FAREWELL, DEAR MOIRA!

 FAREWELL, DEAR MOIRA!

A little after a month past her 100th birthday, OL Dr Moira Breen Ph.D passed away on January 26, 2024 at Libertyville, Illinois, a short distance away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago and very far away from Madras (present day Chennai), India, where she was born on December 18, 1923. 

I offer this tribute to dear Moira on behalf of Old Lawrencians  from Lovedale cutting across many generations from all over the world. At the time of her passing, she was most likely the oldest living OL in the world! 

Moira, I understand, is a girl's name of Greek and Irish origin. In Greek, it translates to "destiny," "share," or "fate". It is said that when babies were named "Moira " they were encouraged to believe that their future was in their own hands.  Dr Breen, in that sense, was most appropriately named. She was a totally self made person . Her many accomplishments are all the more remarkable considering her humble beginnings. She was dogged by many difficulties starting with her father abandoning his family when his children were quite young. 

In the 1930s, the pupils of the Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School , Lovedale , were not quite associated with higher studies. Many of them joined the  military service in the UK or took up Govt service in India in the Railways, Customs and other Government departments. In this milieu, Dr Moira Breen's academic and scholarly research reflected in many published papers stand out in testimony to her hard work, diligence and ability to overcome challenges that came her way.  "My old school in India gave me the backbone to live up to its motto "Never Give In" she wrote, summing up her life succinctly.

Family circumstances sent Moira and her younger brother to Lovedale in February 1932. Lovedale was home for her for most of the year, till she completed her Senior Cambridge examination with a first class. She then went to Queen Mary's College in Madras ( present day Chennai) to complete her Bachelor of Science degree- once again in the first class.  Five years in the Christian Medical College , Vellore and the Women's Christian College, Chennai as a teaching laboratory assistant fuelled in her the passion to study more. Appreciating her mettle, her Professors recommended her for a Master's program where she could study and do research at Vassar, Poughkeepsie N.Y. It was only the second institution to grant degrees to women in higher education in the United States. 

As a 25 year old Anglo -Indian lady, who had never set foot outside the Madras Presidency before, she travelled from Ceylon ( now Sri Lanka) in a Dutch freighter heading to the United States. After a successful stint at Vassar, she did her  doctorate in Biochemistry from Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois in 1960. Subsequently, she became a Senior Medical Research Scientist with The Federal Government of the USA  in which capacity she worked till she retired in 1988.  

She loved art and even at a fairly advanced age showed a proficiency that belied her years. Apparently, she also drove a car till into her 90s!  She was known to be genial, helpful and a respected member of whichever community she lived in. She loved dogs and took in many over the years, her favourite being a Sheltie . 

Sadly ,from childhood, Moira was afflicted with a facial deformity which she took in her stride with her customary courage. She wrote, " I am glad you liked the photo of myself.  I owe a lot to my 3 "facial and reconstructive surgeons" - one in India and two in the US - who over the years have performed a total of 22 surgical procedures on my face making me more socially presentable."

Some of us like Joseph Thomas, (ARA 1957), Yohaan John (VIN 1991) and I, Prem Rao ( NIL 1967) corresponded with Moira and spoke to her once in a while but we never actually met her. I remember her kindness in readily sharing her memories for  " "Glimpses ..." 

Remember, we spoke of destiny earlier? Here's how Dr Breen happened to meet Rahel Abraham (DEO 1994). Moira wrote, " It was a lovely Fall day, sunny and cool and Rahel was sitting outside a bakery shop with her two children and a big black Labrador dog.  I noticed the dog and stopped to talk  to her on my way in to the bakery store.  When I came out with a big grocery bag filled with 3 coffee cakes ( I was taking them to a party) she very kindly offered to help me.  My car was packed in the parking lot in the next block. So Rahel, her two young girls and the black dog accompanied me to my car.  On the way we introduced ourselves and she told me she was from Kerala. The following Sunday she visited me with her two girls and her black dog. The following week she invited me for dinner at her house where I met her husband and other members of her family. "

She was delighted to have met another OL who left Lovedale 55 years after she did! To add one more co-incidence to the story, it turned out that Moira knew one of Rahel's relatives Dr Liza Chacko at CMC Vellore from many decades ago!! 

