STUDENTS acted as wounded soldiers, doctors and nurses in specially made hospital beds as part of their college’s armistice commemoration service.

William Baldwin, 40, principal of Brighton, Hove and Sussex VI Form College (Bhasvic) said: “We have had the beds out all week set up as a military hospital and it has been a powerful and immersive experience for students.

“We want to remember the victims from all conflicts and I think it is really important that we don’t lose touch with our past as it wasn’t that long ago.

“One hundred years ago these beds were real and the soldiers whose names are on these walls had families and friends.”

The service was held in the hall at Bhasvic in Dyke Road, Hove, and included a reading of the poem In Flanders Fields, a march through the hall by student cadets, a performance of The Last Stand by a student bugle player and the laying of two wreaths, one by a current student and another by a past student.

The former student, Christopher Bennett, 69, laid one of the wreaths and said: “I was here in the 1960s in the boarding house and for many years this school was my home.

“I thought the commemoration was really moving and tastefully done and, whilst we remember the First World War generation who died in their thousands, we must not forget that people are still dying in conflicts now.”

The service also had two standard bearers, one from the cadets and another from the Brighton and Hove City Royal British Legion.

Standard bearer Lewis Dickinson, 58, said: “I think it’s really important that we carry on remembering the soldiers who sacrificed themselves.

“I have been a standard bearer for many years and have never been to this school, but it was a brilliant service.”

The 14 beds were made by estate manager Lester Grice based on photographs from the war period, which were displayed around the hall.

The 44-year-old said: “We looked to get as close to the original metal frames as possible using pipes, and all the bedding we have used will be given to a homeless charity.

“The service itself was fantastic and the students have been so respectful all week, the soldiers and cadets marching in made it all feel real.”