Two-minute silence during the Awards Ceremonies

Celebrations come to a halt as a mark of respect

AS the time approached 11 o’clock on the opening day of the graduation ceremonies, Monday 11 November, crowds assembled in the main campus square and the graduation celebrations paused for the two-minute silence of remembrance, observed across the country.

The University’s Brass Band, conducted by band director Jonathan Beatty, beckoned on-lookers and graduation visitors, whilst many staff and students left their desks and studies to wait patiently for the allotted hour as the band played reflective music fitting the occasion.

The University has observed the silence every year and the solemn mark of respect provides a contemplative experience for everyone present.

This year’s commemoration had special significance as it marked the 100 years since King George V ordered the first ‘silence’ one year after the end of the First World War.

Last Post sounded, played by the Brass Band’s principal cornet, third-year BMus(Hons) student Jonathan Mitra, and the crowd stood silent.  As the last note of reveille signally the “rising of the sun”, the crowd dispersed and the band closed the occasion with a series of pieces commencing with the well-known Dambusters March, written by English composer Eric Coates.

At the same time across campus, a wreath was laid by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan CBE DL, at the University’s World War One memorial in the Ramsden Building.  The memorial, combining a large mural and cenotaph to commemorate the outbreak of the hostilities 100 years earlier, was officially unveiled in September 1924 and was then rededicated in 2014.

The mural was painted by John Richardson Gauld, who came to the then college as a substitute for art teacher Willie Speight, of Batley, who had volunteered for the army in the early stages of the conflict.  Speight died in July 1916, during the Battle of the Somme.