Starting from where she did and going through so much in her long life, for me, Dr Moira Breen was "Never Give In" personified.  Her life reminds me of the old saying, " Count your age by friends, not years. Count your life by smiles, not tears!" 

May her soul rest in peace! 

Ed Note: Special thanks to JT, Yohaan, and Rahel for kindly sharing material and pictures for this post. 

OL WAR HERO : SQUADRON LEADER WILLIAM BARFOOT, RAF

OL WAR HERO : SQUADRON LEADER WILLIAM BARFOOT, RAF 

Mention of books on the World Wars brings back memories of the row upon row of old volumes of hard bound books in our School Library. I remember reading with rapt attention the stories of Wing Commander Guy Gibson and 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was their famous attack of the German dams which gave them the title of the Dam Busters.

Being a World War II buff, I was therefore interested to see the impressive website of the International  Bomber Command Centre and its Digital Archive maintained with the support of the University of Lincoln. I came across a letter written by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, VC congratulating his successor Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire on his being awarded the Victoria Cross. 

It was here that I stumbled upon the story of Squadron Leader William Ernest Barfoot of the Royal Air Force.  It was this picture that caught my attention. It shows the Prefects of the Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School, Lovedale in 1936. Barfoot is standing 4th from the right. At the centre is the Rev R. W. Simpson, Principal of the School from 1933 to 1936.

One thing led to another. Thumbing through my dog- eared copy of the School's "Admission Register 1858 to 1954", I found that William Ernest Barfoot had been admitted to the LMRMS on February 26, 1929. ( The next name on the same date is Donald Alexander Barfoot- probably his brother). 

I saw there were many interesting photographs of Barfoot in this website, including one in which he is in the School Band and another when he won the Quarter Mile Race in the School Sports in 1935 setting a new School Record. 

There is an interesting interview with Barfoot by Chris Brockbank which took place in December 2015. I guess he must have been in his 90s then. The interview is rather long- being of more than one hour's duration- but it has some interesting recollections of this war hero. He joined the Royal Air Force initially as a wireless operator, then became regular air crew, and was later trained in Navigation. He was in 296 Squadron of the Royal Air Force and took part in operations in support of the French and Norwegian Resistance movements and the British SAS. He rose to the rank of Squadron Leader in the RAF. 

Why it took the French 70 years to honour him is anybody's guess but it was fascinating to see this article in Business-Live of October 2015. Bill Barfoot was awarded the French Legion d'honneur, the highest honour the French Government can bestow, at the age of 95, for his contributions to the French Resistance during his service in the RAF. 

Is Sqd. Ldr Barfoot of the Class of 1936 still alive aged 104? I have no idea but I shall ask my friend, OL Jitu Savani who lives in the UK to check with older members of the UK OLA Association to find out the facts. 

  

REFLECTIONS: GROUP CAPTAIN MADHAV KHASHAV, VSM, IAF (Retd)

 

REFLECTIONS: GROUP CAPTAIN MADHAV KHASHAV, VSM, IAF (retd) 

 The Lawrence School, Lovedale will be celebrating Founder's on September 4 to 6, 2022 after a break of two years due to the Covid pandemic. Naturally, Old Lawrencians (OLs) both young and old, are looking forward eagerly to visit their Alma mater. Some are visiting for the first time as OLs, some for anniversaries like the 10 th, 25 th and so on. One gentleman appeared to me to be more eager than most. 

He is the dapper Group Captain Madhav Khashav, VSM, IAF Retd, who was in the Hope Grant House in the old Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School in 1949 and 1950. This means he is going back to the School he joined 73 years ago! This is a longer period than most of us have lived!! 

Gp Capt Khashav was born on June 4, 1936. He joined Lovedale under rather dramatic circumstances. His father was a Major in the British Army stationed in Hyderabad (then ruled by the Nizam). In 1948 he got wind of a plot to attack his home and family by the marauding Razakars. Khashav and his younger brother Kamal were bundled off to Guntur with an armed escort. Later, they found their way to Lovedale, where they were known as the Naidu brothers. 

