PUPILS at the former school of a Worcester soldier killed in Afghanistan will hold a special Armistice Day service tomorrow.

Children at Bishop Perowne CE College will pay tribute to Pte Jason Williams, who died in an explosion in Helmand Province in August.

Pte Williams, of Sunnyside Road, Barbourne, was serving with the 2nd Battalion Mercian Regiment (Worcesters and Foresters), when he was killed aged 23 while trying to retrieve the body of an Afghan National Army warrior.

As well as Pte Williams, pupils will take time to remember Tony Ballard, also a former pupil, who drowned in the river Severn in June.

The 17-year-old adopted son of the Rev Duncan Ballard – vicar of St Mark’s, Cherry Orchard, and his wife Ellie, had dived into the river to cool off with friends.

Tony had left Bishop Perowne and was studying at Worcester College of Technology when he died.

Youngsters will also pay tribute to Lance Corporal Tom Neathway, another former pupil, who lost both his legs and an arm while fighting in Afghanistan last year.

L/Cpl Neathway was serving with 2 Para in Afghanistan last year when he accidentally detonated a booby-trap bomb hidden beneath a sandbag.

The critically ill paratrooper spent weeks at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham before being moved to the defence medical rehabilitation centre at Headley Court.

L/Cpl Neathway, formerly of Astwood Road, Worcester, but who now lives in a Worcestershire village, had 13 major operations and his heart stopped three times during his stay at Selly Oak.

The families of all three men have been invited to the service. Fourteen-year-old George Sansome, a member of the school’s student worship team, helped organise the event.

“All of the performances and poems will be given by students,” he said. “We will hear the Last Post and Reveille.

“It’s not just a service to remember those who have died in war, it’s also for the former Bishop Perowne students who have been killed this year. It should be a very moving day.”

l Meanwhile a small group of pupils and staff were today gathering at Pershore High School to remember past pupils who died during the Second World War.

The service, led by the Rev Kenneth Crawford, from Pershore Abbey, was due to be attended by members of the Royal British Legion and civic dignitaries.

Headteacher Clive Corbett said: “We will remember the 22 men who died in the Second World War and whose names are on the roll of honour, but we will also think of those pupils who are now serving with the Mercian Regiment.”