Smith drops rugby from curriculum

Headmaster Malcolm Smith drops rugby from the school's sports curriculum in 1957.

School for snobs?

Letters from the School and Collingbourne in response to a Woking News and Mail article.

Rigby Hardaker retires

Rigby Hardaker retires in 1972.

Smith appointed Headmaster

Malcolm Smith appointed Head in 1951.

School play 1954

The Prodigious Snob, the school play in 1954.

New head meets parents

Mr Smith the new headmaster, and his wife meet the parents in 1951.

School play 1953

The Government Inspector, the school play in 1953. Front page news!

Chairman of Governors

• 1914-1917 T. Ivor Moore (killed in German air raid on London in 1917)
• 1917 H. A. Whitburn acted as Governor for a short period.
• 1917-1922 W. R. Skeet
• 1922 Rev. Canon E. R. Price Devereux (resigned after a few months)
• 1922-1925 C. E. Howlett
• 1925-1928 E. W. Shipton
• 1928-1931 F. Derry
• 1931-1934 Sir Lawrence Halsey
• 1934 W. R. Skeet acted temporarily
• 1934-1935 Dr. W. Duncan
• 1935-1938 Rev. Canon J. C. Banham
• 1938-1947 W. Davies
• 1947-1956 Rev. F. A. Woodard
• 1956-1962 R. G. Beldam
• 1962-1973 A. G. Evershed
• 1973-1977 Mrs. M. E. Richardson

A brief history of the school

A brief history of the school published in the final school magazine in 1976.

1914 - School opens in September. Joshua Holden as Headmaster, with 48 boys and 3 masters.
1915 - School cadet corps is formed.
1916 - Houses introduced. North, south, east and west depending on where boys lived.
1918 - Old Boys association formed.
1919 - First issue of the school magazine (price 9d). 320 Boys on register.
1921 - A. D. Campbell becomes Second Master.
1922 - T. D. Threadgold , School Captain, becomes first boy to win Open University Scholarship. He was last of the original intake and in 1950 became the first old boy to be appointed governor. First Old Boys dinner, parents cricket match, French exchange.
1923 - Loop Road sports field bought for £450 to replace the recreation ground.
1924 - Parent's Association formed.
1925 - A. F. Pool becomes the first old boy to graduate (London).
1929 - The pavilion opens at Loop Road.
1930 - H. Stewart-Brown becomes Hon. Sec. of the Parents Association.
1932 - A. D. Campbell becomes Chairman of Woking U.D.C. The school motto 'Justly, Skillfully, Magnanimously' is adopted from Milton's tractate on education. The houses are renamed Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins and Nelson. J. Holden retires as head to be succeeded by W. J. Huggins.
1933 - School badge of a winged torch is adopted. Drama society formed.
1935 - Boxing introduced.
1937 - S. Swallow gains schools first open exhibition to Cambridge.
1938 - W. J. Huggins leaves to be replaced as Head by G. H. Lester.
1939-1945 - School shares with Wandsworth Grammar School.
1939 - A. H. Jones retires after 21 years service as master.
1940 - L. Walker, Physics Master, dies after 21 years service.
1941 - Air Training Corps formed. E. F. Hamer, Maths Master, retires after 22 years service.
1942 - G. H. Lester, Head since 1938, dies.
1943 - G. S. Humphreys becomes Headmaster.
1944 - H. Goldring, English Master for 24 years, dies.
1946 - 494 Boys on register.
1947 - E. W. Tong, Chemistry Master, retires after 21 years. First post war French exchange.
1948 - A. D. Campbell retires after 33 years. E. J. Leury, Maths Master, retires after 30 years service. Rigby Hardaker appointed Second Master. School play, The Merchant of Venice, taken to Norway and performed in front of the Norwegian Royal Family. New kitchen and dining hall opened.
1949 - R. V. Church retires after 31 years as producer of the school play. Stage curtains and procenium provided as a tribute to his work. The carved oak chair, table, lectern, bible and plaque presented as a war memorial bu members of the school, parents association and old boys is dediocated by Canon Banham.
1950 - H. Stewart Brown retires after 30 years of service. Electric organ presented by Mrs Lester in memory of her son is dedicated by the Bishop of Guildford. Staff/Parents receptions begin. School loses by one point in BBC Radio's Top of the Form.
1951 - G. S. Humphries leaves as headmaster to be replaced by M. P. Smith.
1953 - Mrs E. M. Botten retires after 35 years service.
1954 - First school trek lead by the Headmaster.
1956 - First German exchange.
1958 - New library opened.
1959 - K. Fudge takes over leadership of school treks.
1960 - School roll reaches 503. New chemistry block opens. School field at Loop Road extended over adjacent allotments.
1961 - M. P. Smith leaves as headmaster and is replaced by J. L. Goode. Canon Banham retires from the governing body after 33 years.
1962 - A. G. Evershed is succeeded by R. G. Beldam as Chairman of Governors.
1963 - School raises £614 in aid of World Freedom From Hunger. School loses by one point in BBC TV Top Of The Form. First ski holiday.
1964 - Jubilee fete and service of thanksgiving. J. C. Moore retires after 10 years of service, H. L. Savage retires after 16 years of service. First French exchange with La Chaux-De-Fonds.
1967 - J. W. Gray, head of Modern Languages dies after 24 years of service.
1968 - R. Root retires after 16 years service, G. H. K. Minney retires after 23 years service. Dr R. J. Otter, head of mathematics retires after 18 tears of service. J. Kirk, school caretaker for 19 years dies.
1969 - J. C. Everleigh, head of art retires after 35 years service.
1970 - R. G. Beldam retires from Board of Governors after 14 years of service.
1971 - 'Kite' is published, a 16 page photo-litho offset experimental magazine. L. C. B. Seaman, head of History Department retires after 11 years. C. J. Talbot retires as editor of 'The Wokingian' after 17 years.
1972 - Announcement made that school would close in July 1976. Miss J. E. Allberry retires after 21 years as school secretary. R. Hardaker, Head of Latin, retires after 31 years.
1973 - School closure announced by Secretary of State, later put back to July, 1977. A. G. Evershed MBE retires after 21 years as governor. He is succeeded by Mrs M. E. Richardson.
1975 - A. Le B. McGugan, Head of French retires after 17 years.
1976 - I. P. Alexander, Head of English retires after 31 years.
1977 - School closes after 63 years.

