11 November 2008 marks the 90^th anniversary of the Armistice, which brought the First World War to an end

Have you ever wondered who the men were behind the names listed on the School Honours Boards?

There are 377 names on the Honours Board. Of these, 264 were killed in the First World War, and 113 were killed in Second World War.

The number of boys on Alleyn’s School roll at this time was c.700.

 

Schoolmasters at Alleyn’s

 

The following items refer to the First World War

 

How many boys joined up?

1,863, of whom, 574 held commissions [‘officer rank’] (EA Magazine, December 1919)

Of the 51 prefects who went to war, nine did not return.

 

1^st Cricket XI with Pte Sydney Huntley and 2^nd Lt Reginald Prescott,

both of whom were killed in the war

 

The lucky pupils who fought and survived the War returned to Alleyn’s to continue their education from where they left off. It must have been strange for those concerned and stranger still for those of normal school age to have full grown men beside them in the classroom.

 

How old were they?

Where ages are known, the average age of the Old Boys killed in the First World War was 24, although the largest group of men (x 24) were only 20 years of age.

The youngest Old Boy to die was Rifleman B Harold Fowler of 19 Ardbeg Road, who was 16 when he was killed on 17 May 1915. (At the start of the war, volunteers had to be aged 19-30 to join the British Army.)

The oldest were Cpl Percy Dunlop and Pte Edward S Hornblower who were 43 and both died in hospital (of fever and pneumonia respectively) towards the end of the war. In April 1918 the minimum and maximum ages of conscripts was extended to 17-55. 

Cpl Percy Dunlop had enlisted in September 1914 and almost survived the war. He died in October 1918 and is buried in Mikra British Cemetery in Kalamaria, Greece.

Pte Edward Hornblower’s name on the Honours Boards is thought to have inspired Alleyn’s Old Boy, the writer CS Forester (real name Cecil LT Smith)’s name for Horatio Hornblower.

Who was the first to die on active service?

 The first Old Boy to have been killed in the War was Pte Ronald Symmons (18) who died on 1 November 1914. He lived at ‘Struan’, 506 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich.

 …and the last?

 The last Old Boy to die on active service was Lt Cecil G Nice (23) on 19 February 1920 – from an illness contracted in Mesopotamia; he is buried in West Norwood Cemetery.  He lived at 8 Lanercost Road, Tulse Hill.

 

Which regiments were they in?

The regiments with most Alleyn’s Old Boys were the various battalions of the London Regiment (76), Royal Fusiliers (14), Honourable Artillery Company (13), Royal Field Artillery Co (11), Royal Flying Corps (10), RAF (6). There was one Old Boy from Peckham, Capt Alexander C Anderson (35) who served in the Army Veterinary Corps.

Ten were in the First Surrey Rifles (part of the London Regiment). The First Surrey Rifles had a long connection with Alleyn's CCF. When the regiment was disbanded in the 1960s, quite a few items from the battalion were presented to the Alleyn's CCF, which it still has, e.g. the engraved silver bugles which are used at the School’s Remembrance Sunday parade. The ceremonial uniforms of the First Surrey Rifles were also housed in the School's officer's mess for many years until they were transferred to the Army Museum in Chelsea in the early 1990s.

Pte Percy Frost (22), a Roper’s man, went farming in Canada and joined a Canadian contingent (see picture below). Seven Old Boys joined Canadian forces, four joined the Australian forces and one was in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade.

 

Pte Frost, killed in 1917

Where are they buried?

Alleyn’s war dead are buried and remembered in many military cemeteries, mostly in Belgium and France. The largest group of Alleyn’s Old Boys are at Thiepval (27), with the second largest group being at Arras (19).

