Staff and students at Wisbech Grammar School remembered past pupils who lost their lives in a century of conflict.

The roll of honour, including 19 names from the Great War and a further 33 from the Second World War, was read by head girl Charley Brown, head boy Callum Ward, deputy head girl Joanna Hutler and deputy head boy Charlie Golding.

Among the poems selected for the service was The soldier by Rupert Brooke, which was read by Bob Hawkins, the father of Lance Corporal Alex Hawkins, a past pupil who was serving as a sniper in Afghanistan when he was killed in an explosion that struck his Vector vehicle as he was leading his men home from a routine patrol in Helmand province.

A poppy wreath was laid at the memorial to Alex, who attended the school from 1996 to 2001 and was serving with the 1st Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment at the time of his death in 2007.

Wreaths were also placed at a plaque commemorating another past pupil, Major Christopher Dockerty, who was killed in the Chinook helicopter crash on Mull of Kintyre in 1994 and who was posthumously awarded the Elizabeth Cross, and at the memorial to the fallen from both world wars.

Members of the Dolce Choir sang In Flanders Fields and a cross-section of pupils from the whole age range played a leading role in the ceremony, with Bridey de Jong-Daly acting as the narrator and the last post and reveille performed by Edward Page.