The WhatsApp Group created by the OLA for Karnataka OLs has 343 members as of date. Considering his age, Gp Capt Khashav's enthusiasm for participating in this group - and indeed in anything to do with Lovedale - is quite amazing. This is reflected in his willingness to share his reminiscences of his schooldays with us. 

In those days conflicts amongst boys were settled in a "comb"- short for "combat". The two boys fought until one gave up. Khashav got into a comb. with a boy much bigger than himself and knocked him out, thereby earning the nickname "Wild Billy Hicock"! Kamal naturally  became "Wild Bill Junior"! 

A significant contributor to "Glimpses...." he recalls Sgt Major E J Nicholls in the January 2022 episode of "Glimpses of a Glorious Past: An Informal History of The Lawrence School, Lovedale". At that time Major A V Richardson was the Principal. 

Likewise, in the March 2022 episode of "Glimpses of a Glorious Past" he speaks of the Founder's Parade of September 6, 1949 when the Union Jack was ceremoniously trooped out and laid to rest. It was on this day that the Indian Tricolour was trooped for the first time in the history of the School.  Owing to his inability to speak at length at that time, his contribution was read out by me (Prem Rao, Class of 1967). 

Gp Capt Khashav was one of just 15 selected in the UPSC examination for entry to the Indian Air Force. He was in the Joint Services Wing (JSW) 9th Course at Dehradun  and commissioned in the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot in 1956. In the course of his service, he fought in the 1965 and 1971 Wars against Pakistan. 

                                                          Sqd. Ldr Khashav 

He recalls how in the 1971 War he flew 22 combat missions against heavily guarded targets in Dacca, Chittagong and elsewhere in the erstwhile East Pakistan. At one time, he says, his squadron was operating from the captured Jessore airfield where there were more Pakistani POWs than IAF and Indian Army personnel! 

                            Khashav stands in the extreme right in this picture from 1971. 

He was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service in 1970 and Mentioned in Despatches for his part in the 1971 War. He served in the Indian Air Force till 1982 carrying out different responsibilities that included training fighter pilots in Egypt and commanding the frontline airbase at Awantipur.

Then followed an illustrious career in civil aviation where he trained pilots in different parts of South East Asia. He set up the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi to train pilots for Air India and Indian Airlines, set up a Training school in Brunei, and was the Principal and GM of the Malaysian Flying School which trained pilots for different airlines from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan.  

When asked what he had gained from School, Gp Capt Khashav  says, "All through my long life, I have kept in mind what I imbibed as a young lad at The Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School, Lovedale. I gained confidence in myself, learnt to stand on my own feet, take initiative and work towards my goals with passion to succeed. The spirit of "Never Give In" has stayed with me in all these decades. This has held me in good stead in trying circumstances -in war and in peace."  

On September 6, 2022 watching the Founder's Day Parade with keen interest will be a gentleman who, as a young boy, had been on parade on the same Top Flats parade ground 73 years ago! 

Pictures courtesy: Group Capt M. Khashav. 

 

LMRMS, LOVEDALE IN THE 1940s

 

LMRMS, LOVEDALE IN THE 1940s 

July 3, 1942 was a red letter day in the history of The Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School, Lovedale. On that day, His Royal Highness Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, younger brother of the reigning King Emperor George VI visited Lovedale. This was the very first visit by a member of the British Royal Family in the history of the school. 

Unfortunately, the heavy monsoon rains that day prevented the School from arranging an outdoor parade but His Royal Highness visited the Boys’, Girls’ and Prep Schools.

Shortly after, His Majesty, the King Emperor graciously acceded to the School’s request that His Royal Highness Prince Henry be the Royal Patron of the LMRMS.

The Rev C B Hall passed away in 1942. He was succeeded as Principal in 1943 by the Rev F R L Brooke MA Cantab who was no stranger to the School having been the Headmaster from 1940. 

The above picture of Rev Brooke and Mrs Brooke is from the collection of School pictures of OL Norman R Minus- so kindly shared with us by his daughter, Ms. Sharman Minus. 

Rev Brooke was a popular Principal as he was well-versed with the School system. 

In the last blog post, OL Peter Forkgen (1929-2017) who studied in Lovedale from 1935 to 1946 had written about the school uniforms of those times. 

