OW Christmas Free Drinks & Free Food at the Kings Head, Woodbridge from 12 noon to 2pm. Leavers during the last 10 years particularly welcome. Last year 110 OWs enjoyed this hospitality. No tickets – just turn up! Get there early before the bar tab and free food are all gone!
Death of Dorothy Hull
The following notice was transcribed from the EADT24 website:
HULL Dorothy May died November 22 2012, at Highcliffe Nursing Home, Felixstowe, after a long illness, aged 90 years. Wife of the late David, mother of Stuart and mother- in-law to Pam, dear grandmother to Kate and Matt and great grandmother to Camille and sister to Marion. Former Councillor and Mayor of Woodbridge. Funeral service at Seven Hills Crematorium, Nacton, on Tuesday, December 11 2012, at 2.15 p.m. If desired donations for The Stroke Association may be sent to E B Button & Sons Ltd., 24 St John's Street Woodbridge IP12 1EB.
Dorothy had, along with husband David, a long connection with Woodbridge School. She was Matron of Queens House for many years and was made Freeman of the Town of Woodbridge in the Autumn of 2006. She will be sadly missed.
A New President Takes Office
At this year’s OW Dinner on Saturday 24 September 2011 I stepped down as your President after a record breaking and thoroughly enjoyable 8½ years at the helm. I have to say that it has been such a joy as well as a huge privilege and a period which I will never forget. Thank you all for your support during this time which I very much hope you will continue to give into the future.
My successor, and your new OW President, is Dr Annie Fitzgerald (née Tesh) who is a local GP as well as an enthusiastic actor and amateur dramatist who has appeared in several productions over the past few years. She joined the OW Committee in 2009 and it soon became clear that her commitment and enthusiasm for OW matters was second to none.
When the time came for me to inform the AGM of my decision to step down it did not take long for the Committee to realise who my replacement should be and there was a unanimous vote to seal the deal at an Extraordinary General Meeting on Wednesday 6 July 2011 following recommendations made at the Annual General Meeting on Saturday 26 March 2011.
If you give her as much support as you have given me then I am sure she will be a brilliant President.
Ken Bailey
The OW Magazine 2011
The 2011 OW Magazine has now been despatched to all 4000+ OWs on our database and once again is a triumph by our esteemed Registrar, Michael Weaver. It is packed with news of OWs far and wide as well as information about this year's OW Reunion Dinner in September and a host of other articles to boot.
It was decided, to save postage and ensure that OWs receive both publications together, to mail it with The Bridge which has now been done. You should therefore now have both publications to hand and if this is not the case then there are incomplete address details on our database. Please contact us straight away via the 'contact us' page and we will send your copies asap. Remember - both publications are Free to all OWs.
When Duty Calls
In 1908, when the Liberal Government called for the setting up of Officers’ Training Corps in the private schools of Britain, Woodbridge School was one of the first to respond and a cadet force of 30 pupils was formed. The School was only one hundred strong in those days. The uniforms and guns arrived early in 1909 and so began an unbroken tradition of training and preparation for leadership in the Nation’s military forces.
Carol and Michael Weaver’s book, ‘When Duty Calls,’ traces the narrative of cadet activity at the School in the century that followed. The first OTC graduates served in the trenches of World War I and in Gallipoli and a chapter is reserved for their poignant letters home. Old Woodbridgian Arnold Gyde was one of the first men to step ashore in France with the British Expeditionary Force and his exploits were ultimately recorded in an autobiographical account, ‘Contemptible,’ an important document in our understanding of the Mons campaign. Harold Rosher was another former pupil whose remarkable bravery with the Royal Naval Air Service deserved publication in an unique volume.
The cadet concept survived the Great War and the recession and in 1938 we find the pupils digging trenches and bomb shelters and former OTC members preparing to face the threat of Nazi Germany. In 1939 Old Woodbridgians again faced the call to duty and P.R.Walker distinguished himself by shooting down the first Messerschmitt 110. Anthony Tuke and Donald Gibson played key roles in what was the last traditional sea battle of modern times, The Battle of Matapan. The future was the aircraft carrier. The stories of these warriors and many others are related in the volume.
After the War the introduction of peacetime conscription made the existence of a school cadet force a vital component of modern education. Several OWs comment that military service held no horrors for them - they had been boarders in School House during the years of rationing! Gliding and flying were extremely popular in the post-war era and OW President Kenneth Bailey gives a colourful account of the flying experiences. The 1960s provided the biggest threat to the continued existence of a cadet force at school, now the CCF. Attitudes were changing fast and a new generation of youngsters opposed the compulsory element of uniformed service at school.
Remarkably, the last forty years has seen the most vigorous era of cadet life with adventure training camps and trips to bases across Europe. The admission of girl cadets in the 1970s put Woodbridge School in the vanguard of cadet activity nationally. Nearly three hundred cadets serve in the CCF in these centenary years, and RAF and Naval Sections widen still the opportunities available for young people. A number of Old Woodbridgians serve in the forces at this time and ‘When Duty Calls’ went to press the bravery of Alex Barclay who gained the Military Cross in Afghanistan, could be recorded in its final pages.
The authors claim that the volume represents the fullest account of any school cadet force in Britain and it certainly reflects the changing nature of a dynamic century. It is noticeable too that OWs turn up in all corners of the globe - atomic bombs tests in the Pacific, the conflicts in Korea and Malaya, Iraq and Afghanistan, even at the death of Rudolf Hess in Spandau Prison.
Humour is not neglected in the pages of ‘When Duty Calls’, and a section of personal experiences reveal the vital importance of seeing the less than serious side of military life.
Carol and Michael Weaver both taught History at Woodbridge School and this is their fifth monograph. Michael Weaver is the Registrar of the Old Woodbridgians and monitors the charity archives in the old schoolroom, Seckford Street.
Obtain ‘When Duty Calls’ from The Alumni Office, Woodbridge School. The cost is £10.00, postage free. Cheques may be made payable to ’The Old Woodbridgians Society,’ Please indicate whether you would like a signed copy.
Previous Events
OW Dinner, OW Match, and Sekforde Cycle Ride reports and photographs are now on the OW Society page for your perusal. Read all about it, see what you missed and make sure you don't miss the event next year!!
Other news items on School and OWs are on the Editorial page. Have a look, we'll add more soon.
Website - ex President Ken is now well established as joint-editor of the website and we are working with renewed efforts to update it and to add new material.
PR is included with the fulsome valediction paid to him in the 1978
'Woodbridgian.' Also look up our feature 'The Woodbridgian' -
which is a detailed account of the Woodbridgian Magazine
from 1882 to the present day and how it reflects the changing
nature of the school in particular and education in general.
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