As an institution that has stood for almost a century and a half, St. Bede’s and its students have not only been witnesses to British and World History but also participants, upholding the values of St. Bede’s wherever they went. Amongst all the alumni who have grown up walking the corridors of our school, today in celebration of Remembrance Day we want to honour the memory of those heroes who fought in defence of their country and freedom.
Since he was a pupil at St. Bede’s, Mr. Alasdair Power, now Head of History, has taken a keen interest in the history of the school and especially in the history of those pupils who took part in the First and Second World Wars. He has been researching this subject for over twenty years, but eight years ago this interest became more serious when he joined forces with Lawrence R. Gregory, another St. Bede’s alumnus who specialises in documentation and archives. Together they have written Service and Sacrifice, and Service and Sacrifice Part Two.
Reconstructing St. Bede’s Heroes adventures
During their research, Mr. Power and Mr. Gregory had the opportunity to study historical newspapers, contact family members and even access private photographic collections and letters from family, friends and of Bedian soldiers written from the front. This enabled them to reconstruct the careers and wartime adventures of some of them in great detail, although in other cases they were only able to find basic information such as their place of origin, their families and some information about their deaths.
The discovery of new information has been fuelled by the interest in family history that Mr. Power believes has been observed over the last decade with the proliferation of websites such as Ancestry. This curiosity is even more intense when it comes to the two world wars. People seem to need to know more to enrich their understanding of who they are, and where they come from. In this sense, says Mr. Power, “people instinctively feel that history is important, even if they are not always able to articulate why”. Beyond satisfying his own curiosity about his family’s past, however, Mr. Power has been able to deepen his knowledge of the world wars enormously by tracking down St Bede’s pupils who took part in them.
History as a master of life
However, this research has not only provided Mr. Power and the wider St Bede’s community with a deep historical knowledge of the era, and the Bedians who were at the front, It has also provided personal growth. For Mr. Power, learning the personal stories of those who, like himself, were pupils at St Bede’s before participating in the world wars has helped him to approach the historical narrative in a more personal way, to humanise history. At the same time, his research has given him a fresh perspective on his own life and teaching.
Both the First and Second World Wars were pivotal events in the history of the twentieth century, shaping our world as we know it. Today, on the anniversary of the First Armistice we honour and remember all those who served to defend our democratic freedoms and our way of life. Their sacrifice was not in vain, and, as long as the poppies bloom, they will not be forgotten.