The King's School War Memorial Booklet
In December 2012 the School was approached by Jane King, a volunteer fieldworker for the Imperial War Museum’s War Memorial Archive project, to enquire whether she could come and photograph the memorials that hang in the School’s library. During her consequent visit for this purpose she asked if, as an entirely separate and private project, we would like her help to research the lives of The King’s School’s First and Second World War casualties. The War Memorial Booklet is the fascinating product of the painstaking and thorough research that followed. We warmly recommend it to you.
From the start both Jane and the School wished the information to be accessible, not only in booklet form within the School, but also more broadly through the School’s website, so that the life-stories and courage of those who perished could be rightfully known. Each was an ordinary young man who had answered the call to perform extraordinary deeds, and their selflessness in sacrificing their own futures for the sake of others deserves to be acknowledged and honoured by as wide an audience as possible.
In the course of this project, several casualties came to light who had not been recognised on the School’s Memorial Boards at the time they were erected. Their names have now been added to the Roll of Honour, and appear both in this booklet and on new Memorial Boards made especially at the time of the 1914-2014 Centenary and erected in the School Library for Remembrance Day 2014.
The King’s School wishes to record its sincerest thanks to all those who have helped Jane and the School in the production of this booklet. Our especial thanks are offered to the School’s volunteer Archivists, Judith Bunten and Jenny Davies, as well as Paul Willing, gardener of Durnbach Cemetery, and the late Commander John Willis. Although too numerous to name individually, the kindness and generosity of municipal and private Librarians, Museum Curators and Archivists from both home and overseas, in providing information and granting permission for the use of photographs is very much appreciated. We are also indebted to the family members with whom we have been delighted to have contact, for their contributions of many “personal touches” to the stories of their relatives’ lives. Above all, the School wishes to express its heartfelt gratitude to Jane King for her extensive and caring work.
The King’s School would welcome contact from anyone who believes themselves a relative, however distant, of any of these former students on the Roll of Honour. To the family of any former student whose sacrifice may still remain unknown to the School, we can only offer our sincerest apology for the inadvertent omission of their name. It is an error that we will always be more than willing to rectify.
Trevor Elliott
Deputy Headteacher (Retired 2016)
December 2014
