oa bulletin - spring 2005 edition

Old Albanian Club

May2005

DIARY DATES

Presidents’ Garden Party – Sunday 19th June 2005Annual Dinner – Friday 1st July 2005

Founders’ Day – Saturday 2nd July 2005

Lodging an appeal: the Asian Tsunami 2004 Floods Relief Chest for victims of the disaster. See page 11

Nick Chappin – EditorAndy Chappin – Design & ProductionRoger Cook – MembershipMike Highstead – Gazette

Printing - Herts & Beds Printing01923 234959

Address for correspondence:Nick Chappin18 The Pleasance, Harpenden,Herts AL5 3NATelephone: 01582 461674 (home)07980 565645 (mobile)e-mail: [email protected]

OA BULLETIN MAY 2005

OA CLUB www.oldalbanianclub.com

President Andrew Barnes01582 712650

[email protected] David Buxton

01727 [email protected]

Treasurer Brian Sullman01582 460317

Membership Secretary Roger Cook01727 836877

[email protected]

OA SPORTS www.oasport.com

RUGBYPresident Ali Mills

[email protected] Richard Milnes

[email protected] Director Simon Heath

[email protected] Director Chris Walker

[email protected] Director Peter Lipscomb

[email protected] Secretary Darren Ead

[email protected] of Coaching Bruce Millar

[email protected] of Rugby Steve Bedford

[email protected] & Junior Rugby Chairman Rory Davis

01727 843538

FOOTBALL www.oasoccer.co.ukManager Simon Bates

01727 852418 / 0772 0383 600

CRICKET www.oacc.org.ukPresident John Josling

01296 632227Chairman Andrew McCree

1st XI Captain Robert Bee2nd XI Captain Colin BashfordTreasurer Denis King

[email protected] Secretary Julian baines

[email protected]

OTHERSRifle & Pistol Andrew Wilkie

01727 856857Angling Geoff Cannon

01582 792512Golf Royce Bryant

01727 863130

OA LODGEJohn Williams 01438 715679

SCHOOL WEB SITEwww.st-albans.herts.sch.uk

Editorial

Old prose I must confess that although I work

in the media, my knowledge of the

publishing business is sketchy at

best. To be honest, I’m more

interested in the content of my daily

newspaper or weekly men’s magazine

– which I buy purely for the articles

on cars, you understand – than how

it arrived on the rack (or top shelf). It

will come as no surprise, then, that

until recently I had never heard of

the John Insomuch Press.

For the uninitiated, the improbably

named John Insomuch was the

Schoolmaster printer of St Albans

who established a

printing press at St

Albans Abbey around

1479. According to local

folklore, he acquired the

unusual soubriquet as a

result of a number of his

surviving texts

beginning with the word

‘insomuch’. The

Insomuch Press – and I

quote from the website

here – “is a new venture

which breathes life into

his legend by the

promotion of works of merit by

pupils and staff of St Albans School.”

One of the current works listed

that caught my eye was ‘A History of

Cross Country’ by G E Pryke,

described as “a history of the

amazing success of St Albans School

Cross Country from 658 to the

present day.” Apart from fervently

hoping that the book is more

interesting than the tedious sport it

describes, I am intrigued by the date

in the description. Maths was never

my strong point – a fact with which

the Colonel himself would heartily

concur – but by my reckoning, the

history of cross country running

apparently began nearly 300 years

before the official founding of the

School. There’s probably a perfectly

rational explanation for this

anomaly, but alas the work is not

currently available for downloading.

One that is – but don’t make my

mistake of hitting the print command

instead of download as it stretches to

some 144 pages – is ‘Then we had

tea’, a collection of poetry and prose

compiled by former

English master John

Mole. As he notes in his

introduction, most are

taken from TheAlbanian, “which, like

many school magazines,

has tended over the

years to maintain a

somewhat uncertain, on-

off relationship with

creative writing.” My

school years were

certainly an ‘off’ period,

as there are no examples

at all between the late sixties (when

the creative void was briefly filled by

Impulse magazine) and the mid

seventies. There are also several

works by the prolific Major Wood

Smith, including ‘Sporting Heroes’

which was originally conceived “out

of irritation with a Daily Telegraphsports reporter who commented that

St Albans School had not produced

any sportsmen of note.” With his

John Insomuch was

the Schoolmaster

printer who

established a

printing press at

the Abbey in 1479

Nick Chappin – EditorAndy Chappin – Design & ProductionRoger Cook – MembershipMike Highstead – Gazette

Printing - Herts & Beds Printing01923 234959

Address for correspondence:Nick Chappin18 The Pleasance, Harpenden,Herts AL5 3NATelephone: 01582 461674 (home)07980 565645 (mobile)e-mail: [email protected]

OA CLUB www.oldalbanianclub.com

President Andrew Barnes01582 712650

[email protected] David Buxton

Treasurer Brian Sullman01582 460317

Membership Secretary Roger Cook01727 836877

[email protected]

OA SPORTS www.oasport.com

RUGBYPresident Ali Mills

[email protected] Richard Milnes

[email protected] Director Simon Heath

[email protected] Director Chris Walker

[email protected] Director Peter Lipscomb

[email protected] Secretary Darren Ead

[email protected] of Coaching Bruce Millar

[email protected] of Rugby Steve Bedford

[email protected] & Junior Rugby Chairman Rory Davis

01727 843538

FOOTBALL www.oasoccer.co.ukManager Simon Bates

01727 852418 / 0772 0383 600

CRICKET www.oacc.org.ukPresident John Josling

01296 632227Chairman Andrew McCree

1st XI Captain Robert Bee2nd XI Captain Colin BashfordTreasurer Denis King

[email protected] Secretary Julian baines

[email protected]

OTHERSRifle & Pistol Andrew Wilkie

01727 856857Angling Geoff Cannon

01582 792512Golf Royce Bryant

01727 863130

OA LODGEJohn Williams 01438 715679

SCHOOL WEB SITEwww.st-albans.herts.sch.uk

Editorial

Old prose I must confess that although I work

in the media, my knowledge of the

publishing business is sketchy at

best. To be honest, I’m more

interested in the content of my daily

newspaper or weekly men’s magazine

– which I buy purely for the articles

on cars, you understand – than how

it arrived on the rack (or top shelf). It

will come as no surprise, then, that

until recently I had never heard of

the John Insomuch Press.

For the uninitiated, the improbably

named John Insomuch was the

Schoolmaster printer of St Albans

who established a

printing press at St

Albans Abbey around

1479. According to local

folklore, he acquired the

unusual soubriquet as a

result of a number of his

surviving texts

beginning with the word

‘insomuch’. The

Insomuch Press – and I

quote from the website

here – “is a new venture

which breathes life into

his legend by the

promotion of works of merit by

pupils and staff of St Albans School.”

One of the current works listed

that caught my eye was ‘A History of

Cross Country’ by G E Pryke,

described as “a history of the

amazing success of St Albans School

Cross Country from 658 to the

present day.” Apart from fervently

hoping that the book is more

interesting than the tedious sport it

describes, I am intrigued by the date

in the description. Maths was never

my strong point – a fact with which

the Colonel himself would heartily

concur – but by my reckoning, the

history of cross country running

apparently began nearly 300 years

before the official founding of the

School. There’s probably a perfectly

rational explanation for this

anomaly, but alas the work is not

currently available for downloading.

One that is – but don’t make my

mistake of hitting the print command

instead of download as it stretches to

some 144 pages – is ‘Then we had

tea’, a collection of poetry and prose

compiled by former

English master John

Mole. As he notes in his

introduction, most are

taken from TheAlbanian, “which, like

many school magazines,

has tended over the

years to maintain a

somewhat uncertain, on-

off relationship with

creative writing.” My

school years were

certainly an ‘off’ period,

as there are no examples

at all between the late sixties (when

the creative void was briefly filled by

Impulse magazine) and the mid

seventies. There are also several

works by the prolific Major Wood

Smith, including ‘Sporting Heroes’

which was originally conceived “out

of irritation with a Daily Telegraphsports reporter who commented that

St Albans School had not produced

any sportsmen of note.” With his

John Insomuch was

the Schoolmaster

printer who

established a

printing press at

the Abbey in 1479

kind permission we have reproduced

another of the Major’s pieces in this

issue of the Bulletin, an entertaining

article on the 1919 conversion of the

School from association to rugby

football (see page 48). The site

(www.johninsomuch.com) is well

worth a visit, and would-be writers

are invited to submit contributions.

