?

At Colchester Royal Grammar School, a momentous project is underway, driven by a desire to not let the extraordinary sacrifice of dozens of former pupils be forgotten.

Pupils, both former and current, have joined forces with staff to research and chronicle the lives of the 80 former students and staff who died during the Great War.

Led by school archivist Laurie Holmes and assisted by members of the school’s Old Colcestrian Society, the efforts will chart the rise and fall of the school’s heroes, some long-forgotten.

As part of the research, the group is endeavouring to visit the graveside of every single one of the school’s war dead.

Ms Holmes has been leading the project for four years and hopes to release a book cataloguing their efforts.

“We wanted to do something special for our veterans who died during World War One,” she said.

“There were a number of different projects, for example we have a memorial garden and on the anniversary of each boy’s death we plant poppies.

“We have been visiting the graves of our veterans, which are all over the world.

“We have visited almost every one, but there are still four graves to visit, one of them is actually in Damascus, Syria.

“It is very moving, you become fond of these boys who become more than just a name on a memorial.”

Many pupils have taken trips abroad to follow in their forebears’s footsteps, including Jack Ridge, who visited Versailles, in France, with several fellow sixth form students.

They followed the journey of Alfred Norfolk, a former pupil from Nayland, born in 1888.

As they traced his journey from his hometown, where Norfolk is an influential family name, to his graveside, they gained an appreciation of the man they never thought possible.

Norfolk was wounded in the Second Battle of Ypres in May 1915, later succumbing to his injuries.

He is buried in Les Gonards Cemetery, in Versailles.

Jack, 19, said: “Colchester Royal Grammar School has been a large and important part of my life for the last seven years, so I thought that to visit one of the remaining war graves would be one small way in which I could repay the school that has given me so much.

“Once we found Alfred Norfolk’s grave there was a sense of connection with this man that none of us ever knew – the strong bond shared between all Old Colcestrians and members of the school family.

“At the foot of Norfolk’s grave it reads, ‘Always remembered in the old home Nayland, Colchester’.

"For me, this reinforced the strong sense of connection towards the First World War we had felt when we visited Nayland.”

He added: “After taking a few minutes to reflect and think about where we were and what we were seeing, we cleaned the foot of the grave before laying the crosses from both the people of Nayland and the school.

“Walking away from the grave and seeing the two crosses we planted in Alfred’s memory, our journey was complete.

“Hopefully everyone who now comes to Les Gonards will see the symbol of our journey made on behalf of the school and the people of Nayland – the two crosses each representing two important parts of Alfred Norfolk’s life – his home village and the school.”

Alfred Norfolk

As the group reached out to Old Colcestrians and historians, remarkable stories were uncovered from diaries and witness accounts.

One former pupil, Ronald Horwood, was among the scores killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Sheltered in a shell hole with his close friend Lieutenant Chawner, fire and hell reigning all around him, Lieutenant Horwood rose and charged the enemy.

He was within 20 yards of the German line when he was shot dead. He was just 22.

His close friend later wrote to his fallen comrade’s father.

He said: “A nicer fellow in all the world there could not have been. He died a hero.”

Lietenant Horwood

Another fellow officer said of Lieutenant Horwood: “I have been soldiering with your boy for nearly a year now and I know what a good fellow he was.

“He was always thinking about his men and their comfort, as a matter of fact it was so noticeable that we others used to chip him about it.

“He was always thinking of his platoon.

“I cannot tell you how he died but from what I know of him I am sure he was doing his duty up to the last.”

Ronald Horwood was living with his family in Victoria Road, Colchester, when he was entered into CRGS.

He excelled in sport, playing both football and cricket and representing the school as part of the Rifle Club.

At the outbreak of the war, he enlisted in the Royal Irish Rifles, serving for six months as a private and corporal before becoming a second lieutenant in the Essex Regiment 3rd Battalion.

His parents had the poignant words ‘Until The Day Break’ inscribed on his headstone.

Ms Holmes is appealing for any descendants of the school’s Great War veterans to come forward.

The project has been aided and supported by the Old Colcestrian Society, chaired by Colonel Richard Kemp, who served as the commander of British Forces in Afghanistan in 2003.

He commended the effort and drive of the group are showing charting the lives of dozens of remarkable men.

He said: “My great uncle was killed at Passchendale in 1918.

“I put a lot of time and effort into researching what happened to him, without that what he did and the sacrifice he made would be lost.

“I would urge people who have ancestors who fought in the war to contribute, that way the memory of them will never be lost.”

Get in touch at schoolarchives@crgs.co.uk.