May 8th 2025
VE Day Celebrations
We were delighted to welcome Colonel Lucy Giles to talk to the pupils in Years 3 to 6 about her life in the armed services. Using a series of photographs, she ran through her career and the different places that she had been stationed, including her first posting in Germany and then the Balkans, East Timor, Sierra Leone, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan.
She highlighted all of the positives of life in the army such as the friendships, the benefits of working in a diverse team and the variety of roles available and how amazing human beings can be despite the atrocities of war. However, she was keen to remind pupils about the realities of combat and the unexpected twists and turns of life in the military.
Lucy’s message to the children was that by working together we can achieve more and service men and women do it for their country, but also their friends, family and loved ones.
There were some fantastic questions from the children and great excitement when they were able to see all of Colonel Giles’ medals. Mrs Rae (who also happens to be Lucy’s sister-in-law) then went on to describe how Colonel Giles’ achievements are even more impressive when you remember that she was one of the first women to do them, including being the first woman in charge of Sandhurst.
Thank you so much to Colonel Giles for coming to speak to us on a very special anniversary as we celebrate 80 years since VE Day.