Today, we share what he recalled for us of the School Routine in the Boys'School in the 1940s. He wrote:-

" A time lapse of about 75 years may have diminished my memory a little, so there will be readers of this who may rightly disagree with the exact times of events – but they are reasonably close to allow time for the progress of events through the day. Monday - Friday. 6 a.m. Reveille. Awakened by Sarge Nicholls, whose private apartment was located at one end of the Junior Boys’ dormitory, the selected boy from the School band would sound “Reveille” military style on the bugle at a couple of strategic locations in the dormitory areas. There were always those students who, in addition to the bugle, required a shout, or a snarl from the Prefect in charge, or even having all his bedding unceremoniously dumped on the floor beside his bed. Boys hurriedly did their toilet and dressed in sports shorts and shoes and “singlet” shirts, and went to the “mess"

(dining) hall for a half mug of slightly sweetened thin coffee and a bun. 6.45 a.m. Assembled in their respective platoons (according to age) on the parade grounds (Top Flat or Middle Flat) for P.T. (Physical Training - Calisthenics, various exercises, jogging, etc.) 7.30 a.m. Return to dormitories. Clean up and dress in the uniform of the day. Tidy dormitories to pass inspection from the Prefect in charge. 8 a.m. Breakfast. 9 a.m. - 12 noon. Morning classes. (with a 15 minute break mid-morning). 12 noon. Lunch 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Afternoon classes 4.30 p.m. – 5.45 p.m. Sports of various kinds.....Football, field hockey, cricket, gymnastics, field events (races, relays, high and long jumps, shot putt) The student body was divided up into four “Houses” – Lawrence, Murray Hammick (or just simply Hammick), Padfield and Hope Grant. Within each House, students were assigned to groups, referred to as “Elevens” on the basis of their age level. Throughout the year the several “elevens” in each House competed with their equivalent level in the other Houses in all sports activities (and other competitive events)........ with a view to accumulating the most points to win the coveted Board of Governors Shield, awarded to the “best” House. When an important event was pending, for which a full-dress military parade of the student body was included (e.g. the annual “Trooping of the Color” parade), and/or a visit by a dignitary, military or civilian, meriting a full military parade, then the “sports “ period in the evening was pre-empted on some evenings by “parade practice.” 6 p.m. Supper 7 p.m. - 8.p.m. – 8.30 p.m. – 9 p.m. Homework. Time depending on academic level. 9.30.p.m. Lights out. The assigned bugler would sound the “Lights out” on the bugle. There was a bath schedule set up for the different dormitories from the end of homework period to lights out time, and it worked out to two baths a week for the boys. In between those bath nights one did the best one could  during the morning ablutions, or post sports activities, to keep oneself clean ! Saturday/ Sunday schedule: Breakfast, lunch and dinner were at the regular times . No set “reveille” in the morning. Lights out 9 p.m. For those students who had run afoul of the regulations or their duties, their punishment frequently took the form of “Extra Parade” for a certain number of Saturdays; and they had to report to Top Flat at 7 a.m. Saturday morning for calisthenics, or parade and extra drill routines until breakfast at 8 a.m. Before breakfast on Saturdays, each dormitory in turn made the trip to the “kit room “ to exchange the week’s dirty clothes for a set of fresh clean clothes. Occasionally if Sarge Nicholls thought that the students’ parade performance was not measuring up to his high standards for a potential visiting dignitary, there would be general extra parade practices sometimes on a Saturday afternoon . Otherwise one’s time was free on Saturday. Sunday - 10A.M. - Compulsory morning Church service. Full Sunday dress. Formal parade and march to the church, and return , with the band, and with the formal “march past “ at the church after the service. Marching to the Church, 1943.  5 p.m. Evensong church service. Compulsory. In dress uniform, but marching to the church and back without the accompaniment of the band." --------------------------------------------------- The Second World War ended in 1945. The days of the British Raj in India seemed to be numbered, especially with a new Labour Government in power in the UK.  No one was quite sure what would happen to the School as the political situation in the country became more complex. The very future of the school was uncertain. A notification was received that the Grant–in-aid from the Central Government of Rs.2,10,000 would not be renewed after 31st March, 1947. In accordance with the instructions received from the government, action was taken to terminate all existing contracts with the Teaching, Administrative and Domestic Staff with effect from 30th November. 1946.  The Rev.F.R.L.Brooke resigned becoming the last of the long list of Church of England chaplains who were Principals of the School. You will recall that the very first was the Rev T Whitehouse appointed in 1862.   In his place, Maj A.V.Richardson was appointed as Principal in 1946.