There are some who were buried closer to home at West Norwood Cemetery and Crematorium (6), Lambeth (Tooting) Cemetery, Lewisham (Ladywell) Cemetery and Nunhead. These Old Boys would have probably have died back in England from wounds sustained at the Front, like 2^nd Lt Walter Jacobi, of 83 Stradella Road, Herne Hill (see picture below). He died of wounds ‘sustained in the Great Push, in the Research Hospital, Cambridge, and was buried with full military honours at Norwood on October 25th. Jacobi was for eight years a scholar at the School and was the type of boy which a school is proud to turn out.'

 

2^nd Lt Jacobi died from injuries

Others are buried further afield in Italy, Malta, Egypt, Turkey, Poland, Iraq, Palestine and Nigeria.

How did they die?

Alleyn’s War dead were not all killed on the battlefield. Many died of disease, e.g. malaria, influenza, pneumonia; others died as a result of their wounds. 2^nd Lt Beavan Jenkins who served in the RAF, was shot down in the German lines. His left leg was badly injured and amputation was necessary. The EA Magazine reports that he ‘died of the shock’ [of the amputation].

Others were victims of accidents: Leslie Jones (Brading’s, 1912-15), ‘entered the Merchant Service as an apprentice and, on one of his voyages in a munition ship, he was unfortunately washed overboard and drowned.’ Sgt Douglas Elphick was killed after spending ‘many arduous and strenuous days at the Front’ in a troop train accident in France on January 1917, while on his way to St Omer for a course of instruction preparatory to taking up a commission.

 

 

The years which saw the heaviest casualties were 1916 with 70 killed, and 1917 with 79 killed. In 1916, the heaviest months of casualties were in July with 22 killed (13 alone on the first day of the Battle of the Somme on 1 July), and 16 killed in October (continuation of the Somme). In 1917, the heaviest month of casualities was October when 14 were killed (Passchendaele).

Are any of the Old Boys on the Boards related to each other?

There are four sets of brothers:

·        Arthur & Harold Lovell of 4 Brackley Road, Beckenham

·        Henry & John Partridge of 83 Pendle Road, Streatham; Henry and John died within months of each other in the last year of the war, 14 July and 27 October 1918 respectively.

·        Cyril & Eric Russell of Trevonne Lodge, 196 Court Lane, Dulwich, and

·        Eric & Leonard Shinkfield. Poignantly, in both of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s entries for the Shinkfield brothers, reference is made of the other’s brother having died in the War.

 In the death notice for Lt Leonard Bartlett (20) of 1 College Road, the magazine reports that Lt Bartlett’s father, the College Bookseller, ‘has six sons in the King’s Forces’.

 

Were any Old Boys given military honours?

Sgt Eric Brand, of 28 Dovercourt Road, received the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). He was 20 years’ old. At Alleyn’s he was House Captain of Roper’s.

Sgt Brand DCM

 

The Roper’s House book register states: ‘One of the very best type of boy. Straightforward and gentlemanly to a degree & popular with all.’ It also records the words of Capt S Davies: ‘…He had charge of a platoon and led them with great courage, determination and skill, and the success of the day was due in no small measure to his good work. He was easily my best NCO. I was about to recommend him for a commission: he deserved it.’

Amongst the Alleyn’s Old Boys there are nine who were decorated with the Military Cross (MC). Their ages, where known, are shown in brackets:

·        Lt John E Appleyard; he was the School Captain at the outbreak of the War (20)

·        2^nd Lt Geoffrey Askew of 62 Drewstead Road, Streatham (22)

·        2^nd Lt Frederick P Beagley of 20 Thurlstone Road, W Norwood (20)

·        Capt Francis R Cubbon (24)

·        Lt Archibald Dean

·        Sjt Maj Sydney Jones

·        Maj John E Maynard

·        Lt Alexander Revel Tod of 6 Baldry Gardens, Streatham Common (25)

·        Capt Edgar Westcott of 3 Cedars Road, Beckenham (25)

 

Lt Revel Tod MC’s grave at Caix Communal Cemtery, Somme

 

The Military Cross

 

The Military Cross (MC) is granted in recognition of ‘an act or acts of exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy on land to all members, of any rank…’.