Robert Moorcraft

Robert Moorcraft, master, dies at the age of 35. Strange to think he was only in his early twenties when he taught us.

Staff 1920-1941

Includes all staff employed for over a year. When masters were called up for National Service only temporary replacements were allowed and these are not included.

H. S. Brown 1920-1950

S. Chapple 1920-1924

J. Booth 1920-1935

H. Goldring 1920-1944

B. M. Jones 1920-1936

K. Stafford 1920-1935

H. S. Roots 1921-1939

D. Coleby 1925-?

E. W. Tong 1926-1948

J. P. Cowland 1928-1932

L. C. Eveleigh 1934-1969

N. Askew 1935-1946

T. Jones 1935-1943

A. W. Hepburn 1935-1940

K. A. Baker 1936-1942

L. D. Green 1936-1946

T. L. C. Pascoe 1940-1942

B. R. Twigg 1940-1948

T. K. Smith 1941-1948

R. Hardaker 1941-1972

Staff 1914-1919

Includes all staff employed for over a year. When masters were called up for National Service only temporary replacements were allowed and these are not included. Note the number of women employed during the war years.

L. R. Davison 1914-1919

P. H. Holgate 1914-1919

H. Sharpe 1914-1916

W. E. Clarke 1914-1916

A. H. Jones 1914-1939

D. J. Darlow 1915-1921

A. D. Campbell 1915-1948

Miss J. S. Smith 1915-1935

Miss H. C. Stacey 1916-1919

Miss M. C. Pitcairn 1916-1920

Miss I. Capewell 1917-1919

Miss H. M. Mayers 1917-1919

Miss C. M. Bowen 1917-1919

Mrs K. M. C. Botten 1917-1953 (at 36 years the schools longest serving member of staff).

Miss D. Gilbert 1917-1920

E. J. Luery 1918-1948

R. V. Church 1918-1949

A. Alcott 1919-1926

L. Walker 1919-1940

E. Hamer 1919-1941

Athletics champions

1916 M. Rowland
1917 H. Ledbrooke
1918-1920 H. Renshaw
1921 A. H. Daborn
1922 E. T. B. Moore
1923 R. W. Blaxland
1924 B. G. R. Holloway
1925 P. B. Coote (1 Cap for Ireland at rugby).
1926 L. T. Underwood (died in WW2).
1927 R. H. Tann
1928 A. J. Thompson
1929-1930 M. H. Coote
1931 E. A. Blackwell
1932-1933 R. N. Coote
1934 H. C. Salisbury
1935 B. P. Coote and M. Hardy
1936 M. G. Cooke
1937 A. B. Way
1938-1939 J. Stephenson
1940 J. W. Underhill (died in WW2)
1941-1943 W. J. O'Connell
1944 J. S. D. Drysdale
1945 W. J. Herrington
1946-1947 P. R. Marshall
1948-1949 A. Gabert
1950 P. McDonald and W. Lawrance
1951 B. Fishman and I. H. Burnett
1952 C. D. H. Boarer and D. J. Sellicks
1953-1954 D. J. Sellicks
1955 M. J. Goodyear
1956-1957 I. S. Jones
1958 M. C. F. Claydon
1959-1960 C. Hulse
1961 K. G. James
1962-1963 J. D. Fitzpatrick-Nash
1964 R. C. Roach
1965 M. J. Cassini
1966 S. B. Brown
1967 D. R. Arnstein and D. E. Pearson
1968 J. C. Dawson and P. K. H. Raffell
1969 I. R. A. Hicks
1970 P. R. Attfield and A. J. Attfield
1971 P. J. Marshall and K. W. Pink
1972 M. C. Dix
1973 P. G. Whiffing
1974 N. R. Youl
1975 P. G. Whiffing
1976 N. J. Orsman

Headmasters and Second Masters

Headmasters
1914-1932 J. Holden
1932-1938 W. J. Huggins
1939-1942 G. H. Lester
1943-1951 G. S. Humphreys
1951-1961 M. P. Smith
1961-1977 J. L. Goode

Second Masters
1914-1919 L. R. Davison
1919-1921 D. J. Darlow
1921-1948 A. D. Campbell
1948-1972  R. Hardaker
1972-1977 D. J. Butterworth

School captains

1918-19 F. J. Yeardsley
1919-20 H. Renshaw
1920-22 T. D. Threadgold
1922-23 R. W. Blaxland
1923-24 J. A. Bassett
1924-25 S. D. Threadgold
1925-27 R. H. Tann
1927-28 R. W. Westcott
1928-1930 D. P. Briant
1930-31 R. G. Hall
1931-32 E. A. Blackwell
1932-33 R. N. Coote
1933-34 H. C. Salisbury
1934-35 M. G. Church
1935-36 K. A. Carrdus
1936-37 D. G. Church
1937-39 J. Rathborn
1939- 1940 F. K. Charter
1940-42 M. Johnson
1942-43 W. J. O'Connell
1943-44 J. E. B. Mitchell
1944-45 W. J. Herrington
1945-46 E. D. Ashbee
1946-47 J. E. Simmons
1947-48 D. S. Teague
1948-49 D. G. Dedman
1949-1950 R. J. Seymour/J. L. Martin/J. L. Chaldecott
1950-51 J. A. Backhouse/A. J. Brackin
1951-52 F. B. Walter
1952-53 R. L. Turvill
1953-54 M. J. Webb
1954-56 P. T. Hammond
1956-57 L. B. Fraser
1957-58 B. L. Jones
1958-59 T. D. Hands
1959-1960 R. W. Polhill
1960-61 C. Hulse
1961-62 J, W. Bragg
1962-63 T. Hulse
1963-64 A. M. Henderson
1964-65 P. B. Rumsey
1965-66 D. Ogden
1966-67 G.J. Otter/P. J. Diaper
1967-68 M. G. Edmunds/S. F. Singleton
1968-69 S. F. Singleton
1969-1970 A. P. R. Bignall/J. A. Crittenden
1970-71 J. H. C. Morgan/I. L. Sargent
1971-72 J. P. Ladd/P. H. Attfield
1972-73 D. J. Levy/S. Gutteridge
1973-74 A. S. D. Price
1974-75 M. P. Barber/J. M. Wythe
1975-76 R. Moore
1976-77 T. Eglen

