11.11.11

The ninety third Armistice Day. Last Sunday we went off to church in Frankfurt. The Alter S Nikolaus Kirche in the Lutheran town centre parish had a service at 1115 which seemed like a good time to those who were having a weekend off. We were in for a bit of a surprise as the service took the form of hymns and prayers surrounding a talk and a discussion. The parish calls this sort of service a Gesprachsgottesdienst - 'a conversation-liturgy' and was in many ways what we would think of as a Christian study group. It was a bit of a challenge for our German language skills!

Frankfurt Old Town before WW2

The talk was given by a visitor from a charity called Zeichen der Hoffnung which works in Germany to foster better relations and understanding between Poles and Germans, healing the wounds which remain after the Second World War. The work began in a practical way, sending money and help to survivors of outrages, but now it seeks to work to foster good relations and understanding.

The discussion in church was in many ways courageous, raising issues of reconciliation in the light of the siting of concentration camps in Poland and the other horrors of the war.

In the small group present the four of us from England were noticeable, and the Pastor was kind to translate for us some of what was going on. Frankfurt was the subject of a massive raid by the RAF on March 22nd 1944 which destroyed the medieval old town and in which over 1,000 people died.

Wartime destruction
 

Sitting in a church which had, along with many other medieval buildings been subsequently restored or rebuilt, one was acutely thankful for the work of reconciliation. We prayed together for that to continue also between our countries. Thanks to my teachers that I was able to respond to the Pastor's graciousness in praying in English with a word of prayer in German. 

How much those who gave their lives for freedom, and suffered so much in the European wars of the last century, would rejoice to think that Haileyburians, German and English, had met over the weekend and celebrated together their common roots in the school and the society, and that things are now so much changed. 

Haileyburians of today continue to play their part in the conflicts of the world. The tragic roll of those who have paid for their commitment with their lives has grown in our time.  Our prayer must be that the conflicts of today will similarly come in the end to the triumph of peace and reconciliation over the forces of hatred and violence.

The Cloister tablets have recently been cleaned and restored
partly with a grant from the Society 

In the first 100 years of Haileybury, ISC and USC, 9% of Old Boys
lost their lives on active service 

Reading

Returning to the 'Proud Father' theme from Sunday evening's post, seeing No3 reading in chapel as the youngest boy in the school (he will not be 12 until next August), I was put in mind of the reading I did as one of the youngest (my birthday falls in June) in my first term at Haileybury.

London Weekend Television broadcasted the Remembrance Sunday service from the Chapel in November 1979, and I was asked to read the scripture passage (it was the Beatitudes in Matthew Ch5). It was all a very last minute arrangement and I was whisked out of lessons to be drilled in getting it right. I remember the Chaplains (Peter Lewis and Jim Pullen) were pretty stressed.

I decided not to tell anyone in House that I was doing the reading; not sure why, I suppose I thought I might not be believed and that I might be thought to be showing off - a sure way to get taken down a peg or two. I remember sprucing myself up to be all neat and then having to help tidy up the VI From corridor kitchen ready for Sunday House inspection, and getting all messy in the process.

When the moment finally came I was put on the end of the row in Chapel, and the prefect sitting next to me thought I had gone mad when I got up to go and read.

It was the days before video recording was common. I seem to remember seeing a recording once some years later, but I don't know if it is anywhere preserved.

Things Called Haileybury

A  Guest Post from Brain Fawcett (Ha 1952)

Following on from your 'blog' and streets called 'Haileybury',are you aware that there were

trenches in WWI named after Public Schools and one of which was called 'Haileybury Trench'?.

I  visited the Imperial War Museum,London, some time ago whilst researching another topic,but their trench maps do not name all the trenches. Unfortunately I do not know  exactly where this trench was located, in the Somme area I think.

Maybe someone who is interested in WWI can find the exact location and the next time I am in the locality I can visit it.  Another thought  is that,when the Removes have their annual visit,they could possibly locate the area.   A topic for research for those taking History as a  subject?

Fr Luke writes:

I found a book on Amazon here which may have the information, but it is a bit costly on the off chance it may be in there. There is an article on trench maps here. For those with an interest in slang there is a piece on the specialised language which developed in the trenches here. 

We will Remember Them

In 1979 ITV televised Remembrance Sunday from the chapel, live. I was in my first term and was asked to read the Lesson. I remember it was the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). I was placed at the end of the row, but had told no one in House about it as I was afraid no one would believe me and that I would get it for showing off. The result was that as I stood up to go to the lectern there was consternation and one of the DPs tried to pull me back into my seat.

The whole experience made me think deeply about the young men who had gone to war. At that time the photos of the House teams from the early 1900s were up on the walls of the DC. One could see chaps in cricket whites and rugger caps and then read the same names on the memorial board on the end wall of the room. My family, luckily has no one who has been killed in war; not so for my wife's, whose grandmother lost a brother in the Great War and a son in the Second World War. The sense of immediacy which comes from that is one that I only have at second hand through the community of the school - and specifically of Hailey. For my sons it is actual relatives. For us all remembering helps us to live and work for peace today.

At Al Hadra Cemetery, Alexandria, at the grave of his Great  Uncle

We Will Remember Them

The sombre news of the three hundredth death on active service in Afghanistan came today. In my first term at Haileybury ITV televised the Remembrance Sunday School service. During the two minutes' silence the film cut between the six hundred and fifty odd of us standing silent in the chapel, pictures of the horror of the trenches, and the names in the chapel cloisters. During the Great War about 650 Haileyburians were killed - approximately a school full.

The ethos of service remains strong to this day; Richard Palmer (E 92) was killed in Iraq in 2006 and his name now stands at the end of the sorrowfully long list. In the ancient church they spoke of the 'red' martyrdom of those who shed their blood, and also of the 'white martyrdom' of those who offered long lives of selflessness. The examples of both challenge a world which too easily names 'heros' and measures worth in money and success rather than in service and self offering. Generations of Haileyburians have been taught to be true to higher values than gratification and the pursuit of fame and fortune, and many have attempted so to frame their lives, sometimes at great cost.


On 7th May next year we hope to hold an event at the National Memorial Arboretum, whose current CEO is Charles Bagot-Jewitt (Tr 78) to celebrate and reaffirm the ethos of service. John Palmer (E 62) will be with us. Current and former service men and women will be invited and those of whom the Society office knows who have a link to someone commemorated at the Arboretum. There will also be those like me were in the CCF at school but did not pursue a military career, and it is hoped that other OHs and friends of the school will also come. The plan is to take an honour guard from the current CCF and after a service to have a buffet lunch and then allow time for mingling and wandering among the trees and the memorials.