Pte George Cooper of Herne Hill received the Military Medal (MM). He was 23. The MM was (until 1993) a military decoration awarded to personnel of the British Army and other services below commissioned rank, for bravery in battle on land.

Five were ‘Mentioned in Despatches’ (a ‘despatch’ is an official report from a senior commander to his superiors, detailing the conduct of military operations. If a subordinate officer or soldier performs a noteworthy action included in the report, he/she is said to have been ‘mentioned in despatches’):

·        Capt Donald Aucutt of 179 Denmark Hill

·        Lt Col Eric Bowden of 135 Ivydale Road, Nunhead (24)

·        2^nd Lt Alfred Hubbard of 78 Arodene Road, Brixton Hill (20)

·        Cpl Walter Legrove of 87 Lion Street, Walworth (23)

·        Sgt William Mansell (27).

There were many Alleyn’s Old Boys who received military honours, including the MC, who survived the war.

How did Alleyn’s remember its war dead?

 

Unveiling of the Honours Board by Lt Col Kirby, VC, in 1922

 

In 1922 the School organ was installed as a memorial to the war dead and the Honours Boards were unveiled in the Great Hall under the School organ balcony. The boards (along with the Boer War memorial plaque) were re-sited to their current position in the corridor behind the Great Hall in the 1970s. The names are also commemorated in the Foundation Chapel, along with the names of the war dead of Dulwich College.

 

 

Additional plaque for Alleyn’s War Dead,

Foundation Chapel, Dulwich Village

 

Edward Alleyn Magazine

At the start of the War, the Edward Alleyn Magazine proudly lists those who joined HM Forces and wishes them ‘God speed’ and ‘Happy Hunting!’ at the Front. Many OBs and staff sent letters to the editor of the magazine giving accounts of their war-time experiences. In the issue of April 1917, the following message appeared: ‘We can assure the writers [OBs fighting in the War] that news from them is indeed welcome, and that the letters are passed from hand to hand and read and appreciated by many more than those to whom they were originally addressed.’

One desperate father resorted to submitting what is a heart-rending plea for information of his son in the magazine. ‘Among those reported missing is Rifleman FJR Poynor (Cribb's), who was with a Lewis Gun section of the Queen's Westminsters, cut off by the Germans at Gavrelle, near Arras, on March 28th. Any information as to his fate will be gratefully received by his father, Mr GE Poynor, 11 Perry Vale, Forest Hill, S.E.’ In a later issue (April 1919) the magazine records that Rifleman FJR Poyner was ‘reported missing March 28th, 1918, was engaged, on that date, with a Lewis Gun detachment in holding a water post at Gavrelles, near Arras, and is now presumed to have fallen.

 

 

 

As casualties rose, each issue became a roll call of the dead. The death toll became so high that in May 1916, the magazine was forced to alert readers that ‘many appreciative notices of several of those whose names appear in this [casualty] list have been received, and we regret much that space will not permit us to insert them. These brave patriots deserve fully every word of appreciation that has been written of them.’

 

Background stories from the archives

Lt Col Eric Bowden’s headstone is inscribed with the additional information: ‘…Promoted on the field of action from 2^nd Lieutenant, he was one of the youngest Colonels in the British Army.’

Pte Arthur R Boxall 'was only just 19 yrs of age and had joined his regiment shortly before Christmas [1914]. He left England on March 18th and was soon in the trenches. The 24th took part with other units in a big fight on May 25th, when some German trenches which had defied our troops for some time were taken. In this action the regiment suffered terrible losses, but Boxall survived that awful day, only to be shot dead by a sniper next morning when on sentry-go.'

 

 

Rifleman Joseph Cooper (30), of 107 Underhill Road, East Dulwich, was 'reported wounded and missing October 22nd, 1916, at Thiepval, was lost in No Man's Land when searching for a commrade. It is now assumed that he was killed.’

