Boys at a London private school held a personal tribute to Lee Rigby after getting to know him at a series of army cadet camps.
A group of teenagers at £15,000 a year Haberdashers’ Aske’s boys’ school were so moved by his death that they organised their own memorial service to Mr Rigby, who had worked with pupils at the Elstree school for three years.
Mr Rigby’s regiment, the Royal Fusiliers, has been linked with the school’s Combined Cadet Force since 1914 and he accompanied pupils on training exercises.
Dr Peter Spence, the school’s director of external relations, said: “He touched the lives of both a great many individuals and the CCF army section as a whole.
“At every turn his first thought was to help and encourage the cadets he was working with. That affection was something that was reciprocated and will endure within the memory of our CCF.”
Dr Spence added that Mr Rigby was considered an “exceptional” CCF instructor who was popular with the boys.
The school opened a book of remembrance and gave pupils the chance to light a candle in the school chapel on Friday.
