Monday, March 14, 2016




Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,

Last week I was looking through some old files and I found a photograph of a class of children that I taught in London. The children in the photo were all aged about eight at the time.

Incidentally I was speaking to a friend who had also taught at the school at about the same time. We were talking about some of the pupils in the class and she said that she had heard that one of the boys in the class had joined the British army. This is not a boy who you would expect to be a soldier. When I googled this boys name a sheet came up from the British Military saying that this officer had been killed while on active duty in Afghanistan. The article was in the form of an obituary and it spoke in some depth of his schooling, his tertiary studies, his travel and his career in journalism and in the army.

Tragically he was only 27 years old when he was killed while on an infantry patrol by a roadside bomb.

He was obviously a young man who had achieved a great deal during his short life and judging by the

tributes that were paid to him he affected a great number of people in a very positive way.

Paul, as this was the boys name, led a life crammed full of action and achieved more in his short life than many do who live to be a hundred. He was born into a life of some privilege but rather than be content to live a comfortable life in this setting he challenged himself in many ways.

As a teacher, that is one of the attributes that we would like all of our pupils to possess; the confidence to challenge ones self and to become truly life long learners.

Lieutenant Paul Mervis

2nd Battalion, The Rifles

Born London 30/09/1981

Died Sangin Afghanistan 12/6/2003

RIP

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

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