The Dunelmian, July, 1945
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THE DUNELMIAN, JULY, 1945. VOL. 10. V FOURTH SERIES. NO. 17. CONTENTS. A.T.C 443 O.D. War Service 455 Athletics 447 Preathers in Chapel 439 Avete 450 Rowing 447 Carpentry 445 School Library 444 Chess 445 School Notes 441 Cricket 445 Scout Notes 443 Editorial 435 Speeches 439 Farming 443 Sports, The 447 Fives 448 Swimming 449 Gymn 448 Tristram Society 444 In Memoriam 439 Valete 449 J.T.C. 442 V.E. Day 435 King's Scholarships 438 War Memorial Fund 438 Music 444 Young Farmers' Club .. 444 O.D. News 451 EDITORIAL. As usual, the hapless writer of the editorial finds that all his thunder has been stolen by other contributors, and that he is left to make bricks without straw. VE Day, the waterless Wear, 'Jack' Lawson and Dr. Bullock—all these are dealt with 'elsewhere in this issue." He will therefore confine himself to an expression of good wishes to all and sundry—to Mr. and Mrs. Bunbury and the three 'little B's.', to the boys who are leaving, to the rest of the School for pleasant holidays, and to his O.D. readers with the sincere hope that before long it may be possible to have an O.D. reunion on a big scale at the School. V.E. DAY. We compressed all our excitement into one day, and added the second to our half-term holiday. After a short Thanksgiving Service in chapel the morning was spent in preparing the bonfire, and in seeing what the rest of Durham was doing—not very much, apparently, at that time in the morning. Volleys of 'blanks' from our gunnery experts reminded us of the occasion from time to time, and permission to smoke had been given, which provided same curious sights in various parts of the School precincts. In the afternoon we listened in Big School to Mr. Churchill and the allied commanders, and to the announcer describing the crowds basking in the sunshine outside Buckingham Palace. By that time it was raining heavily, so the projected gala on the Playgrounds was trans- ferred to the Swimming Baths. A Sing-Song in Big School, and the King's speech on wireless led on to the bonfire on Top 435 Ground, round which we marched and sang with tireless energy and stentorian discord. Dormitory feasts to the small hours concluded a memorial day. The School's behaviour was admirable, and the Head of the School deserves much credit lor his organisation and leadership. H.K.L. The following address was given in Chapel by the Headmaster at the Thanksgiving Service on V.E. Sunday: — ' Not only with our lips, but in our lives.' I am going to concentrate, in what I have to say to you this evening, on one main point—I hope that this may help you to get into the right focus the tremendous events through which we are passing. What sort of a memory of V.E. Day are you going to have when you look back in a year's or five years' time? I think there's a danger of the picture which comes to your mind being rather blurred or trivial—flags, dormitory feasts and a bonfire ; so I want to try to give you something more definite to remember, if I can. There are many obvious things which I might speak about tonight—our national sense of thankfulness to God for this great deliverance from the shadow which has hung over us for so long ; let us make sure that we understand that in the right way—not that God has so used His power to direct the course of events that we were bound to win and Germany bound to lose, but that God has given to us and to our Allies the courage and endurance to achieve victory by our own wills and efforts ; I might speak to you of the self-sacrifice of the fallen, some of them, as you know, men who sat where you are sitting now—I have very much in mind to-night one of these, of conspicuously lovable and upright character, who was killed just four years ago, and the same kind of thoughts may be in the mind of many of us here ; I might pay tribute to the great leaders whom the hour matched with the danger —our King, President Roosevelt, Mr. Churchill and the leaders of our armed forces ; I might remind you of the war in the Far East, where our men are still facing danger and death—a war which must be carried through to victory no less relentlessly than the war in Europe if the world is to be given peace and happiness again. But all these things, vital as it is that we should remember them, have occupied the foremost place in all that you have heard and read this week, and one would have to be very thoughtless or stupid to forget them. I want to turn your thoughts, on this V.E. Sunday, to more domestic things—to what difference the War has made to the School, and to what difference the School can, and ought to, make to the world after the war— and when I say 'the School, I mean, of course, you yourselves. First, then, let us look back. And here we must begin by expres- sing our deep thankfulness that the School has come through the war as it has. So many of the things which at the beginning of the war one expected to happen have not happened—we have not had to evacuate, or been bombed, our difficulties with staff have been far less acute than in many schools, and our numbers have increased, and your lives here have remained remarkably normal in the big things that matter most. That last poin^is something to be really 436 thankful for—so many boys of your generation have had a broken education, or, through troubles quite beyond the control of their school or their parents, have had a school liie robbed of many of its opportunities and interests. 1 believe that Durham has been able to give to its war generation no less in all essentials than it gave to previous generations—and perhaps something more. And that brings me more directly to the question 'what difference has the war made to the lives of those who have been at school here since 1939 ?' Small things, perhaps, like travelling restrictions, sweet rationing, fewer athletic fixtures—the big things, as I have said, fortunately not altered—but has not something else been added? tlave we not felt, in our small society, the impact of the national sense of unity and purpose which has expressed itself in ways that are good—in more self-help, and, perhaps, also more self-denial, and in a truer sense of perspective than we sometimes had before the war, and a deeper realisation that school life is not an end in itself but a means to an end—a preparation for the larger life after school? There is always a danger that in the somewhat secluded life of a boarding school the small things may loom too large—the little rivalries and triumphs; and everyday routine, which are an important part of your training here, but which owe their import- ance, we must always try to remember, not to their own significance, but to what they can contribute towards making you upright men and good citizens when you leave. And that leads me to look forward. What are you going to do for the post-war world? My generation remembers, very vividly and perhaps rather bitterly, 1918 and after. There were high hopes when the first German War ended—'a war to end war'—'a world fit for heroes to live in'—international fellowship and prosperity and peace. Those hopes were not fulfilled—in our own country or in the world as a whole. Imperceptibly but terrilyingly we slipped back, as the years went on, into strife and suffering at home, and discord among the nations. An analysis of the causes of this would take me too long. There were mistakes on high ievels of statesmanship, a dreadfully large proportion of the younger generation—those who ought to have played a prominent part in our national life after the war— had fallen on the battlefields of France—that has been much less so, thank God, in this war, though some of the best have gone ; perhaps some of our ideals, as for instance in the League of Nations, were not firmly enough based on the realities of the world situation. But I am sure that so far as the schools were concerned, one thing contributed, in some degree, to the failure—and it is a thing Mfhich your generation should have no excuse for repeating. Thirty years ago Public Schools did not do very much to interest boys in national or international problems, and many public schoolboys did not adequately realise their obligations to the nation and the world in after life. Your generation should understand better than we did the political and social problems of your time—and I do not think there is any excuse for your not realising, too, that the better world for which we hope cannot be had for the wishing or the asking, but can only be achieved by as united an effort in time of peace as has carried us through in time of war. That is the challenge with which VE Day presents you.