King's Library - Remembering the fallen of King's

King’s boys’ role in the war was significant: 1008 served; 173 were killed; 169 wounded and 312 decorated in recognition of their service. In 1914 the roll call at King’s was 294 students which gradually rose to 357 by 1918.

The Memorial Library was founded as part of the School’s commemoration of the lives of the Old Boys who were killed in the First World War. The other part was the bronze statue on the stone plinth which records the names of the fallen.

The stone Memorial and the Memorial Library were respectively unveiled and declared open at ceremonies held on 21st October 1921.

To commemorate the centenary and the creation of our library, this year the librarians have organised a special exhibition in order to give an insight into the experiences of the King’s boys during WWI, as described by them. This was the culmination of an extensive research project undertaken by the Librarian Mrs Mavin into the King’s fallen of the Great War.

On top of charting the key events affecting Kings’ boys throughout the duration of the war, we also invited all our current students and staff to share with us the stories of their ancestors during the Great War. Finally, the exhibition also covered other aspects of the conflict such as medical innovations, the contribution of women to the war effort, literature and war poetry, life in the trenches, the contribution of the Commonwealth troops and a look at the recruitment process and the war propaganda.

KCS school logo in 1914

First World War 1914-1918

Less than three months after the outbreak of World War One the first King’s Old Boy, Lieutenant Geoffrey Blemell Pollard was killed. He was killed in action at the Battle of Le Bassée on 24th October 1914, aged 26. His father Alfred Pollard, who was also educated at King's, published Geoffrey's letters from the front 'for friends', a photocopy of the book can be found in the Memorial Library. He also wrote a book about Geoffrey and his other son Roger, who was also killed during the war. In addition he wrote to the Wimbledon Borough News and this letter was published in the School Magazine of December 1914. Alfred comments in the letter "It seems to me that a rightly organized community would look for some account of how one of its members played his small part and met his death in the war..." We are grateful to Mr. Pollard for recording his son's experiences and to the Old Boys of King's for writing to their 'alma mater' recalling their encounters, as a hundred years on we are able to reflect on their lives at that time and indeed see how members of our community played their part in the conflict. Over 1000 Old Boys of King's fought in the First World War and 173 met their death. The anniversary of the end of the war seems an opportune time to remember Geoffrey

During this section we explore the lighter, playful, often comic tone of the letters. For a while we should forget that any of these men were later to die. We are getting to know them and enjoy their company.