Girls discover a lost generation

- 15 June 2006

THE HISTORY GIRLS: Zeenat, Sara and Rebecca

THE STORIES of six young men killed in World War One have been brought to light after pupils entered and triumphed in a national competition, writes MARC WALKER.

Sara James and Rebecca Smith, both 14, and Zeenat Pelaria, 13, from Chadwell Heath Foundation School, Christie Gardens, Chadwell Heath, came first in the Channel 4 competition as part of the Lost Generation series aired earlier this year.

The girls studied the lives of the men listed on the memorial inside St John the Evangelist Church, St John's Road, Seven Kings, as part of a scheme looking at those who lost their lives as real people and not just a list of names on a memorial.

Using a photograph of the church football team from circa 1911, the girls were able to identify men who never returned home. They were shocked to discover how many of the carefree footballers were killed and appear on the memorial.

They uncovered the stories behind six of the men listed and pictured in the team photo.

These included Cpl S W Allen, who was killed on November 7 1918 - only four days before the war ended and Second Lieut Gwyn Joy, 23, of Glencoe Avenue, Seven Kings, who was awarded the Military Cross, but died in July 1917.

Brothers Winifred and Robert Moore were both killed and John Millage, whose father John also died in the conflict, never returned.

Zeenat said: "You learn about the people. You feel you get to know them. It's important to know [the history], because of them we are here today."

Sara said: "Sometimes when you talk about these wars, they are so far away, but when you research something local it brings it all back home. You don't realise how many died. There are 44 names on the memorial in total. It's not the happiest bit of history, but it's important to know."

Rebecca says the project uncovered the mentality of the young men who volunteered to serve King and country on the battlefields of France, who wanted to protect their families and the strong bonds of their churchgoing community. She said: "They didn't just do it for themselves; they were doing it to save the lives of other people."

But the young investigators also discovered a darker side of war on the home front and the recruiting tactics of the British Army, which included posters that guilt tripped men who did not sign up, and the censors who intercepted soldiers' letters home to prevent them dissuading others from joining the army by telling their tales of carnage and disease.

Zeena said: "Everything that they heard and saw, they believed. It shows how much it's changed. People today don't believe everything they see and read."

The girls' history teacher Dave Thompson said: "The World War One veterans are passing away now - there's not many left. The veterans should not become the lost generation."

The girls and other history students from the school will now enjoy a VIP trip to the Imperial War Museum, and the school will receive history software for their computers.