Public Schools and The Great War

by David Walsh, David Walsh

The book examines the impact which the Great War had on the Public Schools and the sacrificial contribution made to the victory which came in 1918. The war consumed about a fifth of all the public schoolboys who fought, while the survivors were scarred by the loss of so many friends. Based largely on source material from school archives and histories, it moves from the naive excitement of the summer of 1914 to the many moving stories that emerge from the carnage of the Western Front. It looks at school life in those war years, boys with their futures on hold and the prospect of death always very close, Headmasters and staff devastated by the loss of so many young lives. About one distinguished Headmaster, who died in January 1919, it was said that ‘the War killed him as straightly and surely as if he had fallen at the front’.

The book ranges across many topics including the selflessness and pride of Public Schools across the British Empire and in Ireland; the role of the Officers Training Corps in militarizing a generation; the letters written from the Front to teachers; the pride taken by schools in the Victoria Crosses etc won by Old Boys; the statistical terms in which the Public Schools’ contribution can be measured; the ways in which schools commemorated the war, and still do so today. Finally the legacy of the war is examined, both the effect on the schools themselves but also the contribution made by writers and artists to the disillusionment of the inter-war years.

Genres: Nonfiction, World War I

336 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[JD · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book about the role played and sacrifices made by the alumni of the public school system from Britain and it's empire during World War 1. Good background is given on the public school system and the education the boys received before the war and how their experience from these schools influenced them to lead men into battle with utmost courage. Over time these public school boys has been portrayed as inept and cowardly, but this is far from the truth, they lead their men over the parapets and took care of them in the trenches, and they suffered greatly, almost 1 in 5 losing their lives in the conflict, as they were mostly junior officers in the infantry battalions, especially in Kitchener's New Armies. The author also states that their service, sacrifice and bravery was not worth more than non public school boys, but that it should be seen as equal and should not be over-looked as history has done so many times. For me the scope of the book lets it down, as there are simply just too many great stories to cover and not enough pages, and some of the more illustrious schools get more coverage than others. One can say or feel what one wants about the public schools and the boys that attend them, but they were always willing to make the ultimate sacrifice.

"High position carries with it the obligation of service to mankind."

Highly recommended World War 1 reading.

[David Worsfold · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent survey of the contribution of public schools to the First World War. The casualty rate among junior and middle ranking officers was almost one in five, far higher than for any other group. The majority of those came from public schools. Their stories have often been overlooked as the focus has been on the huge numbers of ordinary soldiers who were sacrificed in the slaughter of the WW1 trenches. This book superbly redresses any imbalance in that narrative.
It is brilliantly researched with a wealth of personal stories backed up by detailed statistics for hundreds of schools - British and Commonwealth, boys and girls schools. It is very well crafted into a readable narrative that never slips into sentimentality, nor does it look at the culture and nature of public schools through rose-tinted spectacles.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of anecdote; very little analysis. Moreover, the authors buy into the notion of the exceptionalism of the public schoolboy.