Roll of Honour: Jack Benham

   

 

2nd Lieutenant J. A. Benham

Royal Engineers

158201

Died of illness, 6 October 1941, Iran. Aged 22.

______________________________________________________

Jack Armstrong Benham was born in Chobham in 1919, the eldest of three sons of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Benham of Coppice Wood. Ernest was a member of the well known firm of Messrs. F. W. Benham and Sons, owners of the Chobham Town Mill and a district and parish councillor.

Jack attended Chobham C of E School before passing to Woking Grammar School in 1929 where he matriculated and gained his higher school certificate and inter-B.Sc.

He left the Grammar school in 1937 and worked for a time in London as a trainee Quantity Surveyor with the firm of Widnell and Trollope, a company that still exists today. He was also Hon. Secretary of Chobham Agricultural Association.

Jack joined the Royal Engineers as a territorial before the war and was called up for service on 25 August 1939. He rose to the rank of Sergeant before being sent to 142nd Officer Cadet Training Unit based at Aldershot. He received his commission on 23 November 1940.

In the first week of January 1941 Jack went out east and was attached to the Indian Army.

On 6 August 1941 Mr. and Mrs. Benham received their last letter from their son. On Sunday 12 October they received the dreaded telegram informing them that Jack had died of pneumonia the previous Wednesday (6 October). He was 22 years old.

Jack Benham is buried in Tehran War Cemetery, Iran (grave 6.B.9). He is also remembered on the Woking County Grammar School roll of honour located in Christ Church, Woking.

______________________________________________________

Last updated 27 August 2011

Sources

1911 UK Census

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

London Gazette

Woking County School magazine

Woking News and Mail

www.unithistories.com

www.chobham.info

Obituary: Colin Dall

Colin Dall, chairman of Esher District Local History Society.

Colin Dall

30th January 1924 - 9th October 2009

Colin Dall was born in Woking and became in his later years a Vice-President, Chairman and Newsletter Editor of the Society.

Colin gave us an insight into his early days when he wrote 2 articles for the Winter 2001 and Spring 2002 newsletters entitled "A Surrey Boyhood". He described living in Pyrford and going to Woking Grammar School, cycling both ways in all weathers. He continued, that when going to stately homes or museums today he is taken aback by "outdated objects" being displayed which were a norm of his childhood, mangles, cane carpet beaters, meat safes and stone hot water bottles. He also saw what must have been one or two of the last horse-drawn barges along the Wey, witnessing the complicated manoeuvre when the patient, handsome horses came to a bridge.

Until his voice broke he sang in the Evening Choir at the old Pyrford Church. He remembered walking with his father to West Byfleet Station on the evening of 3 September 1939 at the outbreak of war and seeing trains arrive blacked out showing only a few bluish lights. He added that the war curtailed bike rides somewhat, as they often ran into camps of soldiers, mainly Canadians. His own contribution to the downfall of Hitler before he joined the Army later, was to enlist as a member of the Home Guard. He chose the HG rather than the Air Training Corps at school because the ATC would have seemed just another school activity, whereas as a Home Guardsman he was given the whole range of adult duties. He finished the pair of articles by stating that the rosy veil of memory made this a glorious boyhood.

Colin's studies were interrupted by the war and he served in Burma in the later part. He contracted TB and was invalided back to England. After convalescence he finished his studies and gained a first class degree in French. He had wanted to go into law as a barrister or solicitor but had lost time so went into the Civil Service and rose to become a Court Administrator in the Lord Chancellors Department. In his own time he qualified as a barrister but did not practise. He became a Magistrate and was Chairman of the Magistrates at Kingston for many years. He was brilliant with words and generous to a fault with a dry, witty sense of humour.

His son Jonathan speaking at the funeral on 22nd October 2009 said that he was a "Guardian reader".....with all the connotations that that statement has. It was the start of many conversations with his father and he reminded us that he was kind, concerned for others, caring, broad-minded intelligent and continued to grow and develop.

He had performed music as a member of Gemini opera and in the opera chorus he was usually asked to play specific roles such as the jolly inn keeper or village elder. His favourite musical memory of him was when dressed as a cardinal he bestowed blessings to the congregation!.

One of many personal memories of Colin is when unsure of the location of a property on an old unused postcard of Telegraph Lane, he identified it immediately. Then with meticulous attention to detail he recorded on the back in pencil the location and date of demolition of the property. He was a rock solid, dependable and thoughtful man who had done so much excellent work for the Society.

Obituary: Bob Kilby

Bob Kilby's obituary from the Guardian, August 2006 by Teresa Price.

My friend Bob Kilby, who has died aged 62 of cancer, wanted above all to make a difference to young people.

On leaving Woking grammar school at 16, he started work in an insurance office. A keen mountaineer, he met his future wife Cindy on a climbing weekend. In 1966 his team nearly scaled the Matterhorn in Switzerland, and that year, too, he went to college in Edinburgh to qualify as a youth leader.After working in that field and as a childcare officer in Coventry, he trained as a teacher.