Ditto the Bulletin. As always, I’m

keen to receive material from OAs of

all generations, and in this issue I’m

delighted to see a steady trickle of

letters from recent school leavers as

well as our more seasoned members.

Elsewhere we have contributions

from all our regulars, including the

President, Headmaster and

Membership Secretary, plus the OA

Gazette and all the latest news from

the various sports clubs. Once again I

am grateful for their continued

support.

Finally, a couple of dates for your

diary: the Annual Dinner takes place

this year on Friday 1st July (the

evening before Founders’ Day) at the

School sports pavilion at Woollams,

and watch out for the Lord’s

Taverners versus Lashings charity

cricket match at Woollams on

Sunday 7th August, part of the

Cricket Club’s 75th anniversary

celebrations.

Nick ChappinEditor

President’s Notes

Connect with OAConnect■ The Old Albanian website OAConnect isnow up and running – and the moremembers that register, the more effectively itwill function, says Club President AndrewBarnes

I am pleased to report that the Old Albanian

Club is moving steadily towards its

permanent objective of becoming the

unified, relevant association of all past

members of the school community. A

current focus is that of the needs and

interests of younger Old Albanians.

It cannot be denied that very few of the

youngest Old Albanians have renewed their

subscriptions after the initial five year

prepaid membership has expired. It becomes

obvious that the twenty-something and

thirty-something age group have not found

much of interest or relevance in our club up

to now. The committee believes that the

establishment of a lively Internet-based

forum for each year group will prove to be

the key. The one overriding interest for

every year group is the progress and

success of friends and acquaintances they

knew as fellow pupils.

With OAConnect we are starting to see

the potential for correspondence and

interaction between members on our

website. Steadily more of our existing

members are registering with OAConnect

and providing information about

themselves. The mantra remains: the more

members that register with OAConnect, the

more complete and colourful the

information provided, the richer will be the

search experience for all other members.

We would like to find a member of each

year group to fulfil the role of a Web

Master, an individual who will co-ordinate

the posting of information provided by their

friends and acquaintances, on a dedicated

web page, a year group notice board. The

responsibilities will not be onerous. Please

e-mail me,

[email protected] on by the success of restoring

lapsed members and new members who had

previously registered with friendsreunited,

we are making a serious effort to contact all

living OAs for whom the club has no

current contact details. The hard work for

this process is being undertaken by Katie

Martin, the daughter of a member of staff,

from an office at the School. She will be e-

mailing all those who are currently

registered with friendsreunited, and writing

to the last known parents’ address for

younger OAs to obtain current contact

information, and urge everyone contacted to

register with OAConnect. All OA club

members for whom we have current

addresses will received a letter containing

the names of all members of their school

year and those of the year above and below.

Our aim is to jog the memory with the list

of names from the past and enlist the help

of all members to provide any up-to-date

addresses for those they may still be able to

contact. The rediscovered OAs will then be

invited to repeat the process to find other

OAs. We have high hopes that this ripple

effect will prove to be effective. We have

little alternative. Every newly discovered

OA will receive an information pack about

the OA Club, its range of activities and how

to register with OAConnect. When you

receive your letter, please help!

Back to the Younger Old Albanians. A

Young Albanians Group has been formed,

with representatives from 6th Form ,

university and first jobbers who have left

school within the last 10 years. It is quite

WHO TO CONTACTPlease address your correspondence to the following people – you’ll find their contact detailson page 2.OA Bulletin Nick Chappin, EditorComments, letters, photos Subscription/membership enquiries Roger Cook, Membership SecretaryChange of address, notification of deaths OA Gazette Mike Highstead, ArchivistMember news, obituaries, School archive and museum

The flags ofthe EnglishSchools RFU,St Georgeand Italyflying atWoollams forthe Englandv Italyinternationalrugby matchon 26thMarch

kind permission we have reproduced

another of the Major’s pieces in this

issue of the Bulletin, an entertaining

article on the 1919 conversion of the

School from association to rugby

football (see page 48). The site

(www.johninsomuch.com) is well

worth a visit, and would-be writers

are invited to submit contributions.

Ditto the Bulletin. As always, I’m

keen to receive material from OAs of

all generations, and in this issue I’m

delighted to see a steady trickle of

letters from recent school leavers as

well as our more seasoned members.

Elsewhere we have contributions

from all our regulars, including the

President, Headmaster and

Membership Secretary, plus the OA

Gazette and all the latest news from

the various sports clubs. Once again I

am grateful for their continued

support.

Finally, a couple of dates for your

diary: the Annual Dinner takes place

this year on Friday 1st July (the

evening before Founders’ Day) at the

School sports pavilion at Woollams,

and watch out for the Lord’s

Taverners versus Lashings charity

cricket match at Woollams on

Sunday 7th August, part of the

Cricket Club’s 75th anniversary

celebrations.

Nick ChappinEditor

President’s Notes

Connect with OAConnect■ The Old Albanian website OAConnect isnow up and running – and the moremembers that register, the more effectively itwill function, says Club President AndrewBarnes

I am pleased to report that the Old Albanian

Club is moving steadily towards its

permanent objective of becoming the

unified, relevant association of all past

members of the school community. A

current focus is that of the needs and

interests of younger Old Albanians.

It cannot be denied that very few of the

youngest Old Albanians have renewed their

subscriptions after the initial five year

prepaid membership has expired. It becomes

obvious that the twenty-something and

thirty-something age group have not found

much of interest or relevance in our club up

to now. The committee believes that the

establishment of a lively Internet-based

forum for each year group will prove to be

the key. The one overriding interest for

every year group is the progress and

success of friends and acquaintances they

knew as fellow pupils.

With OAConnect we are starting to see

the potential for correspondence and

interaction between members on our

website. Steadily more of our existing

members are registering with OAConnect

and providing information about

themselves. The mantra remains: the more

members that register with OAConnect, the

more complete and colourful the

information provided, the richer will be the

search experience for all other members.

We would like to find a member of each

year group to fulfil the role of a Web

Master, an individual who will co-ordinate

the posting of information provided by their

friends and acquaintances, on a dedicated

web page, a year group notice board. The

responsibilities will not be onerous. Please

e-mail me,

[email protected] on by the success of restoring

lapsed members and new members who had

previously registered with friendsreunited,

we are making a serious effort to contact all

living OAs for whom the club has no

current contact details. The hard work for

this process is being undertaken by Katie

Martin, the daughter of a member of staff,

from an office at the School. She will be e-

mailing all those who are currently

registered with friendsreunited, and writing

to the last known parents’ address for

younger OAs to obtain current contact

information, and urge everyone contacted to

register with OAConnect. All OA club

members for whom we have current

addresses will received a letter containing

the names of all members of their school

year and those of the year above and below.

Our aim is to jog the memory with the list

of names from the past and enlist the help

of all members to provide any up-to-date

addresses for those they may still be able to

contact. The rediscovered OAs will then be

invited to repeat the process to find other

OAs. We have high hopes that this ripple

effect will prove to be effective. We have

little alternative. Every newly discovered

OA will receive an information pack about

the OA Club, its range of activities and how

to register with OAConnect. When you

receive your letter, please help!