SCHOOL UNIFORMS: A TRIBUTE TO MR PETER FORKGEN

 SCHOOL UNIFORMS: A TRIBUTE TO MR PETER FORKGEN

As I key in this blog post on May 25, 2022, I wish to pay tribute to an Old Lawrencian: the late Peter Edward Forkgen on his 93 rd birth anniversary. Peter was one of the oldest contributors to "Glimpses Of A Glorious Past: An Informal History of The Lawrence School, Lovedale" 

I first got in touch with him in 2015 when we started the Glimpses Project. Despite his advancing age, difficulties with computer-related work and health issues he was a cheerful contributor. He took great pains to pack in exhaustive details in his descriptions as is evident from the material from him reproduced in this blog post. 

Peter was born on May 25, 1929. His family came to Bengaluru ( then Bangalore) in 1932 from Karachi. He was a student at The Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School from 1935 to 1946.  In 1947, he went to the United States where he lived and worked in many places. His last home was in Bradenton, Fl where he stayed from 1976 till he passed away on October 30, 2017. 

He wrote to me:- 

" I am the last of 16 of the extended Forkgen family admitted to the School from 1862 to 1935, descendants of two British army men, my great-grandfather and his brother, who arrived in India in about 1830. Also my mother's family were living in India, and she and her three siblings spent all their elementary school years at Lovedale between 1902 and about 1912.

I attended from 1935 – 1946. At the age of 5 years and 9 months I was like hundreds of other boys and girls enrolled there from a very tender age. For a great many it was the only school we attended. I like to think that such a long association with the School is what engendered in us such a love and fierce loyalty for the institution."

 

Here's what he wrote about the UNIFORMS of those days:-

 “Description of uniforms — The Lawrence School in the 1930's and 1940's

 

The standard day time uniform: During my years at Lovedale (1935-1946) this consisted of khaki colored cotton twill shorts held up with about a 2-1/2 inches wide brown leather belt with brass buckle. Our shirt was the same material as the shorts, short—sleeved, two breast patch pockets with flaps and button, and shoulder epaulettes.

 

We also wore a tunic or coat. It was of fairly thick serge material; and we generally wore it only in the colder weather, and then it was worn over the khaki shirt. The tunic was olive drab in color, long sleeved, and reached down to about mid-buttocks level, had an upright 1-1/2 inch collar with two hook-and-eye fasteners at the throat; it fastened down the front with 5 or 6 brass buttons; two patch pockets on either side at chest level; two ”cargo” pockets on either side at the bottom; all pockets with brass buttons for closure; shoulder epaulettes with a brass button.

 

The collar caused some discomfort for the first week or so back in school, rubbing our necks a bit raw because of the rough material against skin tenderized by less restrictive shirts over the weeks of our long holiday.

 

The lower cargo pockets on the tunic were certainly useful to keep any number of treasured possessions of a normal young schoolboy away from home — marbles, a pencil stub, a small pocketknife, a folded and crumpled letter from home, and other seemingly incongruous

items like perhaps a ball of string, a rubber band.....and who knows what e|se?....you name it !

They also came in very handy when we roamed the ”jungles” surrounding the school grounds when we were on free time, and went foraging for edible berries such as the hill guavas and jum-lums, and the pockets served to keep for a later time the excess of berries we didn't eat while we were picking them....)

 

We wore knee-length, wool, olive drab socks and black leather lace-up boots. Over the socks we wore the iconic British military ”puttees”. These were a strip of serge, olive drab cloth about 3 to 4 inches wide and about 6 feet long (I don't remember the exact measurements) which were wound spirally around the leg from the top of the boot to just below the knee, and fastened at the top with the attached length of cloth tape, and with the top 3 or 4 inches of sock folded over the top.

