Mount Saint Agnes Academy remembered Bermuda’s fallen heroes in an early Remembrance Day ceremony.

While Remembrance Day is celebrated on November 11, the anniversary of the end of the First World War, school principal Sue Moench told students gathered on Tuesday that the school held a ceremony before the holiday to ensure the meaning was remembered.

“Tomorrow is a holiday, and over the years we do not want to forget why we have a holiday on November 11,” she said.

During the ceremony students recited the iconic poem In Flanders Fields, lit candles and listened to a bagpipe performance of Flowers of the Forest by Pipe Major Aidan Stones.

Addressing the students, Bishop Wesley Spiewak emphasised the need for the world to remember those who fought and died, saying: “History has a lot to tell us, that we should not repeat some mistakes. That we shouldn’t cause the same suffering. This is why history is important.”

Meanwhile, Governor George Fergusson detailed the story of Bermudian soldier George Sampson, who tended to the wounded in Gallipoli even after he himself was badly injured, and the crew of the Jervis Bay, who after departing Bermuda fought a German battleship for nearly an hour despite being hopelessly outgunned to protect a convoy.

“George Sampson and Captain [Edward] Fegen were thinking of how to do well by other people,” the Governor said. “They were not thinking about themselves. They were not thinking about what would be comfortable for them.

“The underlying lesson is that we should all always be thinking about how to apply the rule, to treat others how we ourselves would like to be treated.”