Back to the Younger Old Albanians. A

Young Albanians Group has been formed,

with representatives from 6th Form ,

university and first jobbers who have left

school within the last 10 years. It is quite

WHO TO CONTACTPlease address your correspondence to the following people – you’ll find their contact detailson page 2.OA Bulletin Nick Chappin, EditorComments, letters, photos Subscription/membership enquiries Roger Cook, Membership SecretaryChange of address, notification of deaths OA Gazette Mike Highstead, ArchivistMember news, obituaries, School archive and museum

The flags ofthe EnglishSchools RFU,St Georgeand Italyflying atWoollams forthe Englandv Italyinternationalrugby matchon 26thMarch

clear that an OA committee composed of

much older members is ill-equipped to

stimulate interest in the club for the

younger group. Activities and initiatives

from this new group will receive

appropriate support from the Club but there

will have to be ideas and effort from the

younger group themselves. Each year the

group will be reinforced by the inclusion of

new school leavers. The group would be

delighted to hear from any young OA with

ideas and interest and who would like to

help. Please contact Davinia Ankerson (97)

at [email protected] an ever-widening circle of sporting

interest at Woollams, it is very pleasing to

underline the success of our sports clubs.

The rugby season has drawn to a conclusion

with the 1st XV finishing in the upper half

of London 1. The fully integrated Old

Albanian Saints Women’s team was even

more successful and topped their league.

Woollams saw international rugby at both

under 16 and under 17 age groups and

women’s internationals against South

Africa. The effort put in by club members,

particularly for the Under 16 international,

shows that the club retains a high level of

commitment from members for the benefit

of the Rugby Club itself and OA Sport.

Please read the rugby club President’s

report on page 42.

The Presidents’ Garden Party,

3pm, Sunday 19th June

We intend to follow a similar format to that

pioneered last year. There will be a

champagne reception, jazz band, delicious

canapes, culminating with a pig roast

around 5 pm. Representatives of every

element of the Old Albanian community

will be invited, many of them as the guests

of their sporting clubs as a tangible thank

you for the effort made on behalf of the club

during the season. I do stress once again

that this is a joint effort by the Old

Albanian Club, the Cricket Club and the

Rugby Club. Everyone is very welcome and

tickets are available from Brian Sullman at

Woollams. £12.50 single, £25 double. We

expect to have a most pleasurable

afternoon, where the ladies will enjoy the

opportunity to wear their summer finery

and gentleman will complement them with

a suit or blazer.

Annual Dinner, Friday 1st July

The Old Albanian Dinner is to be held at

the school sports pavilion at Woollams this

year, on Friday 1st July, the day before

Founders’ Day. The building itself is

impressive and will make a first-class

venue. We will gather for drinks round

7:00pm when the school cricket match is

concluding. The dinner will be black-tie, as

in the recent past. My thanks to Judy Bee

for organising this year’s dinner. Our guest

speaker will be Mark Elliott, who spoke at

the dinner some years ago with great

success. He has recently been appointed

chairman of the Herts rugby selectors. The

application form for tickets for the dinner is

enclosed with this Bulletin.

“Our sport is your sport’s punishment”

Of all the things I disliked during my

schooldays, cross- country running tops the

list. In a 1957 prospectus for the School, W T

Marsh mentions that “…there is also some

Cross-Country running in the Upper

School.” I was vaguely aware that during

the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s cross-country

running was consistently strong. In 1989

Nigel Wood-Smith took over from GE Pryke.

Reports in The Albanian and the local press

detail the extraordinary success in cross-

country running by boys from St Albans

School throughout the whole of this period

up to the present day. For the last 27 years

George Harrison has been the inspirational

coach for our young runners, a role he took

on after some persuasion. Other members of

the staff assisted George until in 1997 the

baton was passed from Nigel to Major K

Everitt, the most recent Master in Charge of

cross-country. These partnership over the

last 30 years, have yielded such consistently

high standards and race successes that St

Albans School is undoubtedly the most

successful cross-country school team in the

British Isles. George Harrison has recently

been ill, but has committed to continue

coaching the squad until 2008. We wish him

a full and speedy recovery.

Andrew Barnes President

Good cheer: Andy Barnes (64) and Ian Jennings (62),above, and Chris Willis (89/90), John Lake (59), andEdward Slade (89/90), right, enter into the spirit atthe London drinks party

clear that an OA committee composed of

much older members is ill-equipped to

stimulate interest in the club for the

younger group. Activities and initiatives

from this new group will receive

appropriate support from the Club but there

will have to be ideas and effort from the

younger group themselves. Each year the

group will be reinforced by the inclusion of

new school leavers. The group would be

delighted to hear from any young OA with

ideas and interest and who would like to

help. Please contact Davinia Ankerson (97)

at [email protected] an ever-widening circle of sporting

interest at Woollams, it is very pleasing to

underline the success of our sports clubs.

The rugby season has drawn to a conclusion

with the 1st XV finishing in the upper half

of London 1. The fully integrated Old

Albanian Saints Women’s team was even

more successful and topped their league.

Woollams saw international rugby at both

under 16 and under 17 age groups and

women’s internationals against South

Africa. The effort put in by club members,

particularly for the Under 16 international,

shows that the club retains a high level of

commitment from members for the benefit

of the Rugby Club itself and OA Sport.

Please read the rugby club President’s

report on page 42.

The Presidents’ Garden Party,

3pm, Sunday 19th June

We intend to follow a similar format to that

pioneered last year. There will be a

champagne reception, jazz band, delicious

canapes, culminating with a pig roast

around 5 pm. Representatives of every

element of the Old Albanian community

will be invited, many of them as the guests

of their sporting clubs as a tangible thank

you for the effort made on behalf of the club

during the season. I do stress once again

that this is a joint effort by the Old

Albanian Club, the Cricket Club and the

Rugby Club. Everyone is very welcome and

tickets are available from Brian Sullman at

Woollams. £12.50 single, £25 double. We

expect to have a most pleasurable

afternoon, where the ladies will enjoy the

opportunity to wear their summer finery

and gentleman will complement them with

a suit or blazer.

Annual Dinner, Friday 1st July

The Old Albanian Dinner is to be held at

the school sports pavilion at Woollams this

year, on Friday 1st July, the day before

Founders’ Day. The building itself is

impressive and will make a first-class

venue. We will gather for drinks round

7:00pm when the school cricket match is

concluding. The dinner will be black-tie, as

in the recent past. My thanks to Judy Bee

for organising this year’s dinner. Our guest

speaker will be Mark Elliott, who spoke at

the dinner some years ago with great

success. He has recently been appointed

chairman of the Herts rugby selectors. The

application form for tickets for the dinner is

enclosed with this Bulletin.

“Our sport is your sport’s punishment”

Of all the things I disliked during my

schooldays, cross- country running tops the

list. In a 1957 prospectus for the School, W T

Marsh mentions that “…there is also some

Cross-Country running in the Upper

School.” I was vaguely aware that during

the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s cross-country

running was consistently strong. In 1989

Nigel Wood-Smith took over from GE Pryke.

Reports in The Albanian and the local press

detail the extraordinary success in cross-

country running by boys from St Albans

School throughout the whole of this period

up to the present day. For the last 27 years

George Harrison has been the inspirational

coach for our young runners, a role he took

on after some persuasion. Other members of

the staff assisted George until in 1997 the

baton was passed from Nigel to Major K

Everitt, the most recent Master in Charge of

cross-country. These partnership over the

last 30 years, have yielded such consistently

high standards and race successes that St

Albans School is undoubtedly the most

successful cross-country school team in the

British Isles. George Harrison has recently

been ill, but has committed to continue

coaching the squad until 2008. We wish him

a full and speedy recovery.

Andrew Barnes President

Good cheer: Andy Barnes (64) and Ian Jennings (62),above, and Chris Willis (89/90), John Lake (59), andEdward Slade (89/90), right, enter into the spirit atthe London drinks party

opposition in every measure except the

number of balls that crossed the goal line,

but the U16s and U14s in particular lost

very few matches between them and the

girls’ hockey season also brought them

victories over much more established sides

from all-girls schools.

The Easter holiday mixed hockey tour of

Holland brought two wins and one defeat

for a side that played together for the first

time on tour. Against club opposition in a

country that is serious about its hockey,

these were good results.

U12 rugby continued to flourish, with

both A and B sides vanquishing all they

encountered by mighty margins until finally

meeting their match in the final of the

Broxbourne tournament against Enfield

Grammar. It was their only loss in their

two-term (and first-ever) rugby season.