 

The ceremonial uniform (also used on Sunday for church): Navy blue, gabardine long pants with a 1-1/4 inch wide red strip down the outside of each leg from waist to cuff. The tunic, worn over the undershirt, was similar navy blue gabardine, long-sleeved, each sleeve with a broad (3 inch) red wool cuff. The collar was upright, 2-1/2 inches wide, and the same red material as the sleeve cuffs and pants stripe, with two hook—and—eye fasteners at the throat. The tunic fastened down the front with 5 brass buttons, and had two patch pockets at the top with brass buttons, and epaulettes with a brass button, and there were no lower pockets. We wore a 2-1/2 inch wide brown leather belt at the waist; also two small brass badges (school crest design) on each side of the collar.

 

A cap completed the uniform — the typical military peak cap design, blue felt top with a red band, and black polished leather peak, with a white stiff cotton cover over the blue top. A brass badge , similar but slightly larger than the collar badges, was pinned to the front and center of the red band.

 

The prefects (considered ”officers") had a different design ceremonial uniform. Although they wore the same style pants as the rank and file, and also the same style cap, the upper part of the uniform was different. They wore a white cotton shirt and black tie under a navy blue suit-type tunic, with the open collar and fold-back lapels; two upper patch pockets and two lower cargo pockets each with the brass buttons.; and a brass school crest badge was worn on each lapel.

The prefects carried a sword rather than a rifle like the rank and file, so in addition to the broad leather belt at the waist they also wore the Sam Browne narrower leather strap, right shoulder to left side at the waist, which supported the sword scabbard.

 

Of course all the ”brass” associated with the uniforms, and the leather belts, to say nothing of the boots, had to be maintained with a high degree of polish and shine - the boots coming in for the figurative, and literal, spit and polish treatment, which could , and with the more industrious and conscientious boy did, result in a patent leather , see—your—face—in—it shine.

 

Those boys who cared enough to have a knife—edge crease in their ”Sunday” pants, folded them  appropriately when they were not in use, and placed them flat between their lower sheet and mattress rather than hang them in the communal dormitory cupboard as they did with their tunic. Thus they were able to maintain the good crease in them effortlessly while they slept....)

 

With a view to the old saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words, ” I have attached two color photos of the weekly Sunday "March past” parade. The photos are presented here courtesy of Ian Firth: he obtained black and white copies from a friend, and class mate, of mine, alumna Rita (Cabral ) Gorham , with whom I am still in frequent mail contact after 71 years !, and Ian ingeniously added the proper colors, and sent them to me.

 

 

After the church service the students from the Upper School (as separate from the Preparatory School age students) assembled behind the church, and then marched past the reviewing stand, on their way back to the Boys’ School. The Principal generally took the salute; in these two photos , taken in 1943, it was the Revd. F. R. L. Brooke. However, if a distinguished person, military or otherwise was visiting the School he would take the salute, with the then Principal at his side and just a little back from him !

The March past parade would be led by the School band, followed , as in the first photo, by our much respected and admired School Sergeant Major, Earnest J. Nicholls. The Head Prefect followed Sergt. He was followed by several platoons of students, each led by the Prefect in charge of each platoon. 

I venture to say from seeing a slightly enlarged copy of the second photo, that the single striper ( lance corporal) second in the right column is myself. The student in front of me is Peter Atkinson and the Prefect leading our Platoon is Jimmy Eldridge." 

Peter finds mention in the October 2021 episode of Glimpses of a Glorious Past on the OLA's YouTube Channel. 

I am glad Peter went through "Glimpses" as it was published in May 2017. He told me he spent hours glued to his computer reading a few pages every day. I last heard from him on July 25, 2017. He wrote: " Thank you so very much, Prem, for sending this to me.   I am really delighted to have this.  -  .   

It is a job well done -- thanks to all who have been responsible.

Kind regards,  

Peter. "

Thank you for all your help, my friend. Rest In Peace. 

 

LOVEDALE UNDER THE REV C B HALL

 LOVEDALE UNDER THE REV  C B HALL

In the last post, we covered the tenure of the enigmatic and dynamic Principal and Secretary of The Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School from 1933 to 1937- Rev. R W Simpson.

His successor was Rev C B Hall,M A (Oxon), described by an OL of those times as being " a typical British clergyman." The Rev Hall served as Principal and Secretary from 1937 till he passed away in office in 1943. 

