Jon Beard, a former long-serving teacher at Saltus Grammar School, fondly recalled two ex-pupils who perished in the Twin Towers terror attack.

He also remembered the day in detail while working at the school 25 years ago.

Mr Beard, who devoted more than 40 years to Saltus, said: “I was teaching down in the swimming pool and a colleague came across to tell me what happened. But just prior to that a massive military plane had flown over the top of us towards the airport.

“Then two minutes later another one came by which was unusual to say the least.

“My colleague then said this terrible thing had happened in New York and, of course, this was before iPhones so none of us really knew what was going on for a while.

“ … we got the students out and into the classroom when more came through and we were glued to the radio, and then TV when we got home.

“It was something none of us would believe could happen and a massive shock to us.

“It was compounded a few days later when we found out that two of our alumni had been victims, Boyd Gatton and Robert Higley.

“Boyd I knew very well from teaching him, but Robert had left before coming to the senior school.

“However, I was told that Robert was just as wonderful a guy as Boyd.

“We had lost two alumni and then we found out that Warwick [Academy] had lost a pupil with the news of Rhondelle Tankard’s death.

“So for Bermuda to lose three young people like that was an awful situation and makes it very personal for everybody.”

Mr Beard spent 25 years as head of physical education, ten years as head of Saltus Graduate Years, two years as director of alumni relations and seven years as the head teacher responsible for advancement.

He added that Mr Gatton was “one of life’s great characters”.

Mr Beard said: “He was around at the same time as Dexter Smith, who became the Editor of TheRoyal Gazette, and they were similar sort of combative characters.

“Again it was a great loss for all of us when we found out, which was about two or three days later and just when the tragic news of the twin towers was sinking in at that stage although still difficult to believe it was all happening.

“A lot of alumni were calling in to the school asking about it.

“We were at a loss what to do for the best. On the anniversary we thought we should do something and that it was time to recognise the tragedy that everybody suffered, in some way.”

At one of the memorial wreath-laying ceremonies emerged a story that stunned Mr Beard and others.

He explained: “We started pulling the event together and one year we had priests come along from St John’s church.

“We sat around afterwards and I turned to a priest and asked where he was when it happened.

“He replied, ‘Ground Zero’.

“He then told us that he was the priest for that area [of New York] and the person talking to the rescuers and trying to find comfort for them.

“He was still shell-shocked from it all and we didn’t have a word to say as the man had been through so much.”

Mr Beard added: “I have been to the memorial for the Twin Towers and you get the option or opportunity to stencil the name of a person you know and take it away; people have brought back Boyd’s name and we have put it in a frame.”

He said: “I think as it approaches the 25th anniversary that it is good that people are still talking about it because people are still hurting and are grieving.”