Badminton saw success at U13 level with

runners-up position in the County Schools

league. In the second half of their season, the

Senior cross-country team took second place

to perennial rivals Winchester in the Knole

run at Sevenoaks, pushing equally

predictable opponents Judd back into third

place. James Newman took individual silver.

In the King Henry VIII relays at Coventry,

however, the old firm of St Albans,

Winchester and Judd that has dominated

this event for the past decade, St Albans

winning an unrivalled five in succession,

was swept aside by new kids on the block

Marling School, from Gloucestershire,

fielding two England internationals.

Nevertheless, the Seniors comfortably

retained most of their trophies – including

our own Geoffrey Pryke relay and the

Merchant Taylors’ Cup, where Head Boy

Matt Grant was the individual winner – and

provided 50% of the county team in the

English Schools National Championship.

Meanwhile, and auguring well for the

future, the intermediate squad kept their

grip on the season-long Pat Bagnall trophy

competition, run by Highgate School.

A cloud was cast over the end of the

season by the serious illness of our peerless

coach George Harrison, whom we wish a

full and speedy recovery.

The annual OA Netball Tournament saw

a very large number of former students

return to renew old friendships and sporting

rivalries and to take on the might of the

current sixth form at the end of a

In the swim■ As plans for the School’s new swimmingpool and sports hall are finally approved,Headmaster Andrew Grant reports onanother excellent term of academic, artisticand sporting achievement

To pick up from where I left

off in the last Bulletin, we

were, of course, delighted,

towards the end of November,

by the Council’s decision to

approve our plans for the Swimming Pool

and Sports Hall. There are still a large

number of details to be sorted out but it

made for a celebratory end to the Christmas

term, which closed with the traditional

Carol Service in a very full Abbey and a

magnificent performance from the School

Choir that drew admiration even from

Cathedral clergy who hear world-class

choral music on a daily basis. In the

previous week, the studio at New Place was,

for the first time, the venue for the major

Christmas Play, a vibrant modern-dress

production of Romeo and Juliet that caught

both the vitality and the pathos of the play.

A fortnight earlier, the size of the audience,

the numbers of performers and the entire

scale of the School concert was such that

we had to move from the Library and revert

to the Hall for an evening of superb music.

It was a good term for sport. The First XV

had a very good season, winning all but

three of their matches, and the Second XV

and Under 14 sides were unbeaten. The girls

won their way through to the District

Netball Final, where they were runners-up,

and the cross-country squad marked a

return to form with an undefeated first half

of the season, retrieving the King’s Trophy

from last year’s nemesis, Judd School and

leaving the best of the opposition trailing in

their wake in the Dr Challenor’s relay,

which they won for the eighth successive

year. There were good results, too in

swimming, basketball and badminton.

Over the Christmas holiday, there was a

First Form trip to the famous Christmas

markets in Cologne, which included a visit to

a chocolate factory and further opportunities

for bingeing on various varieties of sausage

and non-alcoholic Gluhwein. The CCF cadets

were at Thetford camp, as usual and, again

as usual, acquitted themselves well in trying

weather conditions.

It has been a respectable, if not been a

bumper year for Oxbridge offers, with three

students holding offers from Oxford and

four from Cambridge.

At the end of the term, Paul Legouix,

who, in his 24 years at the School has led

the Maths department to a record of

academic success matched by few schools in

the country, retired, taking with him not

only our good wishes, but those of

generations of past pupils who have owed

their success to his efforts.

At the same time, Andrew Langlands left

to take up his post as principal Hockey

coach at Bromsgrove School (where he

himself was educated) and equally to

pursue his own international career with

the personal goal of securing Olympic

selection, while Justin Clarke left the PE

department at the end of the spring term to

take up his new post as Director of PE at

the Dixie Grammar School in Leicestershire.

Overall, the spring term saw a fair

measure of sporting success without, by our

standards, being an outstanding one.

In swimming, the Seniors took first place

in the Herts League. The First Hockey XI

had a mixed season, with too many winning

draws in which they outclassed the

Headmaster’s Notes First XV from 1938: picture kindlysubmitted by Deryck Sidney (36)

opposition in every measure except the

number of balls that crossed the goal line,

but the U16s and U14s in particular lost

very few matches between them and the

girls’ hockey season also brought them

victories over much more established sides

from all-girls schools.

The Easter holiday mixed hockey tour of

Holland brought two wins and one defeat

for a side that played together for the first

time on tour. Against club opposition in a

country that is serious about its hockey,

these were good results.

U12 rugby continued to flourish, with

both A and B sides vanquishing all they

encountered by mighty margins until finally

meeting their match in the final of the

Broxbourne tournament against Enfield

Grammar. It was their only loss in their

two-term (and first-ever) rugby season.

Badminton saw success at U13 level with

runners-up position in the County Schools

league. In the second half of their season, the

Senior cross-country team took second place

to perennial rivals Winchester in the Knole

run at Sevenoaks, pushing equally

predictable opponents Judd back into third

place. James Newman took individual silver.

In the King Henry VIII relays at Coventry,

however, the old firm of St Albans,

Winchester and Judd that has dominated

this event for the past decade, St Albans

winning an unrivalled five in succession,

was swept aside by new kids on the block

Marling School, from Gloucestershire,

fielding two England internationals.

Nevertheless, the Seniors comfortably

retained most of their trophies – including

our own Geoffrey Pryke relay and the

Merchant Taylors’ Cup, where Head Boy

Matt Grant was the individual winner – and

provided 50% of the county team in the

English Schools National Championship.

Meanwhile, and auguring well for the

future, the intermediate squad kept their

grip on the season-long Pat Bagnall trophy

competition, run by Highgate School.

A cloud was cast over the end of the

season by the serious illness of our peerless

coach George Harrison, whom we wish a

full and speedy recovery.

The annual OA Netball Tournament saw

a very large number of former students

return to renew old friendships and sporting

rivalries and to take on the might of the

current sixth form at the end of a

In the swim■ As plans for the School’s new swimmingpool and sports hall are finally approved,Headmaster Andrew Grant reports onanother excellent term of academic, artisticand sporting achievement

To pick up from where I left

off in the last Bulletin, we

were, of course, delighted,

towards the end of November,

by the Council’s decision to

approve our plans for the Swimming Pool

and Sports Hall. There are still a large

number of details to be sorted out but it

made for a celebratory end to the Christmas

term, which closed with the traditional

Carol Service in a very full Abbey and a

magnificent performance from the School

Choir that drew admiration even from

Cathedral clergy who hear world-class

choral music on a daily basis. In the

previous week, the studio at New Place was,

for the first time, the venue for the major

Christmas Play, a vibrant modern-dress

production of Romeo and Juliet that caught

both the vitality and the pathos of the play.

A fortnight earlier, the size of the audience,

the numbers of performers and the entire

scale of the School concert was such that

we had to move from the Library and revert

to the Hall for an evening of superb music.

It was a good term for sport. The First XV

had a very good season, winning all but

three of their matches, and the Second XV

and Under 14 sides were unbeaten. The girls

won their way through to the District

Netball Final, where they were runners-up,

and the cross-country squad marked a

return to form with an undefeated first half

of the season, retrieving the King’s Trophy

from last year’s nemesis, Judd School and

leaving the best of the opposition trailing in

their wake in the Dr Challenor’s relay,

which they won for the eighth successive

year. There were good results, too in

swimming, basketball and badminton.

Over the Christmas holiday, there was a

First Form trip to the famous Christmas

markets in Cologne, which included a visit to

a chocolate factory and further opportunities

for bingeing on various varieties of sausage

and non-alcoholic Gluhwein. The CCF cadets

were at Thetford camp, as usual and, again

as usual, acquitted themselves well in trying

weather conditions.

It has been a respectable, if not been a

bumper year for Oxbridge offers, with three

students holding offers from Oxford and

four from Cambridge.

At the end of the term, Paul Legouix,

who, in his 24 years at the School has led

the Maths department to a record of

academic success matched by few schools in

the country, retired, taking with him not

only our good wishes, but those of

generations of past pupils who have owed

their success to his efforts.