I first met him in 1980, when he joined the staff at Queensdown special school, Brighton. He was determined that the pupils, despite their special needs, should get the best out of their education, and taught history, science, maths, English, music and drama with great verve.One Christmas, Bob encountered an unusual antipathy towards the nativity play. None the less, everyone was swept up in his enthusiasm, and come the performance, all went well till the final carols, when one of the girls started tearing her crepe-paper angel's costume apart. Other children followed suit to provide a highly unconventional finale, but parents laughed, even the governors smiled, and Bob took the teasing from the rest of us in good part.

For the two years up to his retirement in 2003 he was deputy head of St Anne's, a special school in Lewes, a position he felt justifiably proud of.Bob loved folk music and was a dancer with the Chanctonbury Ring Morris Men; latterly he played the drum for the Morris team that Cindy danced for. They lived in Plumpton, a village outside Brighton, where they were keen actors and directors of the local pantomime society.Cindy survives him, as do his son Jamie, daughter Joanna, grandson Kai and granddaughter Olivia.

1918/1919 Group photo

Obituary: David Nicholls

David Nicholls was a rare phenomenon in today's world of professional pigeon-holing: a writer of important and influential academic works who never held a mainstream academic post, a theologian whom the Church of England found it difficult to accommodate. He was amused as well as irritated by his lack of recognition and ecclesiastical preferment. He knew, perhaps, that to be appointed to one of the chairs for which he applied would in fact, be to enter a bureaucratic trap. Faute de mieux, therefore, he came to live as an old-style country parson of the best sort, working since 1978 in the parish of SS Mary and Nicholas Littlemore near Oxford (and thus near the Bodleian Library), and issuing a far more substantial stream of books and articles -in qualitative as well as in quantitative terms -than those who got the jobs for which he applied. He made theology matter in the world of secular academia; and he showed religious people that good intentions and kindly thinking are not enough.

David, although born in England, was of Welsh descent and proud to regard himself as such; under his father's influence he became a champion swimmer; his mother taught him to "love people and books". Graduating from the London school of Economics he obtained scholarships for post-graduate study at Kings College Cambridge (with Alec Vidler) and Yale Divinity School. He attended Chichester Theological College (under Cheslyn Jones) and as deacon, then priest, worked in the London University Chaplaincy team (at St. George's Bloomsbury ) under Gordon Phillips -formative experiences. Grey, rainy weather in London prompted application for the post of lecturer in Government at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus (1966-1973). It was during this time that his interest in Haiti was kindled, he pioneered interest in the non-English speaking Caribbean at UWI. Trinidad's pluralist society (see dedication in Three Varieties of Pluralism) with its rich heritage of language and customs, the weather, beautiful scenery and vibrancy suited him (and his motor-bike). There David continued a mixture of teaching, research, writing and pastoral work (on campus and outside) which he continued in varying proportions throughout his life. Returning to England as Chaplain and Fellow of Exeter College Oxford, he also jointly ran seminars on race relations at the Latin American Centre of St. Anthony's college, becoming a senior associate member there. After 5 years at Exeter College he moved to the parish of Littlemore where he continued to write, his theology being rooted in his pastoral ministry and regular worship. His life was lived true to his Christian faith but his influence in personal and academic terms was much wider than the church.

His work on the Caribbean, particularly Haiti gained him an international reputation and he was much in demand as a speaker especially in the United States. His views were summarised in From Dessalines to Duvalier: race colour and national independence (1979, paper-back edition 1988) which has become a classic, Economic dependence and political autonomy: the Haitian experience (1974) and Haiti in Caribbean Context: ethnicity, economy and revolt ( 1985). A comparative study of the Levantine community in the islands is published in articles and chapters. His theological work included editing a series of nine volumes under the general title Faith and the Future (1983) He then turned to what he saw as his credo: a trilogy, working from the present backwards, examining the symbiotic relationship of theology, philosophy and politics. The first 2 volumes were Deity and Domination: Images of God and the State in the 19th and 20rh Centuries (1989) given as the Hulsean lectures in Cambridge, and God and Government in an Age of Reason ( 1995); the third volume Despotism and Doubt he left unfinished. These are among the most important British works in political theology. Quite apart from his reputation in theology and Caribbean studies, political philosophers were beginning to recognise David Nicholls as the pioneer in the revival and restatement of pluralism. His Three Varieties of Pluralism appeared in 1974 when the doctrine was highly unfashionable. Marxist-Leninist, Hobbist and democratic theories all began, and ended, with theories of the state. How centralised power should be used was debated. What was largely ignored, however, was that all concentration on and of such power was an inadequate account of the essentially pluralistic nature of actual political life and social formations. David went back to Figgis and his secular disciple, Harold Laski, to restate pluralism as a critique of the theory of sovereignty. Twenty years ago it seemed only of some academic interest. But by the time of the second, revised and extended edition of The Pluralist State (1994), opinion had swung to vindicate his judgement, not merely among academics but in nearly all reforming political opinion. "He was right about the spirit of our times, and some of us got there before others having read him and been persuaded," writes Bernard Crick. He will be seen as one of the few political philosophers of our time who had an influence outside the academy. Oxford University recognised his ability with a D Litt. In 1991. David's special gift apart from his academic rigour, was to see important connections between disciplines usually separated; this, combined with a deep interest in and love of people. A friend recently said "David did not care about the world yet he cared deeply about the world."

All who knew David will agree that no description would be complete without an accounting of the role of the Venerable William Paley, Archdeacon Emeritus. This magnificent macaw from the Venezuelan Orinioco jungles had a distinguished career as a loyal ally of David, the scholar, as well as David, the journalistic jouster. The following letter appeared in the Independent newspaper (April 3, 1995):

Sir: It is reassuring to know that the Pope is against the "culture of death", particularly in view of the fact that he was the only head of state in the world to recognise the brtual and murderous military junta [in Haiti]. It would appear that the pro-life principle is selectively applied by the Vatican. Yours faithfully, William Paley (Archdeacon Emeritus, Oxford).

