Jaime brings her family history to life

A budding Historian has produced some exceptional work about the home front.  Jaime Gilpin, a Year 9 student, went above and beyond, not only making one of the recipes referred to in the task but also spending time doing a lot of amazing family research.

Jaime tackled the recipe for ‘Lord Woolton’s pie’ and was delighted with the results.  Lord Woolton was the Minister for Food at the time and the pie was made with home-grown ingredients that were available during the war which, due to rationing, were few and far between.  Jaime said: “The pie was made with oats, marmite, flour and vegetables, including cauliflower, parsnips, carrots, potatoes, spring onions. It was remarkably tasty and quite satisfying!”

Jaime really enjoyed her research project and said: “It was really interesting to discover that Kaye Gilpin my Great, Great Uncle served as a Lieutenant in first the Green Howards and then the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Regiment, during World War 2.  I found that he fought in Burma during the war. The photographs I uncovered show a poignant image of him being kissed goodbye at Richmond Station as he headed to war. There is also a lovely shot of him on his wedding day when he married Ethel Newman.  I am very proud that his medals are on display in the Green Howards Museum in Richmond.”

Mrs Mawer, Lead Teacher for History, said: I was particularly impressed with Jaime’s work because she made it very personal to her. By finding out about her own family’s story in the Second World War and making one of the wartime ration recipes, she made it come more to life, gaining a better understanding about what it was like for people at the time.”