At the same time, Andrew Langlands left

to take up his post as principal Hockey

coach at Bromsgrove School (where he

himself was educated) and equally to

pursue his own international career with

the personal goal of securing Olympic

selection, while Justin Clarke left the PE

department at the end of the spring term to

take up his new post as Director of PE at

the Dixie Grammar School in Leicestershire.

Overall, the spring term saw a fair

measure of sporting success without, by our

standards, being an outstanding one.

In swimming, the Seniors took first place

in the Herts League. The First Hockey XI

had a mixed season, with too many winning

draws in which they outclassed the

Headmaster’s Notes First XV from 1938: picture kindlysubmitted by Deryck Sidney (36)

Disaster relief■ Lodge Secretary John Williamsreports on a busy few months for theOA Lodge, and highlights theimportance of the Grand Charity inhelping victims of the Boxing DayTsunami disaster

The Lodge is looking forward to the

meeting in early May when the new

Master is installed in the Chair by

the outgoing Master, followed by the

appointment of the Lodge Officers for

the ensuing year. It is invariably the

best attended meeting, and dinner

jackets are the norm – although this

is entirely optional. This year there

has been a break with tradition in

that our most senior Joining

Member, Geoffrey Goodman, has

been elected to serve as the new

Master, rather than our Senior

Warden who has been forced to stand

aside – we all hope temporarily – due

to ill health. Geoffrey, who was

initiated into Halsey Lodge, joined

the OA Lodge in 1975 and

subsequently served as Lodge

Secretary for some 11 years.

The Lodge is in good heart, with a

number of young Initiates and also

joining members, who are fathers

and sons of Old Albanians. However,

the brethren have been saddened in

recent months by the deaths of two

senior members, Leslie V F Hider (27)

and David J I Gray (43). Leslie, one of

the oldest members of the Lodge, was

initiated in 1955 and attended

TE OA Lodge

triumphant season. In the end, not even the

sponsored team kit of the more serious of

the past years’ teams (Lucy Turner & Co.)

was enough to prevent a showdown in the

final between the Upper and Lower Sixth,

from which the latter emerged victorious in

the last minute of play by the narrowest of

margins.

The Sports Tours Dinner, featuring

excellent speeches by Alastair Hignell,

David Lloyd and Gareth Chilcott,

overturned all previous assumptions about

how many people it is possible to

accommodate in the Hall whilst still being

able to ply a knife and fork and raised a

correspondingly large amount of cash.

The crowning sporting event of the year

so far was, of course, the England U16 - Italy

U17 rugby match held at the Woollam

Playing Fields on the first weekend of the

holiday – the first international ever to be

held in Hertfordshire. The splendour of the

venue was easily a match for the prestige of

the event and much impressed the ESRFU’s

officials. For the home crowd, of course, the

day was perfected not merely by a

convincing victory for England, but by

seeing our own Tom Haller receive his first

England cap.

In the penultimate week of term, the

Joint Schools Oratorio, Mozart’s Requiem,

directed by Grayson Jones in the Abbey,

was an outstanding public showcase of

musical talent involving a very large

number of pupils and parents past and

present in a professionally accomplished

performance of a complex and very

demanding work.

A still more democratic side of our

musical life was seen (and heard) on the

last day of term, when the entire School

crowded into the Hall for the finals of the

House Music Competition, an event which,

in terms of serious musicianship, has come

a very long way from its early beginnings

and of which the rock bands’ performances

are always a highlight.

Meanwhile, New Place was a scene of

feverish dramatic activity for the last

fortnight of term, with an intense round of

assessed performances for GCSE, AS and

A2. Over the holiday there were Duke of

Edinburgh Scheme expeditions at Silver

level at Pen Arthur and in the Peak District,

the latter, run by the CCF, running into bad

weather and providing an impromptu

exercise for the local mountain rescue team,

complete with dogs. A number of cadets

also took part in a UK Land Forces

leadership course.

Fresh from a triumphant oratorio, the

choir and orchestral musicians visited

Belgium, performing to appreciative

audiences in Brussels Cathedral and

churches in Ghent and Aalst, interspersed

with cultural sightseeing.

A very large number of classicists of

various ages went to Sorrento and Rome

(fortunately, as things turned out, in the

first week of the holiday) and also visited

Vesuvius, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Ostia,

while the skiers went to Les Deux Alpes for

four days of glorious sunshine and skiing

under cloudless skies, albeit on slushy snow

from the mid-station downwards, followed

by two days of almost total white-out from

the mid-station upwards, but escaped

without a single visit to the medical centre.

Term has opened in fairly typical fashion

for the cricket season with rain for the first

Wednesday games afternoon. I hope that by

the time many of us meet on Founders’ Day

we shall be able to discard the sweaters and

waterproofs.

Andrew GrantHeadmaster Tsunami disaster: Freemasons played a part in providing rapid assistance to the victims

Disaster relief■ Lodge Secretary John Williamsreports on a busy few months for theOA Lodge, and highlights theimportance of the Grand Charity inhelping victims of the Boxing DayTsunami disaster

The Lodge is looking forward to the

meeting in early May when the new

Master is installed in the Chair by

the outgoing Master, followed by the

appointment of the Lodge Officers for

the ensuing year. It is invariably the

best attended meeting, and dinner

jackets are the norm – although this

is entirely optional. This year there

has been a break with tradition in

that our most senior Joining

Member, Geoffrey Goodman, has

been elected to serve as the new

Master, rather than our Senior

Warden who has been forced to stand

aside – we all hope temporarily – due

to ill health. Geoffrey, who was

initiated into Halsey Lodge, joined

the OA Lodge in 1975 and

subsequently served as Lodge

Secretary for some 11 years.

The Lodge is in good heart, with a

number of young Initiates and also

joining members, who are fathers

and sons of Old Albanians. However,

the brethren have been saddened in

recent months by the deaths of two

senior members, Leslie V F Hider (27)

and David J I Gray (43). Leslie, one of

the oldest members of the Lodge, was

initiated in 1955 and attended

TE OA Lodge

triumphant season. In the end, not even the

sponsored team kit of the more serious of

the past years’ teams (Lucy Turner & Co.)

was enough to prevent a showdown in the

final between the Upper and Lower Sixth,

from which the latter emerged victorious in

the last minute of play by the narrowest of

margins.

The Sports Tours Dinner, featuring

excellent speeches by Alastair Hignell,

David Lloyd and Gareth Chilcott,

overturned all previous assumptions about

how many people it is possible to

accommodate in the Hall whilst still being

able to ply a knife and fork and raised a

correspondingly large amount of cash.

The crowning sporting event of the year

so far was, of course, the England U16 - Italy

U17 rugby match held at the Woollam

Playing Fields on the first weekend of the

holiday – the first international ever to be

held in Hertfordshire. The splendour of the

venue was easily a match for the prestige of

the event and much impressed the ESRFU’s

officials. For the home crowd, of course, the

day was perfected not merely by a

convincing victory for England, but by

seeing our own Tom Haller receive his first

England cap.

In the penultimate week of term, the

Joint Schools Oratorio, Mozart’s Requiem,

directed by Grayson Jones in the Abbey,

was an outstanding public showcase of

musical talent involving a very large

number of pupils and parents past and

present in a professionally accomplished

performance of a complex and very

demanding work.

A still more democratic side of our

musical life was seen (and heard) on the

last day of term, when the entire School

crowded into the Hall for the finals of the

House Music Competition, an event which,

in terms of serious musicianship, has come

a very long way from its early beginnings

and of which the rock bands’ performances

are always a highlight.

Meanwhile, New Place was a scene of

feverish dramatic activity for the last

fortnight of term, with an intense round of

assessed performances for GCSE, AS and

A2. Over the holiday there were Duke of

Edinburgh Scheme expeditions at Silver

level at Pen Arthur and in the Peak District,

the latter, run by the CCF, running into bad

weather and providing an impromptu

exercise for the local mountain rescue team,

complete with dogs. A number of cadets

also took part in a UK Land Forces

leadership course.

