Rossall: A School at War

Lancashire has many stories to tell about the Great War, and the recent discovery of a collection of letters in the back of an old book is helping Rossall School in Fleetwood to piece together its own part in the conflict.

The letters, written to students by soldiers who’d attended this historic school, were uncovered by accident by the school’s deputy head Anton Maree whilst looking through the archives for information about life at Rossall between 1914 and 1918.

Whilst offering a glimpse of what life was like for some of the 1,617 Rossall pupils who served in the First World War, the letters hid many of the harsher realities of the conflict from the young pupils who were about to leave the safety of school for life in the trenches.

One letter apologises for a late reply as ‘we are forty miles east of the canal absolutely cut off from the world’ whilst another observes that whilst ‘shelling continues…at all times of the day and night’ on the whole ‘the Hun gets back more than he gives’.

What all the letters share however is a strong sense of affection for life at Rossall, with many of the writers recalling happy times at the school.

Inspired by his find, Anton delved further into the Rossall’s history to uncover the fascinating story of a school at war.

Records from the school archives reveal pupils were trained to become army officers as part of the Officers’ Training Corps, a national initiative designed to prepare the country if war broke out against Germany.

As well as attending national training camps with other public schools, Rossall students were required to carry out weekly route marches in their uniforms, much to the alarm of the local community in Fleetwood.

And with bayonet fighting, map reading and learning how to fire a grenade jostling for space on the timetable along side reading, writing and arithmetic, disagreements inevitably arose between masters at the school about whether academic or military training should take priority.

Anton says: “I came across the letters completely by accident. I’d found the information I was looking for and something made me have a look in the back of one of the books.

“Piecing together the story of school during the Great War has been a privilege. Rossall lost over 287 former pupils between 1914 and 1918, with some pupils going to the front line straight from school.

“Together with the archives, these letters have given us an incredible insight into the thoughts and feelings of young men ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to serve their country”.

Rossall lost over 287 former pupils between 1914 and 1918, with some pupils going to the front line straight from school. Remarkably only one of the 16 letter writers died in the conflict, but his affection for the school and the training he gained there is clear: “The spirit of my old Rossall days has carried me through many tight corners serving our King and Country in far off lands, and now in this great war the same spirit and lessons learnt daily enables (us)..to pull together for the one great object in view”.

The letters will now be preserved as part of the school’s archive.