He is seen in the photo below with his wife and Mr Dunk a Governor of the School Board. 

In terms of time, this period was only 6 years but they were exceptional six years which began the end of the British Raj in India.

The unprecedented and totally unexpected Abdication of King Edward VIII in December 1936 shook the Empire. He was succeeded by his brother the Duke of York who ascended the Throne as King George VI. By all accounts it is clear that the new reign started with overturning almost anything to do with the last one. King Edward VIII ( who now became HRH The Duke of Windsor) had left as King Emperor to marry a twice divorced American ,Wallis Warfield Simpson. 

I wouldn't be surprised if some animosity of the conservative Board of Governors towards Rev Simpson was because of his name! It is said they found willing members of the School staff to write complaining about him.

More importantly, 1939 saw the outbreak of the Second World War which went on till 1945. More and more boys from Lovedale - typically aged 14- were sent to the British Army Apprentice School/College, Chepstowe to be trained for enlistment in the Boys Army.  Some like Max Cocker were sent to the Royal Air Force Apprentice School at Halton. Others like Peter Hunt, son of  former School Bandmaster J B Hunt MM, IX Lancers  were sent to the Royal Navy. 

Some OLs like Max Cocker survived the war. He went on to write that wonderful autobiography, " Lovedale. The Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School, South India. A Personal Account" published in 1988. Cocker visited the School and spoke about his years there as a student. 

Some others like 18 year old Midshipman Peter Hunt RNR were not that fortunate. Hunt went down when the HMS Prince of Wales was torpedoed in Singapore in 1942. The King George V-class battleships HMS “ Prince of Wales” and HMS “Repulse” thought to be impregnable were attacked and sunk by Japanese dive bombers. Midshipman Hunt was one of the 327 lost in the HMS "Prince of Wales."

It would not escape the attention of aficionados of history that the mighty “HMS Prince of Wales” named after him, went down almost five years to the day when HRH The Duke of Windsor,  left the shores of his homeland having abdicated as King Edward VIII. 

(As an aside, did you play the pen and paper game of "Battleships" especially in the days when you were in the School Hospital due to mumps etc) 

The students were happy that Rev Hall continued with many of the changes brought in by Rev Simpson. 

In a speech to the students, he articulated his thoughts on what it meant to a Lawrencian.  

"As we are here in Lovedale as the result of the thrift and generosity of Sir Henry Lawrence, I should like each member of the school to try to set apart weekly a small sum to be used for others. I very much want to provide an Indian padre to devote himself to the moral and spiritual welfare of our Indian servants and their families. At present we can’t afford to do so. The annual Chapel collections amount to about Rs.1,300 which is less than one anna per head per week. I hope next year to introduce a system of regular weekly giving which will enable us to emulate the thrift and generosity of our founder. The list of his donations given annually to various charities in Calcutta, over and above his gifts for the Lawrence schools, is astounding when one remembers that he was never a rich man. As his thrift has benefited us, so let our thrift help us to share those benefits with others.”

“I want an intelligent and devotional study of the Bible to be a regular part of our daily school life, in accordance with the expressed wish of our founder. “From the outset,” he wrote “all the children at the Lawrence Asylum should have read the Bible"  The monthly notes of the Bible Reading Fellowship, which we have started this year, are I hope proving useful in carrying out this aim.”

Another character forming activity which Sir Henry Lawrence wished us to employ, is handwork of all sorts. “ I wish each boy to learn the use of his hands at some trade, I don’t care what it is. Let him cobble, carpenter, tailor, smith. this should be apart from telegraph survey, printing, or gardening work. Boys must be taught not to be ashamed to put their hands to anything to consider labour as honourable, and to see the advantage to themselves of being handy.” I hope to extend that side of the School’s activities considerably in the next few years. Making things for oneself is much more fun than buying things that other people have made.

Finally, or course, we have Sir Henry Lawrence’s famous order at Lucknow our motto : “Never Give In”. How often do we give in? Our work is criticized and we want to give it up ! (Have I heard a rumour of this year?)

The Rev Hall's end of speech rallying cry: " Let Lovedale then stand for trustworthiness; thrift and generosity; and determination

DR. R. SIMPSON : PRINCIPAL 1933-1937. FAR AHEAD OF HIS TIMES?