DAVID GWYN NICHOLLS 1936-1996

DATE OF BIRTH: 3 June 1936

PLACE OF BIRTH: Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom

MARITAL STATUS: Married, no children

NATIONALITY: British

EDUCATION:

1947-54 Woking Grammar School
1954-57 London School of Economics
1957-60 King???s College, Cambridge
1960-6 1 Yale Divinity School
1961-62 Chichester Theological College

DEGREES & PRIZES:

1956 Lash Prize (London School of Economics)
1957 BSc.Econ, with first class hons. (London University, special subject Government).
1957 Gladstone Prize (London School of Economics)
1960 Henry Fellowship (Yale)
1962 Doctor of Philosophy (Cambridge University, History Faculty)
1962 Master of Sacred Theology (Yale University)
1973 Master of Arts (Oxford University, by special decree)
1991 Doctor of Letters (Oxford University, History & Social Studies Faculties)

WORK & EXPERIENCE:

1958-60 Part-time college teaching at Cambridge University & part-time teaching for W.E.A., Workers Education Association
1962 Made deacon in Church of England (1963 Ordained priest)
1962-66 Asst chaplain to Anglicans at London Univ. & asst curate at St George???s Bloomsbury.
(1963-65 Part time teaching at London School of Economics & Regent Street Polytechnic.)
1966-73 Lecturer in Government, University of the West Indies, Trinidad.
(1970-1 Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of Race Relations, London)
1973-78 Chaplain, Tutor & Fellow, Exeter College, Oxford
1978- Priest-in-charge, Littlemore Parish Church, Oxford; (1986-1996 Vicar)
(1985-6 Hulsean Lecturer, Cambridge University)

OTHER ACTIVITIES

1966-73 Part time work as priest in Diocese of Trinidad
1968-70 Chairman, West Indies Group of University Teachers (Trinidad branch)
1969-70 External Examiner, University of Guyana
1974-77 Member of Latin American Committee of OXFAM
1974-78 Chairman, Oxford Branch of World University Service
1974-78 The Senior Member, Oxford University Motor Cycle Club
1974- Trustee, Christendom Trust (Chair: 1992-)
1976- Senior Member, St Antony???s College, Oxford
1977-86 Trustee & Council Member of OXFAM
1978-90 Editorial Board, Ethnic & Racial Studies
1978-84 Theological & Religious Studies Board, Council for National Academic Awards
1979-84 Combined Studies (Humanities) Board, CNAA
1980-86 Staff Committee of OXFAM (Chair: 1984-86)
1982-91 Theological Advisory Committee, Westminster College, Oxford
1983-86 Executive Committee of OXFAM
1984-96 Associate Fellow, Centre for Caribbean Studies, University of Warwick
1987-96 Trustee & Member of Council of Management, Latin America Bureau
1988-96 Committee of Society for Caribbean Studies (Vice Chair: 1989-91; Chair: 1991-3)
1978-96 Governor of Lawn Upton Middle School (Chair: 1989-96)

Rugby match v Mitcham

Report of a rugby match v Mitcham in 1945.

Roll of Honour: John Beardmore

 

Sergeant (Pilot) J. C. Beardmore

78 Sqn. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

918433

Killed in action, 17 August 1941, Netherlands. Aged 22.

______________________________________________________

John Clifford Beardmore was born in 1919 and served with 78 Squadron RAF based at Middleton St. George near Darlington. The squadron was equipped with Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk. V twin engined medium bombers and operated as a full time night bomber squadron under Bomber Command.

On the evening of 16 August 1941 John boarded Whitley Mk. V Z6754 as it prepared to leave on a bombing mission to Cologne. After final flight checks the bomber took off at 2305.

                                        

Whitley Mk. V bomber

The aircraft crashed at 0350 the following morning near Buggenum, Holland. All five crew members were killed. The cause of the crash is unknown but some sources claim the aircraft was shot down by a German night fighter. Three Whitleys of 78 Sqn. were lost on this mission.

The crew of Z6754 were as follows:

Sgt. (Pilot) John Malet-Warden - KIA.

Sgt. John Beardmore - KIA.

Sgt. (Obs.) Anthony Millard-Tucker - KIA.

Sgt. (w/o and gunner) George Buchanan (RCAF) - Canadian. KIA.

Flt. Sgt. Arthur Brown - Aged 23 from County Durham. KIA.

John Beardmore is buried (together with the other four crew members) in Jonkerbos War Cemetery, near Nijmegen, Netherlands (coll. grave 12.B.1-3). He is also remembered on the Woking County Grammar School roll of honour located in Christ Church, Woking and on Byfleet war memorial.

                                        

Jonkerbos War Cemetery

(Copyright CWGC)

______________________________________________________

Last updated 3 April 2010

Sources

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

www.bomber-command.info

Aviation safety network

Woking County School magazine

Stefan Block

Stephan G. Block was born about 1924. He wrote two articles for the school magazine. The following article appeared in the school magazine in Spring 1940.

Expulsion From Germany

The following report is not meant to arouse disgust at the brutality and coldbloodedness of Nazi methods, or to give revelations about a Nazi prison, but it is to show how Germany plays a political game with thousands of men, women, children and even babies, whose only fault is to be Polish Jews. I was one of those thousands. I used to live in Hamburg and was fourteen years old when Nazi Germany expelled me. Here is my account.

It was the 28th October, 1938, 7 o’clock in the morning. I had just awakened, when I heard a knock at the door. I jumped out of my bed, ran to the door, opened it. A policeman was standing outside. “Heil Hitler!” - “Good morning” - “Is Mrs Block in?”. I called my mother. “Are you Mrs Block?”, the policeman asked her. “Yes” - “Who else of your family is here?” - “My son”. He glanced at some sheets of paper he had with him, and then suddenly said: “You’ll have to come to the police station with me” - I did not trust my ears... Nor did my mother understand what was going on... He would not answer any questions. “You know that we are aliens?” my mother asked him. “Yes”, he said smiling rather strangely. We dressed quickly, hardly washed. We did not eat anything. “You had better put on an overcoat. We left without taking anything with us. On our way, we hardly spoke. Everyone stared at us. My mother was weeping, while I tried to look calm and indifferent, though everything inside me was trembling.