2^nd Lt Philip F Cross (20) of 15 Holmdene Avenue, Herne Hill, is described in the Roper’s House book as ‘one of the best. Sound character. Open & frank disposition: good sportsman. He came last on a visit to School the summer he was killed, and brought a couple of cricket balls, which he thought “might be useful to the House”.’ The EA Magazine reports that 2^nd Lt Cross 'was left wounded on the ground in front of the German lines in the early morning of July 22nd, 1916, and hope was entertained that he might still be living a prisoner in enemy hands but a recent communication received by his parents from the War Office presumes his death as from the date above mentioned. Cross was a distinguished member of Roper's... [he] left us with the promise of a happy and successful career before him.'

Pte Victor H Heron’s (22) CWGC record reports that he was ‘educated at Alleyn's School, where he won athletic championship. He matriculated London University. Assisted in Wellcome Research Laboratories in making anti-tetanus serum for troops.’ His School report says: ‘Fine manly boy of powerful and most attractive personality, willing at all times to give of his best for the honour and good name of [Roper’s] House and School. As honest as the day, thoroughly trustworthy, and dependable. It is with the greatest regret and sorrow that we receive the news of his death on October 30th 1917. Killed at Passchendaele Ridge.’ The record also quotes from a letter Pte Heron wrote to his younger brother telling him the secret to survival at the Front: ‘Above all things be cheerful…. The most cheerful man is the most happy…. You cannot go far wrong if you do everything cheerfully and willingly….I am just realising too the value of games, and am now only too thankful that I spent more than a share of my time at School at games. There is no doubt out here that the man who has kept himself fit by playing games sticks it the best.’

Many families had to face more than one tragic death. 2^nd Lt A Douglas Hunter (32) of 10 Northanger Road, Streatham, was the middle of three brothers. In its death notice for 2^nd Lt Hunter, the magazine touchingly reports that all three brothers ‘had long and honourable careers at the School, and how severe the bereavement in this family is will be seen by the fact that the two brothers, 2nd Lt John Hunter and Capt Ernest Hunter, are home wounded and that Mrs Hunter died within ten days of the sad announcement recorded above.'

Sgt Percy Line (31) of 6 Carden Road, Peckham, was honorary secretary of the Old Boys’ Club. In the December issue of the magazine it reports: 'It is with great sorrow and regret that we chronicle the death of Mr PA Line. He was Honorary Secretary of the Old Boys' Club from October, 1912, till the war broke out, and almost at once he responded to the call… and volunteered for service. He was a Sergeant in his old regiment when death came to him, on September 24th, in the battle raging on the Somme; and his cheery personality is now lost to us for ever. A friend of everyone who knew him, he was a great asset to the Club, to which he devoted so much energy. He was also a prominent member of the "Georgians" Dramatic Society, and the entertaiment he and his friends gave for the benefit of the Benevolent Fund will long be remembered.'

Rifleman William E Powell of Denmark Hill, succeeded Sgt Percy Line as honorary secretary to the Old Boys’ Club. In the same issue in which Sgt Percy’s death was announced, the magazine editor writes 'and now, we learn that his [Sgt Percy’s] immediate successor in the Secretaryship of the Old Boys' Club, Mr WE Powell, has died of wounds in France. Truly the war is being brought home to us in terrible earnest! Mr Powell had for some four or five years been in charge of the Benevolent Fund, to which he had devoted a great amount of time and energy. When Mr Line had to give up the Secretaryship of the Club, he promptly stepped into the breach and carried on both offices until he, in turn, had to join up at the beginning of this year. And now he has again followed Mr Line in giving his life for his country. Quiet, neat and gentle, in everything, it seemed... particularly hard that he should have to endure the rough life of a soldier in war time. His loss will be greatly felt, not only by the Old Boys' Club in general, but by the Cricket Club of which he was a most useful and popular member.'

