1. Knox Academy Armistice Assembly 11 th of November 2010

2. The following British servicemen have been killed in Afghanistan this year alone. If we were to watch a photograph disappear for every person killed in conflict around the world this year it would take... 7 hours and 13 minutes

3. Any death in a war is tragic… …and the death of a child is especially awful. As many as 1 in 8 British soldiers in the First World War was underage. The youngest soldier in the British Army, Private Lewis, served at the Somme when he was only twelve.

4. George Maher was 13 when he fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the First World War. He remembers another boy soldier who was too small to see over the top of the trench. Mr Maher had lied about his age when he signed up but his true age was revealed when… Mr Maher broke down in tears and told the truth about his age. …he was sent to the commanding officer for punishment after showing fear during a battle. It is estimated that over 100,000 boy soldiers died on the World War One battlefields. He was sent home.

5. You might be thinking that all this was a long time ago and wouldn’t happen today. Right now approximately 300,000 children as young as five are fighting in armed conflicts around the world. They are usually kidnapped and forced to fight. Many have to watch their parents being killed. Beah, a child soldier from Sierra Leone, fought alongside a seven- year-old. Beah watched him die after being wounded in a rocket attack. As he died the boy “cried for his mother in the most painfully piercing voice I have ever heard”.

6. The following organisations are working to help child soldiers. They would appreciate your support.

7. Knox Academy Armistice Assembly 11 th of November 2010