At the police station, I was immediately led into a room where some more people were already waiting. Soon my mother came in too, rather relieved. She told me that it was “only” an expulsion order and nothing worse! Soon we were all busily chatting to one another. All our fellow prisoners had been arrested the same as we, and had also received an expulsion order. It was a mass expulsion of Polish Jews. Most of us were still optimistic, believing that we should be allowed to stay in Germany three more months or so, but some had been informed by their policemen, that we should be exported to the Polish frontier that very day. Gradually more and more people poured in, until finally we were loaded into an open police van. The van drove through all the town in order to collect other prisoners from different police stations. Police vans are well known in Germany, and so every passer by turned round to look. It was especially degrading when the car stopped every now and then, and people gathered around, to look: but we could do nothing except sit still and keep smiling. After having had this ‘trip’ through Hamburg, we finally arrived at our destination - a prison. Men and women were immediately separated, so that I was alone.

“Is there any volunteers to be the first to go into this cell?”, a constable asked, opening the door of a cell. No one answered. So he just chose somebody himself. The following seconds seemed like hours to me. The not knowing where and with whom to go, the uncertainty and fear of what would happen when we were in the cell was the most torturing feeling. So I was rather relieved when about six of us were simply led into a cell, locked up and left to ourselves. The cell was a fairly large room, with six beds, a table and two benches. Soon, however, we were let out again to become registered, and we were also given a cup of substitute coffee. Then began the worst of all. Waiting... waiting... waiting... We did not know what would happen to us. As always in situations like this rumours spread easily. “Colonel Beck (1) in Berchtesgaden to negotiate with Hitler”. “Poland has expelled thousands of Germans”. The jailer told us that we would be released towards the evening. I was lying on a bed all the time, whilst the others discussed the possibilities that might occur. Every now and then some constable or other officer looked into our cell, and the chatting immediately stopped. I imagined what I should do if I were given some time to go home. Very slowly the day passed. We were given dinner. And once more boredom and uncertainty awaited us. Gradually it grew dark. We were given tea. And still uncertainty.

Then suddenly it seemed to us there was some movement in the courtyard. The noise grew. “Was it police vans?”, we asked ourselves, full of misgiving. Suddenly the jailer entered the cell. “You’ll be released at once. Mr. Plant, the solicitor of the Jewish Community of Hamburg is coming. You’ll have to sign a sheet of paper and then you’ll be free to go wherever you like”. All of us rejoiced. And really, Mr. Plant came in. “Could you sign this please?”. An older gentleman took the sheet of paper and started reading it; but immediately his face turned into an expression of utmost disgust. “What is this?”, he uttered. The solicitor read it aloud. We were to give a power of attourney to the Jewish Community of Hamburg, enabling it to enter our houses and represent us in liquidation of our household. This meant that we should never go home again; that we should be deported to Poland that evening... The solicitor, though he was sorry for us, had to do his duty and be firm. So he said in a rough tone: “Hurry up please!” Once more we were left alone, this time knowing only too well what would happen to us. Soon we were loaded into a police van again, and driven to the small neighbouring town of Altona, in order to give as little publicity as possible to our deportation. Large crowds were looking on when we entered the station. We had a special platform. The station loudspeaker announced that several trains would leave a different platform than the usual, but not announcing the reason. I had not yet met my mother and was walking up and down the platform looking for her. In my despair, I addressed some strange woman, believing she was my mother. When the train arrived, I got in, not knowing how to find my mother; but I could not stay inside, until I had found her. So I got outside again, and suddenly heard someone calling: “Stefan - Stefan - Stefan - “. I found my mother weeping terribly. I believe, more than the leaving of Germany, it was the exciting experiences we had had and the leaving everything behind, that made her weep so terribly. Inside the train, there was a scene of distress. Men and women, old men and babies, were crowded together. That was the chaos when we left. I had a last look at the buildings of Altona and Hamburg, which were so well known to me. I left Hamburg with a feeling of joy mixed with fear: joy, because I knew this was my chance to start life afresh; fear, because there was once more uncertainty: what will Poland do with us?

Each carriage was guarded by two soldiers, one at each door. They were quite agreeable fellows; they only did their duty. One of them even gave a game of playing cards to some men. It was a terrible night. Having had all this excitement, I was rather tired, but I could not sleep. At five o’clock the next morning, we arrived at Neu-Bentschen, the German frontier town Under the supervision of policemen and soldiers, we left the train and had to march the three miles to the frontier. But even then the brutality of the police had no end. Some of the unfortunately expelled had been able to take some personal belongings with them; but on the march, the cases and bags became rather a heavy burden and, as no slowing down of the marching was allowed, they had to leave them by the roadside. After about one hour, we arrived at the frontier. Then happened something completely unexpected. Behind us we had about 200 German soldiers with bayonets, threatening to shoot us if we did not leave German soil at once. Opposite were some ten Polish soldiers, with bayonets, refusing us admission into Poland without reason. Suddenly - a shot. It was shot in the air from a Polish soldier. I shall never forget the scene that followed. About one thousand men, women and children surrounded by hundreds of bayonets did not know where to go. There was loud crying and endless lamentation. One despairing woman tried to run back to germany, but was immediately stopped by a bayonet. At that moment some fifty people started pouring into Poland over the invisible frontier line. This was the signal for us all to flee. Someone shouted: “Lie down!”, and everyone lay down, but nothing happened. So we went on running... running... running... During those few seconds, we had been moving only about 50 yards, but we had moved from one country into another and no force on earth could have taken us back.

Notes

1. Jozek Beck, Polish minister of Foreign Affairs.

______________________________________________________

The following article appeared in the school magazine in Summer 1940.

Zbaszyn

Unlike many other German refugees who came to this country diectly from Germany, I had the rather more “romantic” experience of being expelled from Germany to Poland. For three months, I lived in a small frontier town in an infamous camp.