Fresh from a triumphant oratorio, the

choir and orchestral musicians visited

Belgium, performing to appreciative

audiences in Brussels Cathedral and

churches in Ghent and Aalst, interspersed

with cultural sightseeing.

A very large number of classicists of

various ages went to Sorrento and Rome

(fortunately, as things turned out, in the

first week of the holiday) and also visited

Vesuvius, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Ostia,

while the skiers went to Les Deux Alpes for

four days of glorious sunshine and skiing

under cloudless skies, albeit on slushy snow

from the mid-station downwards, followed

by two days of almost total white-out from

the mid-station upwards, but escaped

without a single visit to the medical centre.

Term has opened in fairly typical fashion

for the cricket season with rain for the first

Wednesday games afternoon. I hope that by

the time many of us meet on Founders’ Day

we shall be able to discard the sweaters and

waterproofs.

Andrew GrantHeadmaster Tsunami disaster: Freemasons played a part in providing rapid assistance to the victims

4 Rollswood

Welwyn

Herts AL6 9TX

Telephone:

01438 715679

Helping hand:grants fromthe Councilof The GrandCharityhelpedprovidedesperatelyneededsupplies forvictims ofthe tsunami

assistance to the victims – and will

continue to provide support in the

years to come.

The Lodge meets only five times a

year on the second Saturdays in

January, March, May and September

and the first Saturday in November.

All those connected with the School,

including fathers of past or present

pupils are welcome to apply for

membership, for which purpose the

first approach should be to any

Lodge member, the Secretary as

below, or Nigel WoodSmith or Alan

Smith at the School. Members of

other Lodges, be they OAs, parents of

past or present pupils, staff or

Governors are encouraged to visit the

Lodge whenever they wish, and the

Secretary will be delighted to hear

from them.

John WilliamsLodge Secretary

regularly until he and his wife Doris

left St Albans a few years ago to take

up residence in an RMBI home at

Oadby in Leicestershire to be nearer

their son John. David was initiated

into the Lodge in 1964 and installed

as Master in May 1975. In the late ’70s

David’s career took him to New York

where in 1979 he joined Jeptha

Lodge, founded in 1860 in

Huntingdon. Following his

retirement in 1990, he and his wife

Elizabeth settled in Scotland and

despite the distance, he was able to

attend Lodge meetings from time to

At the November meeting, the

Lodge transferred £15,000 to the

Provincial Fund for 2009 ‘Festival’

Appeal in support of the Grand

Charity, which Hertfordshire is

hosting. The importance of the Grand

Charity was brought home to us in

December following the horrendous

Tsunami. As the scale of the disaster

became apparent the Grand Charity

immediately transferred £100,000 –

the maximum grant the chairman

could make without reference to the

Council – to the British Red Cross,

who were involved at the forefront of

providing aid and assistance to the

victims. In addition, he authorised

two further emergency grants to the

District Grand Lodges of Madras

(£10,000) and Sri Lanka (£25,000) to

assist them in their efforts to help

victims of the disaster. The District

Grand Lodge of Madras, which covers

the area of Southern India worst hit

by the disaster, rather than donating

to a general fund is working with

SOS Villages and Chatnath Homes on

a long-term project to provide safe

villages for orphaned children. The

children will be given protection and

education until such time as they are

old enough to support themselves.

The District has provided an initial

five million rupees to start the

project but sees it as a long-term

financial commitment. In addition,

the District Grand Charity in Madras

also made grants to Lodges in the

worst affected areas to provide

immediate relief.

When the Council of the Grand

Charity were able to meet they

increased the grant to the British

Red Cross to £300,000 and at the same

time, in response to requests from a

number of Provinces and to the

generous reaction of members of the

Craft, they established a designated

Asian Tsunami 2004 Floods Relief

Chest to receive contributions from

Lodges and individual Freemasons.

To date over £560,000 has been sent

to this Relief Chest. The Council

have since allocated a further

£300,000 from the Grand Charity’s

general funds towards provision of

long term support to children

orphaned or otherwise affected by

the disaster and resolved that the

money donated to the special Relief

Chest should also be applied to this

project. The Grand Charity has been

in discussion with a number of

specialist international charities

operating in the affected areas to

identify suitable projects. Memories

of the horrendous Tsunami disaster

will always be with us, but it is

heartening to know that Freemasons

played a part in providing rapid

4 Rollswood

Welwyn

Herts AL6 9TX

Telephone:

01438 715679

Helping hand:grants fromthe Councilof The GrandCharityhelpedprovidedesperatelyneededsupplies forvictims ofthe tsunami

assistance to the victims – and will

continue to provide support in the

years to come.

The Lodge meets only five times a

year on the second Saturdays in

January, March, May and September

and the first Saturday in November.

All those connected with the School,

including fathers of past or present

pupils are welcome to apply for

membership, for which purpose the

first approach should be to any

Lodge member, the Secretary as

below, or Nigel WoodSmith or Alan

Smith at the School. Members of

other Lodges, be they OAs, parents of

past or present pupils, staff or

Governors are encouraged to visit the

Lodge whenever they wish, and the

Secretary will be delighted to hear

from them.

John WilliamsLodge Secretary

regularly until he and his wife Doris

left St Albans a few years ago to take

up residence in an RMBI home at

Oadby in Leicestershire to be nearer

their son John. David was initiated

into the Lodge in 1964 and installed

as Master in May 1975. In the late ’70s

David’s career took him to New York

where in 1979 he joined Jeptha

Lodge, founded in 1860 in

Huntingdon. Following his

retirement in 1990, he and his wife

Elizabeth settled in Scotland and

despite the distance, he was able to

attend Lodge meetings from time to

At the November meeting, the

Lodge transferred £15,000 to the

Provincial Fund for 2009 ‘Festival’

Appeal in support of the Grand

Charity, which Hertfordshire is

hosting. The importance of the Grand

Charity was brought home to us in

December following the horrendous

Tsunami. As the scale of the disaster

became apparent the Grand Charity

immediately transferred £100,000 –

the maximum grant the chairman

could make without reference to the

Council – to the British Red Cross,

who were involved at the forefront of

providing aid and assistance to the

victims. In addition, he authorised

two further emergency grants to the

District Grand Lodges of Madras

(£10,000) and Sri Lanka (£25,000) to

assist them in their efforts to help

victims of the disaster. The District

Grand Lodge of Madras, which covers

the area of Southern India worst hit

by the disaster, rather than donating

to a general fund is working with

SOS Villages and Chatnath Homes on

a long-term project to provide safe

villages for orphaned children. The

children will be given protection and

education until such time as they are

old enough to support themselves.

The District has provided an initial

five million rupees to start the

project but sees it as a long-term

financial commitment. In addition,

the District Grand Charity in Madras

also made grants to Lodges in the

worst affected areas to provide

immediate relief.

When the Council of the Grand

Charity were able to meet they

increased the grant to the British

Red Cross to £300,000 and at the same

time, in response to requests from a

number of Provinces and to the

generous reaction of members of the

Craft, they established a designated

Asian Tsunami 2004 Floods Relief

Chest to receive contributions from

Lodges and individual Freemasons.

To date over £560,000 has been sent

to this Relief Chest. The Council

have since allocated a further

£300,000 from the Grand Charity’s

general funds towards provision of

long term support to children

orphaned or otherwise affected by

the disaster and resolved that the

money donated to the special Relief

Chest should also be applied to this

project. The Grand Charity has been

in discussion with a number of

specialist international charities

operating in the affected areas to

identify suitable projects. Memories

of the horrendous Tsunami disaster

will always be with us, but it is

heartening to know that Freemasons

played a part in providing rapid

Membership Secretary’s Notes

Go online■ OA Club Membership SecretaryRoger Cook rounds up all the latestmembership news – including areminder to register for OAConnect

Those of you with Internet access

will, by now, have realised that the

new database system has been named

OAConnect. The information from my

existing database has been transferred

to OAConnect; individuals must

personally register before they can

make use of the system. I remind you

that the system is secure and only

members who have registered can

gain access to its content.

