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St Edward’s:
150 Years
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Chapter 6 / St Edward’s and the Wars
the Auxiliary Cruisers, the Dover Patrol and the North Sea
Minelayers (
Chronicle
).
Four of Warden Hudson’s sons, all at the School, fought
and two were killed; one was too young to fight. Noel Baring
Hudson (D, 1903–12), his fourth son, fought with the Royal
Berkshire Regiment, was wounded at least 15 times and became,
for a short time, the youngest Brigadier in the British Army. He
was awarded a DSO and Bar, MC and Bar and was mentioned in
despatches twice. He was later to become Bishop of Ely.
Geoffrey de Havilland (E, 1898–9) and Louis Arbon Strange
(E, 1905–7) are two of many extraordinary figures during the
war. De Havilland was a pioneer of the Royal Flying Corps
who designed and flew aircraft before the war and both
manufactured for, and served in, the early Royal Flying Corps
itself. He was highly decorated. Strange (who later wrote a
book,
Recollections of an Airman 1910–1930
) was a talented
airman who fought in both world wars. In the Great War his
skills made him successful in the early days of aerial combat
and tactical bombing, and he appeared fearless; he once
found himself over enemy lines dangling from the cockpit
of his upturned plane. It was he who is
said to have flown a
plane between the School Chapel tower and the Beauchamp
Dormitory in 1915. His rebellious nature blazed a trail later
followed by Bader and Warburton in World War II.
In the war of 1914–18, six past head boys were killed:
John Henry Farquhar Wilgress (D, 1890–4), Reginald
Crommelin Popham Blyth (A, 1887–96), George Maurice
Gerald Gillett (A, 1894–1901), (of whom the
Chronicle
says he
was ‘one of the most delightful and deservedly popular men
who ever went to St Edward’s’), Oswald Charles Blencowe
(E, 1902–8), George Howard Bickley (A, 1906–11) and Charles
Sherriff Ranson (C, 1909–15).
Given the dreadful losses
,
the School Council took up the
advice of the Prince of Wales to schools to raise funds for War
Memorials. At St Edward’s the target was £10,000 to provide
for a Calvary in an extended cloisters, to fund the education
at reduced fees of the sons of fallen OSE, to provide a new
By October 1914 the
Chronicle
reported that 170 past and
present pupils were serving in the Army and Navy. The first
death was that of Robert Burton Parker (Roll No 772, 1890–2),
who had survived the Boer War but was killed at the Battle
of the Aisne. It seems invidious to mention individuals, but
such stories give a flavour of the national determination and
resilience of the time, reinforced by life at St Edward’s. One
such individual was Charles Grey (Roll No 705, 1888–91), who
was badly wounded when serving in Nyasaland with the King’s
African Rifles and had to have his left arm amputated above
the elbow. The
Chronicle
says ‘he made a good recovery and
cabled that he hoped to be fit for duty again in a month.’ He
did indeed return, after a short period working at the Admiralty
in London, and was awarded the Military Cross in 1918.
The
Times Educational Supplement
of November 1914
reported that St Edward’s, together with three other schools,
headed the list of all schools in the country with 100 per cent
enlistment from the OTC of those eligible. A special Litany took
place at Matins on Fridays in Chapel when Warden Ferguson
read the casualty lists to the congregation. These losses were
particularly poignant when so many had recently sat in that
very Chapel themselves as pupils. The names of men lost were
recorded in the panelling in the nave. Few families were left
untouched. The ‘War List’ in the
Chronicle
appeared regularly
in each wartime edition, and the final figure of OSE who
fought was over 700. The St Edward’s count of medals and
other awards for the Great War
,
recorded by Wilfrid Cowell,
was one CB, four CMG, one KCIE, 20 DSO, 40 MC, four
DFC, three AFC, two DCM, three CBE, 18 OBE, one MBE and
seven ‘Special Promotions’. There were also 132 mentioned in
despatches and 20 further foreign awards.
During the hostilities there were OSE in every theatre of
the war including France, Belgium, Italy, Gallipoli, Salonika,
the Asia Minor Coast, Palestine, the Suez Canal, Africa, Egypt,
Sudan, Somaliland, German East Africa and South East Nigeria,
North Russia, Asia, Aden, Mesopotamia, India, the North
West Frontier, Burma, Tsingtau, the Falklands, the Adriatic,
the Persian Gulf, the West African Coast and the Dardanelles.
They had also served in the Grand Fleet, the Atlantic Fleet,
Set E 1913: Back row (left to right): R.N. Dixey, P.J.C. Simpson, H.G. Williamson,
W.K. Hudson, J.P.R. Bridson; Seated (left to right): L.M.H. Paget, C.S. Green,
L.Davies(SetTutor),G.H.Segar,G.H.Paget;Onground(lefttoright):A.W.Dolby,
J.C. Hyde, W.H. Dore.
All of this group fought in the Great War. L. Davies, P.J.C. Simpson,
H.G. Williamson, J.P.R. Bridson, J.C. Hyde, W.H. Dore were killed.
W.K. Hudson, S.H. Paget and G.H. Segar were all wounded.
Christmas card from
C.C. Prior, (B, 1906–12),
1917.
Above: OTC camp
1913.
Right: Part of Warden
Sing’s window in the
Chapel.
Robert Burton Parker (772, 1890–2),
the first OSE killed in the Great War.
Noel BaringHudson (D, 1903–12).