In the early hours of the 29th October, 1938, I was among 6,000 Polish Jews, who were waiting at the border of a small wood on the Polish-German frontier. Five minutes before, I had been on the German side of the frontier post. We waited for more than an hour, before we finally continued our way along the road into Poland. After three miles, we came to some buildings, the first signs of a town, and soon we met a policeman. “Prosze panie”, he said, indicating some horse stables. These surrounded a fairly large square, where already thousands of other refugees were waiting, waiting - for what? Many Polish women, realising that some business could be done, had arrived with coffee and tea. They had brought with them petrol stoves and three or four cups. People formed long queues to drink coffee - or was it coloured water? - out of cups which were passed around without being washed. My mother and myself happened to have two marks on us, and so the first thing we did was have some coffee. With the money left, we were just able to send a telegram to my uncle in Poland, asking him for some money.

In the meantime representatives of a Warsaw committee had arrived to take a register of all refugees. Current reports said that everyone was to be issued with a free ticket to go to any town they liked. People were forming long queues to get registered. Everyone was excited and nervous. Everywhere one saw hunger and poverty. My mother had met an uncle of mine, who had been expelled too, and, in common, we secured some straw, with which to improvise a ‘bed’. We went into a wooden shed, in which already hundreds of people had sought shelter. It was only 5 p.m., but I was so tired that I fell aslepp immediately. The most terrible day yet in my life had come to an end.

The next morning we got up early. It was terribly cold. Many people were preparing to leave with the first transport into inner Poland, which was due to leave at about 10 o’clock. All the people concerned had gathered together, and they were waiting to march to the station in a few minutes. Suddenly, the following announcement was made by a representative of the Warsaw Committee: “The Polish authorities have just announced that no refugee is allowed to leave”. For some time the people seemed speechless, as though they could not grasp the fact. Slowly they went back into their sheds and stables asking themselves: “How long is this going to last?”. Not knowing what to do, my mother and I were walking about in the neighbourhood of the camp. At the post office, crowds were listening to someone, who was calling out hundreds of names- names of persons who had received money. We listened, and listened... and listened, but there was nothing for us. Being very bored, I was looking round for some friends, when I noticed a shield on one wall of the post office. I spelt: Z-B-A-S-Z-Y-N, ZBASZYN. (1) And only then I noticed the railway platform. So this place was called Zbaszyn... “They are giving out bread up the road”, I heard somebody say, so I hurried along the road. From a horse-cart, pieces of bread were handed out to the refugees. After half an hour, I was fortunate enough to get a slice; it was to be my only meal for the day. Slowly the day passed by - my second day in Poland.

Polish jews being deported to Zbaszyn

(Copyright HEART 2007)

The first thing next morning, we found the exit of the camp guarded by two sentries. Nobody was allowed to leave. Finally two officials arrived, announcing that everybody had to have his passport stamped. Again we had to queue up and, after more than an hour, I found myself the fortunate owner of still another stamp on my passport. My mother was already waiting outside the camp, and we immediately went to the post office, but no money had yet arrived. Many people had already received money from relatives, and had moved out of the camp into private rooms. Again the day passed slowly, and evening approached. My third day in Poland had passed.

The first thing next morning was to go to the post office. That time we were luckier. My uncle in Poland had sent us 90 slotys. My uncle who had been expelled with us had also received a little money, and so we were able to rent a small room together and have something to eat. The greatest need had been overcome, but from on, we were to have the humiliating feeling of being forced to ask our relatives for money, or else starve; we were to be a burden to other people and to ourselves as well. We were not allowed to leave or got to work. The only hope was to emigrate for then was allowed to leave. Therefore the first thing we did as soon as we had settled a little was to send an SOS to our friends in England. Nobody can describe the joyful feeling when, after a few days, we received a telegram from England promising every possible help. We could again look forward to a future, and this made it easier for us to endure the present.

Jewish prisoners at Zbaszyn

(Copyright HEART 2007)

It would be impossible now to relate exactly my stay in Zbaszyn. Thus I can give only a general impression of the camp and mention the most important points.

After a few days, the “Ogolny Komitet Pomocy Uchodrom 2 Niemiec”, the “Committee for the Aid of Refugees from Germany”, was doing enormous work. Small rooms had been improvised as centres for the refugees to be given their food and, after about a week, the Committee had bought a house for their main office. Ration cards were issued, so that everyone got his fair share of food. People who had rented private rooms received a subsidy towards their rent, whilst the others, who had gradually been accommodated in various big buildings, were completely cared for as far as shelter and food were concerned. Many other things, such as stamps and repair of shoes, were provided by the Committee. All this was paid for with money which came from the poor jews in Poland, who made the greatest sacrifices in order to give money to the Committee. Besides vast sums of money came from people in the USA and in England. There was also a special post office for the refugees; they themselves distributed the mail. At a big, empty hall near the station, the mail was given out. Each distributor was allocated one letter of the alphabet. All persons who’s surname began with that letter could thus easily get their mail. As I was too young to do any of these jobs but wanted to help somewhere, I volunteered as office-boy for the Committee, as many other boys had done. Mostly I was sent on errands, but also made telephone calls, copied lists, and performed any other work I could do.

In contrast to this somewhat organised Committee, were the chaotic conditions that prevailed in the various camps. Hundreds lived in an old mill: others in an unused dance hall. Others and many other children who had been expelled without their parents were living in a big hall, which had previously been used for gymnastics. On my errands, I often went to those places and had an opportunity of seeing the distress and poverty. Once or twice epidemics broke out in those camps, owing to the insanitary conditions. Nobody was allowed to leave or enter at that time, and every week, especially the first one, people died. How fortunate I was, not to live in those dwellings.