 DR. R. SIMPSON : PRINCIPAL 1933-1937. FAR AHEAD OF HIS TIMES? 

Filling in the shoes of the Rev WHG Padfield was a huge challenge. An entire generation knew no other Principal of the Lawrence Memorial Royal Military School, Lovedale. The Rev Padfield had epitomized the school from 1908 to 1932 - nearly a quarter of a century. 

The man who succeeded him turned out to be an achiever too. One who brought in a lot of progressive reform, particularly in the eyes of the students. He was the Rev R W Simpson, M Sc,  D Phil (Oxon), FRES who took charge as the Principal in 1933.

In the picture below, Rev Simpson is seen with Sir Norman Marjoribanks KCIE, CSI, former Governor of Madras during his visit to Lovedale in 1934.

After his first year in office, Dr Simpson wrote, “ I felt at the beginning of the year soon after my arrival...that the Public School System of England....might be adopted to the needs of Lovedale School and after a full year of trial I feel more optimistic. The running of the School out of class hours is now practically entirely in the hands of the Prefects who have shouldered their responsibilities admirably.”

An Old Lawrencian remembered, " My last years at school took place under the ‘reign’ of Dr. Simpson who, in four short years, changed the whole concept of Lovedale’s development towards the ideals of a public school. Before his time it was run like an orphanage (and I should know!) Dr. Simpson (affectionately known as ‘Boss’) was responsible for (would you believe?) introducing crockery to replace ‘tin’ mugs and plates, the paneling of the dining hall (it used to look like a Victorian railway station), the building of flush toilets (they didn’t exist before), the introduction of baths (only showers before then), the building of chemistry, physics and biology labs and a host of other physical alterations, too numerous to mention here.”

He gave more emphasis to cultural activities and the students presented more plays including one in French- for the first time in Lovedale. 

The Large Hall was renovated during this period as was the Church. 

Another Old Lawrencian of those times recalled : " Well, he revolutionized the school. The food was dramatically improved, and so were the uniforms. Instead of eating off Aluminum plates and mugs we now had crockery imported from London, plates and mugs were of white china with blue rims and the school crescent on all the china. The girls had terrible uniforms of khaki! Black wool stockings and black boots . We now were dressed like English school girls, in brown tunics, cream blouses, and brown shoes and stockings - no more boots and no more khaki! "

The pictures below accentuate the point made by this OL. 

Here's an account of Dr Simpson from an Old Lawrencian: "He was an outspoken man. For church services, instead of wearing the usual vestments he wore his red Oxford Doctor of Divinity Gown and looked very dramatic and imposing. Both Girls and Boys admired him enormously. We cried buckets when he was terminated. I remembered what the school was like before Dr. Simpson came and I was terrified that conditions would revert to the former Dickensian style. Remember the school was founded for orphan children of British soldiers (not officers) and the boys were encouraged to join the British army into the Boys Service - not as officers - and sent to Chepstow in Wales, England at the age of 14. Dr. Simpson wanted the boys to stay longer in school, get the Senior Cambridge, and be trained for the Indian Army as Officers."

It is said that Dr Simpson wanted to widen the scope of the school to include Indians amongst both staff and pupils. This apparently did not endear him to the Board of Governors of those days. There was also a controversy in his spending on items which they considered were not essential. Perhaps he wanted to bring about many changes too soon! 

Dr Simpson resigned in 1937 after four years as the Principal of the school. Some believed his services had been terminated. It was obvious the students missed him terribly, less so the Board of Governors! 

Writing of Dr Simpson 85 years after he left the School, we are left pondering :  Was he far ahead of his times? 

Pictures here are courtesy the Holdaway Family website and used with gratitude and with no commercial or profit motive whatsoever. "My Life Story" is a fascinating account of those times by Derek Holdaway, who is sadly no more. He studied in Lovedale from 1943 to 1948. His parents Walter Holdaway and Barbara Holdaway (nee Walton) were Old Lawrencians too and his mother was at school during the Simpson era. 

Readers may also like to see Glimpses of A Glorious Past of August 2021 in the OL Assembly show.