WORLD WAR I CENTENARY
Geoffrey Holland Thornhill (1907 L) In the winter of 1914, he and his company had 32 days in the front trenches without a rest; he was really in the thick of the early fighting, was twice wounded and invalided home in January 1915. He recovered sufficiently to be put in command of Labour Companies, first in the Isle of Wight and then at Didcot. While there, he was taken ill with pneumonia on 6th May and died at a military hospital in Oxford four days later.
John Lancelot Tillotson (1914 L)
Palestine, Egypt and France. He was awarded The Military Cross for gallant conduct in Palestine. Later in the war, however, he was badly gassed, and his lungs were seriously affected. In the hope that the climate would bring about the desired improvement in his health, Captain Tuke went out to South Africa in 1919. Too energetic to be content with an idle life, he worked when he should have rested, and he died in 1919 at the early age of 29.
Thomas Bernard Wiltshire (1909 L)
He was hit by machine gun fire while leading his platoon in an attack between Monchy and Scarpe.
Killed by a shell which landed on the house where he was billeted. He had been in the wireless section of the Royal Air Force, but was attached to the Royal Field Artillery stationed near Amiens.
Geoffrey Foveaux Trenow MC (1906 L)
Robert Philip Wilson (1912 L)
He joined the army soon after the outbreak of war and went to France in January 1917.The part he took in the attack on Bullecourt gained him The Military Cross. He fell, leading his men, in the Battle of Menin Road.
Bryan Montague Tuke MC (1909 L)
He was part of the second landing at Suvla Bay on 7th August. When all had assembled on the beach, they were marched off to their objective, the hill known locally as Lala Baba. A charge up the hill was ordered and fighting went on all day and it was close to midnight before the hill was wrested from the Turkish defenders. Wilson was killed in this conflict and his body never found.
He died in Jamestown, South Africa. As a captain he saw considerable service during the war in Gallipoli, Serbia, Macedonia,
The OSA Centenary Bell Will Radford (Staff 2015-)
A
s part of the School’s World War I centenary commemorations, the Old Suttonians’ Association will be funding the purchase and installation of a new bell, to be placed on the front of the Chapel, facing North Street. The OSA Centenary Bell will measure 28” (710mm) in diameter and will weigh 209kgs. Installation will take place in the coming months. The bell will be heard frequently, and regularly, throughout the School year marking significant events of historical importance including Speech Day and Founder’s Day. It will be unveiled during a ceremony on Friday 9th November as part of the School’s centenary commemorations. In addition to the bell, the OSA has also purchased two ‘Tommies’ - 6ft silhouette statues which will be on guard at the Chapel in the weeks leading up to Armistice Day each year. The statues are part of the national ‘There But Not There’ campaign, which has seen them used in locations including Waterloo Station, the Tower of London and the Giant’s Causeway. The intention is that they will serve as a reminder of the sacrifice made by Old Suttonians in all conflicts.
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