Since November 9th, when the pogroms in Germany presented the world with the urgent problem of 500,000 would be refugees, we had dropped more and more into the background. At the end of November, we received some of our clothing which had been sent to us from  Hamburg, and I was thus able to change my clothing for the first time for more than a month. The year drew towards its end with no prospect of a happy future for me, but with the rather disagreeable idea that my stay in Poland would be permanent. All efforts to obtain a permit for me to stay in England had failed thus far.

On January 1st, 1939, when still in bed, I heard the bell ring and, a few seconds later, our landlady rushed into our room with a letter from England for “Stefan Block, Esq.” On opening it, I saw it had come by “Express Delivery”. I read “Dear Stefan, after a long struggle I have finally succeeded in obtaining the permit for you to come to England, and the official document will be sent off within the next two or three days. I therefore ask you...”. I could not go on without letting my mother know first. “Mummy”, I waked her, “Mummy, I have got the permit”.

The next three weeks were weeks of feverish preparation. My passport had to be prolonged - that alone took a fortnight - and only then could I book for a ship. I was to leave Zbaszyn for Gdynia on the 26th, and leave Gdynia on the 27th. The time passed quickly and then - the 26th was there.

My train was due to leave at 9 p.m. At 8.30 my mother, my uncle, and myself left our house. We talked little as we went along the lonely road. I met avriend of mine. “Goodbye”, I said to him. At first he stared at me, and only then he recognised me. “Goodbye, and all the best!”; and he added, “You know you’re very lucky!”. The entrance to the station was guarded by two sentries to watch that no refugee left Zbaszyn, except for going abroad. My mother was not allowed to go onto the platform, and so we spent the last few minutes outside the station. Shortly before 9 o’clock, I was told by the sentries to get onto the train. Hastily I said goodbye to everyone, gave a kiss to my mother, and away I was... When would I see my mother again?

I arrived at Gdynia the next morning, to leave in the evening. The route was Gdynia - Kiel - Kiel canal - Harwich. The voyage passed quickly and after three days, the ship approached Harwich. As soon as we had moored by the quayside, British officials came aboard. After having passed the medical inspection and the Passport Control, I left the ship to set my foot on English soilfor the first time. At the station of the LNER, I was given a ticket to London and then got on the train. I looked at my passport and saw: 30 Jan. 1939, and I added: “Exactly six years after that dictator came to power”. After exactly six years of aggression, I had entered a country where people enjoyed freedom. I had learned to admire it; at last I was going to enjoy it too.

Notes

Zbaszyn (now known as Zbaszynek) was a transit camp on the railroad from Frankfurt to Poznan. It held some 5,500 Polish refugees. One internee Zindal Grynszpan wrote a postcard to his son Herschel in Paris describing the conditions at the camp. Herschel, enraged by what he read, assassinated the German diplomat Ernst Vom Rath. The Germans used this as an excuse launch the Kristellnacht pogrom.

Leslie Bliaux awarded MBE

Old boy Leslie Bliaux awarded MBE in 1946. From the Woking News and Mail.

Rex Bale

Former master at the school organising talent shows for the British Army of the Rhine.

Order of memorial service 1946

Order of memorial service for old boys killed in WW2 in 1946.

School silver jubilee

The school's silver jubilee as reported by the Woking News and Mail in 1939.

School speech day 1944

Obituary: Ronald Sturt

Ronald Sturt's obituary from the Guardian, February 2003.

The librarian Ronald Sturt, who has died aged 81, founded the first talking newspaper in Britain.
In 1968, while visiting Vasteras, in northern Sweden, to study public library services for disabled people, he found a tape recording of the local newspaper made for blind people. Back home in Aberystwyth, his enthusiastic talks about the experience drew the offer of financial support from the local Round Table if he would "do something about it."

So, with the support of the proprietors of the Cambrian News and the Cardigan & Tivyside Advertiser, Sturt launched the Cardiganshire talking newspaper on January 1 1970. Initially, the tapes went to 18 local blind people, but the idea was quickly taken up in neighbouring Montgomery (now Powys), and today it goes to some 250 "readers" in English or Welsh.

Through example, and Sturt's tireless evangelism, the idea spread to the whole of Britain. By 1974, there were sufficient local groups to form the Talking Newspaper Association of the United Kingdom (TNAUK). Sturt was chairman, and later president, and retained a keen interest in the project until his death. TNAUK also developed a commercial venture, producing many daily newspapers and magazines in aural and machine-readable forms.

Sturt was born in Chobham, Surrey, and educated at Woking grammar school. In 1939, he began a career in accountancy, but this was interrupted by tuberculosis, and sanatorium life sparked a lifelong love of books and reading.

In 1947, he switched to librarianship, working in Surrey, Brighton and Westminster, before, in 1954, becoming regional librarian for mid-Hertfordshire, where he took books in to patients at the local psychiatric hospital. Later, he designed the first professionally run, integrated library service for hospital patients and staff, at the Queen Elizabeth II hospital in Welwyn Garden City.

In 1963, this initiative led to the formation of the Library Association's hospital libraries & handicapped readers' group. Sturt served on its standards committee, was chairman of the group and edited its quarterly periodical.

In 1964, he was headhunted to lecture at the College of Librarianship Wales (now the department of library and information studies, University of Wales, Aberystwyth). By the time he departed in 1972, the college had 400 students and 40 teaching staff, and had acquired an international reputation as the largest library school in the UK.

Sturt himself moved on to the City of London Polytechnic (now London Guildhall University), first as chief librarian and, shortly afterwards, as assistant provost, the post he held until retirement in 1981. While in London, he made another important innovation by founding the National Bureau for Handicapped Students (now Skill) in 1975.

Sturt was affably benevolent, a devoted Methodist, a lively-minded man relaxed in manner and superbly organised. In 1990, when his second wife, Felicity, also a librarian, was mayor of Chelmsford, Essex, he was happy to attend official functions with her as "Mr Mayoress".
He is survived by Felicity, whom he married in 1961, their daughter and two sons, and the daughter of his first marriage.

· Ronald Ernest Sturt, librarian and pioneer of talking newspapers, born October 21 1921; died January 6 2003