 

 

In spite of his youth, 2^nd Lt Ernest Lockey (20) of 36 Dovercourt Road, Dulwich, saw very active service. 'Lockey was one of our [Cribb's] Prefects in 1914 and was a boy of considerable ability and initiative. A fellow-officer writes: "Your son died a hero's death. He led his men, taking no thought of his own safety, and with a rifle is known to have accounted for seven Germans before he was killed”.'

Like many of the armed forces, the War allowed many men to see parts of the world that hitherto they would have been unlikely to see. The Partridge Brothers, Henry and John, ended their days at opposite ends of the war arena. Henry 'joined the Inns of Court OTC in 1915, was gazetted to the Royal Sussex, and served in the Palestine campaign. In January 1918 he transferred to the RAF and was killed at Heliopolis in an aeroplane accident.' John, who fought in the Royal Irish Fusiliers, was taken prisoner and kept at work behind the German lines. The magazine reports that ‘when his health gave way under brutal treatment he was sent to Heilsberg, in East Prussia, where he died in hospital on October 28th, 1918. His brother's death was recorded in our last issue.’

Lt A Stanley Paterson (29) was Assistant Master at Cathedral School, Truro. His war-time experiences are especially bittersweet given his merciful encounter with an Alleyn’s Old Boy. Lt Paterson 'died of wounds at Salonica…. He was wounded and taken prisoner by the Bulgars at Doiran. When the Bulgar retreat became a rout he was abandoned and suffered greatly. His last hours were comforted by the kind attentions and ministrations of another Old Boy, the Rev EC Hudson, CF, who also had the sad satisfaction of burying him Karasuli Military Cemetery.'

By December 1916, the magnitude of the deaths was hitting home. The magazine reports the deaths of the Shinkfield brothers. 'It was only in our last magazine that we had to announce the death on active service of Eric Shinkfield, and today it is our sad duty to have to record the death, also on active service, of his eldest brother, Leonard Shinkfield. Thus two brothers out of three have died the deaths of heroes for England, and if blood be the price of security surely this family has paid in full.'

Lt Gordon Smith (29) of 21 Gairloch Road, Camberwell, '…had been sent with a company on a bombing expedition to clear out of a trench some picked German troops who were giving great trouble. The situation became very warm, but Lt Smith and his men held on. At length, in order to give confidence to his men, so that they could see him, he bravely exposed himself and was sniped through the heart. His CO writes: "…His heart and soul were for his men and the interests of his company. He behaved with great gallantry".’

Rifleman Henry L Townley (24), of Roper's, left Alleyn’s in 1909. 'On leaving Alleyn's he went to a college in Brunswick to acquire a more thorough knowledge of German. When war broke out he was with Messrs Mathias and Carot and left this firm to join the Queen's Westminsters. He was severely wounded at the battle of the Somme, but managed to crawl back to the base, whence he was sent home. He appeared to be a fair way to recovery from his injuries, but meningitis followed upon the head wound he had received and he died somewhat suddenly on June 10th 1917.'

 

NOTES ON THE RESEARCH

Most information has been gleaned from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission online database of records (www.cwgc.org) and the ‘Edward Alleyn (EA) Magazine’, 1914-1920.

• Five of the Alleyn’s war dead have not yet been identified with certainty from these sources [Eric Bristow, Gilbert Hawkins, Charles Judge, Gilbert Leighton, Herbert Snell].
• Three additional names of WW1 war dead were identified in archives [Pte DV Marchant, Pte J. Glen. Slade, Lt HJ Saville].
• A further four are listed on a separate ‘Additional’ honours board at the Foundation Chapel which do not appear on the School’s boards [JL Lightfoot, AH Munns, NR Riddle, R Telfer].

Research will continue to find out more about these men as well as those who were killed in the Second World War.

With thanks to Mr French & Mr Rodway, Archives; Mr Grogan & Mr Harley.