A significant number have already

registered. Now that OAConnect is

operational, we are expecting a major

influx of registrants over the next

months. If you have not yet

registered, register NOW. Go to the

OA website where you will find the

appropriate links to OAConnect. For

the moment, I am retaining the

existing database mirroring the

information from OAConnect.

Bulletin

This Bulletin, as promised, is

available in printed form and is also

available on the OA website. Earlier

issues will also remain until the

permitted capacity of the site is

exceeded. The password for this issue

is 4378: OAConnect registrants will

find the passwords listed on the

OAConnect system.

I remind you that the cost of

receiving the Bulletin by post is set

at £18 for three years’ issues. The

year your Bulletin subscription

expires is shown before your name

on the address label. We request that

life members of the club who require

a postal copy make a donation of an

equivalent amount towards the costs

of postage.

OA Directory

The OA Directory, which I promised

in the last issue, has now been sent

to members. My apologies that, due

to its gestation time, the information

in it was not up to date at the time of

posting. If you did not receive a copy

please let me know.

OA Website

You will have noticed that the layout

and structure of the OA website has

changed. There are now more pages

and, I hope, helpful information.

Comments and items for inclusion

are always welcome! I am planning

to show a new photograph from the

archives every couple of weeks –

perhaps you can provide one?

(preferably in .jpg format or, if not, a

print that I can scan and then return

to you – NO negatives, please!)

Waifs and strays

The School is working hard to find

the addresses of former pupils who

are not members of the OA Club. We

confidently expect a major jump in

the number of members in the near

future. In the meantime, the usual list

of ‘waifs and strays’ is published

right.

Finally, I still have a stock of OA

ties (£12.50 silk tie – £15 bow tie).

Roger Cook

1 Pondwicks

St Albans AL1

Telephone:

01727 836877

Waifs and straysWe have lost contact with the

following OAs – can anyone help?

Year Name Last knownlocation

38 Buckingham, K M Harrow39 Wilkinson, A D Harpenden41 Wright, J A St Albans42 Powell, G H St Albans43 Bracewell, C M Leicester44 Hudson, P H F Cranbrook54 Dilley, N C High Wycombe55 Coombe, B J Brookmans Park55 Knight, J V Blackboys56 Ingram, P Glasgow57 Bishop, S C Shefford58 O’Sullivan, P J Harpenden59 Mills, K J Stoke-on-Trent60 Robertson, D M Herts62 Clarke, J Knebworth63 Bass, Stephen Dabvury65 Kirk , D Walthamstow66 Thomas, R N Edgware67 Ansell, Paul Luton67 Cockbain, P A Redhill67 Marsh, A Borehamwood68 Craighead, R M Potters Bar68 Gingell, R R Bury St Edmunds70 Martin, I G Birmingham71 Barker, Mark Sutton Coldfield71 Duxbury, M J Hitchin71 Earl, G Newbury71 Lawrence, D J D St Albans71 Williams, D P L Harpenden72 Bayley, A R J Chesterfield72 Mattingley, R J Baldock72 Parker, S C Harpenden73 Thom, D K Stevenage74 Kingham, D R East Grinstead74 Marshall, J T J St Albans74 Warner, I C St Albans75 Forbes, I A Bristol75 Funnell, Stephen Barnet76 Bulsing, J M Welwyn Garden City76 Lavin, C N Attleborough76 Orange, C A London76 Turner S E Faversham76 Waygood-West, Kevin Hatfield77 Bayoumi, T A Welwyn Garden City77 Clitherow, P A Harpenden77 Granger, Andrew London77 Jones, A P R Keithley77 Lee, A P Gwynedd77 Marshall, N J St Albans77 Stansbury, C J St Albans

77 Welsh, David J St Albans78 Evans, N G Hemel Hempstead78 Parker, P E Harpenden78 Samuel, M G St Albans78 Welsh, Keith Eccles79 Albury, C D St Albans79 Armitage, Stephen London79 Cooper, R C Luton79 Dixon, C Harpenden79 Hall, M Rickmansworth79 Haysom, A J Harpenden79 Lester, John Crewkerne79 Menzie, B Wheathampstead79 Richardson, Paul Harpenden79 Riddle, J Wakefield79 Tynan, P Cockermouth80 George, A J Flamstead80 Warwick, Neil St Albans80 Woodrow, J C G Wheathampstead81 Hodge, R J W Peterborough81 Palmer, Andrew Bracknell83 Norris, R G T St Albans83 Pryce, Tim Notting Hill Gate85 Andrews, David High Wycombe85 Finlay, Laurence Barnet85 Gresswell, A M Welwyn85 Smart, Adrian Brighton85 Somerville, D J Hemel Hempstead85 Turner, Andrew Swindon86 Bladen, John Luton86 Bending, Thomas Cambridge86 Cook, Adrian London86 Dewhirst, Martin Hatfield86 Newman, P L St Albans87 Meeson, Mark W St Albans87 Payne, Nicholas St Albans89 Hollingsworth, Damian St Albans89 Jones, Christopher St Albans92 Carden, Richard E W Southhampton92 Harris, Daniel S Radlett92 James, Jonathan Wheathampstead92 Simmons, Jonathan E Totteridge92 Moss, Radley Radlett92 Wheeler, Seth Utica, USA93 Brian, Andrew J St Albans93 Clarke, Richard P St Albans93 King, Caroline St Albans93 Ives, Simon St Albans94 Clayton, Thomas St Albans94 Lester, Miles Hadley Wood94 Simmons, Matthew Flamstead95 Topper, Marc Stanmore96 Barclay, Mathew St Albans97 Morgan, Dean Watford97 Summers, Paul Harpenden98 Forrester, Alison St Albans99 Myers, Richard B P Barnet00 Ford, Adrian Winchmore Hill

Membership Secretary’s Notes

Go online■ OA Club Membership SecretaryRoger Cook rounds up all the latestmembership news – including areminder to register for OAConnect

Those of you with Internet access

will, by now, have realised that the

new database system has been named

OAConnect. The information from my

existing database has been transferred

to OAConnect; individuals must

personally register before they can

make use of the system. I remind you

that the system is secure and only

members who have registered can

gain access to its content.

A significant number have already

registered. Now that OAConnect is

operational, we are expecting a major

influx of registrants over the next

months. If you have not yet

registered, register NOW. Go to the

OA website where you will find the

appropriate links to OAConnect. For

the moment, I am retaining the

existing database mirroring the

information from OAConnect.

Bulletin

This Bulletin, as promised, is

available in printed form and is also

available on the OA website. Earlier

issues will also remain until the

permitted capacity of the site is

exceeded. The password for this issue

is 4378: OAConnect registrants will

find the passwords listed on the

OAConnect system.

I remind you that the cost of

receiving the Bulletin by post is set

at £18 for three years’ issues. The

year your Bulletin subscription

expires is shown before your name

on the address label. We request that

life members of the club who require

a postal copy make a donation of an

equivalent amount towards the costs

of postage.

OA Directory

The OA Directory, which I promised

in the last issue, has now been sent

to members. My apologies that, due

to its gestation time, the information

in it was not up to date at the time of

posting. If you did not receive a copy

please let me know.

OA Website

You will have noticed that the layout

and structure of the OA website has

changed. There are now more pages

and, I hope, helpful information.

Comments and items for inclusion

are always welcome! I am planning

to show a new photograph from the

archives every couple of weeks –

perhaps you can provide one?

(preferably in .jpg format or, if not, a

print that I can scan and then return

to you – NO negatives, please!)

Waifs and strays

The School is working hard to find

the addresses of former pupils who

are not members of the OA Club. We

confidently expect a major jump in

the number of members in the near

future. In the meantime, the usual list

of ‘waifs and strays’ is published

right.

Finally, I still have a stock of OA

ties (£12.50 silk tie – £15 bow tie).

Roger Cook

1 Pondwicks

St Albans AL1

Telephone:

01727 836877

Waifs and straysWe have lost contact with the

following OAs – can anyone help?

