TEENAGERS Luke Ratcliffe and Raphaël Kersalé took boxing lessons to star in their school play.
The Horsforth School students, both 14, performed a staged boxing bout at the end of the production A Tale of Two Jacks, watched by about 400 people in total.They were trained by fellow student Muay Thai champion boxer Finlay Smith.
Luke said: “I played Jack Banks a young Leeds boxer who’s quite a hard lad, but anxious about his first fight abroad. He gets the courage he needs from learning about another Jack Banks, who gave his life in the Normandy campaign 75 years ago when aged just 16.”
Raphaël, who played Émile from the French Resistance, said: “The real hero of the play is of course Jack Banks and we will be honoured to lay a wreath at his grave during our school visit to Normandy late August.”
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