E DUCAT I O N
WORLD WAR 100
I
BY MICHAEL HALE, HISTORY TEACHER AT MERCHANT TAYLORS’ SCHOOL
n this edition, rather than write on current topics of educational controversy, we are devoting our column to an issue that will be at the heart of the teaching of history in independent schools this year. This year marks the centenary of the First World War, a conflict that changed Britain forever. In 2014, Merchant Taylors’ School will commemorate all those who served, and in particular remember the invaluable contribution made by Old Merchant Taylors (OMTs) in a war that we now recognize as the greatest collective undertaking in British history.
DULCE ET DECORUM EST On the eve of war in 1914, the British army was a small, but well-trained fighting force of 247,432 regular officers and men, very different from the mass field armies of France, Russia, and Germany. R.B. Haldane (the Liberal Secretary Of State for War) who created an expeditionary force of six infantry divisions and one large cavalry division had reformed it between 1906 and 1909. In addition, Haldane had sought to improve the training of officers and looked to the public schools of England to provide suitable recruits. From the 1880s, the public schools had been an increasingly rich breeding ground for potential officers and accounted for three-quarters of the Woolwich entry (for the artillery and engineers) and over one-half of the Sandhurst entry (for officers of other arms) in 1896-1900. Haldane hoped that the public schools would play a part in a rejuvenation of the armed forces and the Ward Committee of 1906 advised that existing school cadet corps and university rifle volunteer units should be united to form the Officers’ Training Corps (OTC). Once founded in 1908, they proved immensely popular, and by 1910, there were 152 contingents in the ‘Junior Division’ at schools such as Eton, Haileybury, and Uppingham, and 19 in the ‘Senior Division’ at universities. Following the outbreak of war in the summer of 1914, the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was sent to France. Between the summer and Christmas of that year, the BEF lost 16,200 men killed, 47,707 wounded and another 16,746 missing and taken prisoner. Most of these casualties had been sustained by the regular army, which immediately called for volunteers to enlist. In the next eighteen months, 2,466,719 men answered the call to arms, and between August 1914 and March 1915, 20,577 officers were commissioned from OTCs, whilst it is estimated another 12,290 ex-OTC men were serving in the British Army. The schools had done their job but were fated to be racked by grief, on an unprecedented scale, in recompense.
SOME CORNER OF A FOREIGN FIELD As one of the ‘Great Nine’ schools of England, it was entirely fitting that 6 APRIL2014
Merchant Taylors’ should have a cadet force although its exact origins remain a mystery. While boys were involved in external units from 1878, the official establishment of the Combined Cadet Force (CCF) was not until March 9, 1900. It swiftly became an integral part of school life and flourished in the early years of the twentieth century; many former members of the corps served during the conflict. Throughout the war, precisely 1820 OMTs served, including three recipients of the Victoria Cross, the most highly coveted decoration in the British Armed Forces. Lieutenant J.C. Barrett, Midshipman G.L. Drewry and Captain A.O. Pollard were all awarded VCs for conspicuous bravery, whilst 297 other OMTs received war honours. One in six OMTs were decorated for their services in His Majesty’s Armed Forces. With ghoulish symmetry, approximately one in six OMTs were killed on Active Service too, fearful losses for any school to bear. In addition, 245 were wounded or gassed whilst 297 OMTs died, including the great England rugby union international John Raphael.
WORLD WAR ONE HUNDRED To commemorate the centenary of the First World War and the part played by Merchant Taylors’ School in the conflict, the School is inaugurating a series of events – World War 100 – which will run for four years. They include creating an interactive online resource where today’s boys will research OMTs who served in the conflict, and where families with historic links to the school can upload information about the involvement of their ancestors. There will also be an emphasis on the role of Empire, reflecting the rich cultural diversity of Merchant Taylors’ today: over 8,500,000 men from all corners of the earth served in the British Army in the First World War. In addition, we will host Max Hastings, author of ‘Catastrophe: Europe Goes to War’ this April 30, undertake trips to the Imperial War Museum in conjunction with our annual visits to the Somme, host art exhibitions, drama workshops and productions, major concerts, poetry recitals, cross-curricular learning and undertake historical scholarship. Finally, we will utilize the School, OMT & Merchant Taylors’ Company archives to create a Book of Remembrance for all OMTs who served in World War 1. It is our aim to bequeath a legacy to the next generation of OMTs, and we hope that they will understand, honour, and remember the sacrifices made by their predecessors one hundred years ago: “Time, like an ever rolling stream, bears all its sons away; they fly, forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day”. We will never forget them.