St Edward's, 150 Years

St Edward’s: 150 Years

Chapter 6 / St Edward’s and the Wars

DOUGLAS BADER

‘[Teddies] is quite the best public school in the country. I enjoyed every minute of my five years there.’ – Douglas Bader. ‘Douglas possessed that important gift, the art of communication. He could make people feel better. He could make people laugh. He could pass his strength to other people and encourage them to try things they never thought of doing.The School has basked in his greatness and we are proud and grateful to be able to call him an OSE.’ – Final paragraph of an appreciation by Graham Cooper, OSE and Chairman of Governors, in the Chronicle of Autumn 1982.

Alexander James Heyworth (D, 1935–9).

was that he, particularly, was needed for the war effort back home. He was one of the first to be repatriated. Many years later, he was knighted by the Queen in 1982, for his services to amputees; he died later that year. Adrian Warburton (B, 1932–5) made his first appearance in the records, winning a DFC in January 1941 in recognition of his ‘many long-distance reconnaissance flights and night air combats’. At the outbreak of war the OTC became known as the Junior Training Corps (JTC) to differentiate it from the now official national Officer Training Units (OTU), through which civilians became officers very rapidly. The JTC at School was now visited by regular Army officers coming to lecture, and in 1939 they were inspected by Lieutenant General Sir John Dill, then GOC Aldershot, and later Field Marshal and Vice-Chief of the Imperial General Staff. In 1940 the

academically and in sport. After his death his violin and music were presented to the School by his parents. His brother, Geoffrey Brownlow Wigney Keith (B, 1937–42), who had been Head of School, died a few months later. He too had been a fine sportsman and scholar and was much mourned by his friends. OSE RAF pilots continued to win many awards, and a notable example is Alexander James Heyworth (D, 1935–9), who won a DFC and Bar as well as being Mentioned in Despatches as a Squadron Leader in Bomber Command at the age of 22. Like Strange he went on to fly a host of different aircraft and was seconded from the RAF to Rolls Royce at Hucknall in 1944. There he developed a new type of power unit, the Whittle Unit, soon to be named the Welland, subsequently becoming their Chief Test Pilot in 1955. In 1943 Guy Gibson was awarded the VC and a Bar to

Above: Letter from Douglas Bader to Anthony Marten (E, 1961–65), reproducedwithhis kindpermission.WardenKendall saved the youngBader from being expelled several times.

Douglas Bader received a second decoration in December 1940 for his services during the Battle of Britain. The Chronicle covered many of his exploits including his narrow escape when he was so close under a badly damaged Junkers 88 that when it jettisoned its bombs his aircraft could easily have been hit. Bader became a Wing Commander and was only the second man to win Bars to his DSO and DFC. Eventually his luck in the air ran out: he collided with an enemy aircraft over France and parachuted into captivity, leaving one of his tin legs behind. He made two attempts at escape, was recaptured and incarcerated in Colditz. Bader was so highly regarded by the enemy that he was treated well and the German Ace Adolf Galland arranged for him to visit Jagdgeschwader 26, where he was allowed to sit in a German fighter (a photograph of that is not, unfortunately available to include here), and to have a meal in the Mess. The Luftwaffe allowed a replacement pair of legs to be flown out and delivered to him shortly after his capture. When he arrived later at Colditz Castle the German guards presented arms! Bader did not always make an easy fellow prisoner however, and he wanted to be included in escape plans despite his obvious unsuitability, given his tin legs. His logic

his DSO. The Chronicle devoted considerable space to his exploits, hardly surprisingly, including attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz at Wilhelmshaven at night (during his ‘rest periods’), day and night raids on Berlin, Cologne, Danzig, Gdynia, Genoa, Le Creusot, Milan, Nuremburg and Stuttgart, with the successful and infinitely daring Dambusters Raid as the climax. Gibson was an Acting-Wing Commander in the RAF and became a national figure

inspecting officer was General Sir Walter M. St.G. Kirke, Inspector General to the Home Forces. At the School Arthur Macnamara, always known as ‘Major Mac’, was one of those who were involved with the OTC, and he was also in command of the Summertown and Wolvercote Company of the Home Guard at the outset of war. One example of the many families associated with the School that suffered great losses was the Keiths, a family of nine, with no fewer than five boys lost in the war. Amongst them, David Wimborne Keith (B, 1936–41) was talented musically,

Far left: DavidWimborne Keith (B, 1936–41). Left: Geoffrey BrownlowWigney Keith (B, 1937–42).

Oldadversariesmeet after thewar: GermanaceAdolf Galland (in the cockpit) with RAF Battle of Britain heroes Stanford Tuck (centre) and Douglas Bader (right) at a 1978 air show.

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