The Merton Court ‘Lost
Boys’
Our original war memorial,
on our Junior playground,
dates from just after the
Second World War.
On it, thirty three names
were engraved, and at the
time, every effort was
made to include those
pupils and staff who had
died in the two greatest
conflicts of the Twentieth
Century.
The make-up of our
memorials are roughly half
First World War ( the
majority served in the
British Army, mostly
volunteers, commissioned into ‘County’ regiments, from their public
school OTCs and some Naval cadets, who served in marine battalions
which fought at the Front) and roughly half Second World War.
They were more likely to be ‘professional’ career soldiers, fighting in
Europe, North Africa or with the Indian Army in the Far East (with the fall
of Singapore).
A good number joined the Royal Airforce, serving with bomber or fighter
command over Holland, Germany, Italy or the former Yugoslavia.
Some were also in the Navy or Fleet Air Arm.
F.K.Philips’ name was added after the Second World War, as he was killed
whilst serving with the Royal Airforce and his family wanted him
remembered at school.
We don’t, however, know exactly when his name was added.
Subsequently, at the request of relatives, three more names; M.A.Simon
and H.W.M Schofield from the First War and D.E. F Powell from the
Second, have been added, in the last fifteen years.
By chance, last year, our headmaster, Dominic Price, was tidying the
school’s archive material when he found an old photograph album and a
previously forgotten scrapbook that had originally been given to the Price
Family in 1988, by Edward Pearce, who had been born at Merton Court in
1900 and was the son of Merton Court’s founder J.W.E Pearce (The Pearce
family ran the school from 1899 to 1921).
Upon closer examination, the scrap book had tantalising shreds of
complete and incomplete original press cuttings and notes, in J.W.E.’s
spidery handwriting, from the period 1914-19, but time had not been kind
to the pages…
The passage of ninety years had faded the pages of print, making the
paper brittle and the articles difficult to read.
However, new names and information contained therein, suggested that
the research into the original school memorial had perhaps not included
all past pupil casualties from the two wars…
It was then that the detective work began in earnest…
…first one, then three, then more names…
Names which when crosschecked with the war memorials of Chislehurst,
Footscray and also Sidcup, were proven to be past pupils.
And so it was, that the idea of the ‘Lost Boys’ project began.
Local Historian Yvonne Auld, along with S4 (YR 6) pupils, last academic
year, began to piece together further clues from Census documents and
local papers, in the early 1900’s, along with information from the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission and the Imperial War museum.
Thanks to that incredible invention, the Internet, details of past Merton
Court pupils was made so much easier to source than perhaps even five
or ten years ago.
Sifting through various ‘leads’ both Mr Chris Price and Mr Dominic Price
made fascinating discoveries about past pupils’ service histories and
searched for their individual stories, trying to find lives and faces for
those brave souls whose names we walk past every day in the
playground.
In all nine names of pupils who attended the school prior to the First
World War (but whose names were not on our original memorial) were
discovered.
Who knows if there are more names out there....
In conjunction with the Sidcup Branch of the British Legion, in
commemoration of their 90th Anniversary, a new school memorial stone
was commissioned, with the names of nine newly discovered ‘Lost Boys’
engraved upon it.
And so, on the 11th of the 11th of the 11th, School and the British Legion
along with the local community shared a moving Remembrance Service
followed by a simple ceremony with Reveille played by a Legion bugler
and the Lament played by John Spoore from the London Scottish who was
also Piper to the Queen Mother.
Merton Court has at least two past pupils currently in the British Forces,
one of whom is currently serving in Afghanistan.
MERTON COURT
ROLL OF HONOUR
FIRST WORLD WAR
Service & year of death
C H Bearblock
1915 Army
W T G Bryant
1916 Army
I O Crombie
1916 Army
J M Crombie
1917 Army
W M Crombie
1919 Army
G M Davis
A C Dent
B N Dickinson
G P Day
1918 Navy
1915 Army
1916 Army
1916 Army
G A P Douglas
1915 Army
L W Goldsmith
1915 Army
K H Moore
1916 Army
J P Morum
1916 Army
R L Pilman
1916 Army
W A L Robinson
1917 Army
G S Samuel
1916 Army
H W M Schofield
1920 Army
M A Simon
1917 Army
P J Stanger
1915 Army
V C W Sutton
1918 Army
H G Wanklyn
1915 Navy Airforce
MERTON COURT
ROLL OF HONOUR
Service & Year of death
SECOND WORLD WAR
G D Agard –Butler 1945
Navy – Fleet Air Arm
A B Blaxland
1943 Army
P H Bower
1942 RAF
N B Callan
1942 Army
T N Dawkins
1940 Army
K D Dawson-Scott 1941 Navy
H J Finch
1944 Army
D B Forbes
1941 Navy
R DeP Gauvain
1942 Army
J A L Grant
1943 RAF
T R Jackson
1943 RAF
F L Haynes
1944 Navy
R D Kidner
1946 Army
K Kirby-Smith
1944 Army
W R P K Mason
1940 RAF
B H Norledge
1944 Army
F K Phillips
1941 RAF
D E F Powell
1941 RAF
C J Sanders
1944 RAF
M J StB Seale
1944 Army
A Seymour
1944 HG
W S Taylor
1942 Army
J Thorne
1940 Army
C S Wallace
1943 RAF
K D Wright
1942 Army
If you recognise any of these names or are a relative, please do contact
the school. We would be delighted to hear from you.
The school’s ‘Lost Boys’ exhibition with details of all Merton Court’s fallen
is open to the public until December 6th in our school hall.
Please ring School on 020 8300 2112 to arrange a visit.