Year Name Last knownlocation

38 Buckingham, K M Harrow39 Wilkinson, A D Harpenden41 Wright, J A St Albans42 Powell, G H St Albans43 Bracewell, C M Leicester44 Hudson, P H F Cranbrook54 Dilley, N C High Wycombe55 Coombe, B J Brookmans Park55 Knight, J V Blackboys56 Ingram, P Glasgow57 Bishop, S C Shefford58 O’Sullivan, P J Harpenden59 Mills, K J Stoke-on-Trent60 Robertson, D M Herts62 Clarke, J Knebworth63 Bass, Stephen Dabvury65 Kirk , D Walthamstow66 Thomas, R N Edgware67 Ansell, Paul Luton67 Cockbain, P A Redhill67 Marsh, A Borehamwood68 Craighead, R M Potters Bar68 Gingell, R R Bury St Edmunds70 Martin, I G Birmingham71 Barker, Mark Sutton Coldfield71 Duxbury, M J Hitchin71 Earl, G Newbury71 Lawrence, D J D St Albans71 Williams, D P L Harpenden72 Bayley, A R J Chesterfield72 Mattingley, R J Baldock72 Parker, S C Harpenden73 Thom, D K Stevenage74 Kingham, D R East Grinstead74 Marshall, J T J St Albans74 Warner, I C St Albans75 Forbes, I A Bristol75 Funnell, Stephen Barnet76 Bulsing, J M Welwyn Garden City76 Lavin, C N Attleborough76 Orange, C A London76 Turner S E Faversham76 Waygood-West, Kevin Hatfield77 Bayoumi, T A Welwyn Garden City77 Clitherow, P A Harpenden77 Granger, Andrew London77 Jones, A P R Keithley77 Lee, A P Gwynedd77 Marshall, N J St Albans77 Stansbury, C J St Albans

77 Welsh, David J St Albans78 Evans, N G Hemel Hempstead78 Parker, P E Harpenden78 Samuel, M G St Albans78 Welsh, Keith Eccles79 Albury, C D St Albans79 Armitage, Stephen London79 Cooper, R C Luton79 Dixon, C Harpenden79 Hall, M Rickmansworth79 Haysom, A J Harpenden79 Lester, John Crewkerne79 Menzie, B Wheathampstead79 Richardson, Paul Harpenden79 Riddle, J Wakefield79 Tynan, P Cockermouth80 George, A J Flamstead80 Warwick, Neil St Albans80 Woodrow, J C G Wheathampstead81 Hodge, R J W Peterborough81 Palmer, Andrew Bracknell83 Norris, R G T St Albans83 Pryce, Tim Notting Hill Gate85 Andrews, David High Wycombe85 Finlay, Laurence Barnet85 Gresswell, A M Welwyn85 Smart, Adrian Brighton85 Somerville, D J Hemel Hempstead85 Turner, Andrew Swindon86 Bladen, John Luton86 Bending, Thomas Cambridge86 Cook, Adrian London86 Dewhirst, Martin Hatfield86 Newman, P L St Albans87 Meeson, Mark W St Albans87 Payne, Nicholas St Albans89 Hollingsworth, Damian St Albans89 Jones, Christopher St Albans92 Carden, Richard E W Southhampton92 Harris, Daniel S Radlett92 James, Jonathan Wheathampstead92 Simmons, Jonathan E Totteridge92 Moss, Radley Radlett92 Wheeler, Seth Utica, USA93 Brian, Andrew J St Albans93 Clarke, Richard P St Albans93 King, Caroline St Albans93 Ives, Simon St Albans94 Clayton, Thomas St Albans94 Lester, Miles Hadley Wood94 Simmons, Matthew Flamstead95 Topper, Marc Stanmore96 Barclay, Mathew St Albans97 Morgan, Dean Watford97 Summers, Paul Harpenden98 Forrester, Alison St Albans99 Myers, Richard B P Barnet00 Ford, Adrian Winchmore Hill

● Robert Plenderleith DFC (35) died

in March 2005 – see obituary below.

● Anthony George Dorman (46) died

on 9th November 2004 – see obituary

on page 18.

● Michael Maloney (51) died in

October 2004 at the age of 72. He won

an Open Scholarship to Trinity

College, taught at Shrewsbury

School, became a head in Africa and

later was head of Welbeck College

and Moreton Hall – see obituary on

● John F Rooley (57) died October

16th 2004 aged 65.

● David Aston-Davies died 14th June

Obituaries

● Robert Plenderleith DFC (35)

The following obituary appeared in

the Herts Advertiser of Thursday

17th March:

One of the few remaining Battle of

Britain fighter pilots has died at the

age of 86. Flight Lieutenant Robert

Plenderleith, who lived in St

Saviour’s View, St Albans, served in

Fighter Command throughout the

Second World War before becoming a

test pilot.

He was one of the first pilots to see

action in France in May 1940 when 73

Squadron RAF in which he was

serving was one of two Hurricane

squadrons sent to resist the German

advance. They returned to England

after the fall of France and Mr

Plenderleith, who received a

Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for

his service, was shot down by a

Messerschmitt 109 on 11th October

1940, receiving burns to his face.

While recovering from his injuries he

served as a flying instructor but went

back to operational flying in North

Africa and Italy.

After his war service Mr

Plenderleith joined the de Havilland

● Clive Simms (62) Enjoying early

retirement and has learnt to cope

with Parkinson’s. Still active with

the Boys’ Brigade in Tamworth and

was present at the Brigades’

Remembrance Day Parade with

Colours and Band.

● D E J Ramsden was awarded a

CBE in the New Years Honours 2004.

● Edwin Cooper (92) Studied at St

Bartholomews and Royal London

Hospital School of Medicine and

Dentistry and was awarded BSc Hons

in Experimental Pathology (Class 1).

Last year achieved MRC Path and

was admitted to the Royal College of

Pathologists. Recently appointed

Consultant Histopathologist at Yeovil

District Hospital.

● Matthew Scase was wrongly

attributed a Geography degree in the

last issue – should read a Masters in

Maths at Oxford followed by a PhD

in Applied Maths at Cambridge.

● Marcus King (99) gained his first

Hertfordshire Rugby Cap this year.

● Chris Jepperson (00) gained a 1st

Class Hons in History at Cambridge

and is now doing a M Phil in

Historical Studies. He intends to go

on to a PhD.

Deaths

It is with regret that the followingdeaths are announced

● Leslie Hider (27)

John Hider writes of his father:

Leslie died peacefully on October

3rd 2004 aged 94 in the Royal Masonic

Benevolent Institution in Ogdby Leics

to which he and Doris had moved in

1998 to be near to the family.

Leslie was a Montague-Jones man.

He was orphaned at the age of 13 and

so only stayed on to do the General

Certificate and then had to leave at

16 to bring income to the maiden

aunts who raised him thereafter. He

was working at the time of the

General Strike but he had a school

prize dated 1927 presented to ‘Tactics’

(Cert A) and signed by Montague-

Jones. Perhaps it was chosen by

Monty as it is ‘The Life of Napoleon’

and it was probably presented after

he had left school. Leslie was

involved from the start in the

Company of Ten with Terry Newell

and Cyril Swinson and took the

nickname ‘Ali’ from a leading role in

‘Ali Baba’. He did a lot for the 1948

Pageant. He joined the OA Lodge in

1956 and attended regularly until

leaving for Leicestershire. Doris is

coping well.

● Major C (Peter) Newbold died

earlier this year. His son-in-law

Richard Wainwright writes: “He had

a good innings at 91 and read OA

Bulletins to the end.”

● Sir Charles Pereira (31) died on the

19th December 2004 – see obituary

from The Times above right.

● Dr Robert Blowers (33) died on the

17th December 2004.

E De fortunis Albanorum

● Robert Plenderleith DFC (35) died

in March 2005 – see obituary below.

● Anthony George Dorman (46) died

on 9th November 2004 – see obituary

on page 18.

● Michael Maloney (51) died in

October 2004 at the age of 72. He won

an Open Scholarship to Trinity

College, taught at Shrewsbury

School, became a head in Africa and

later was head of Welbeck College

and Moreton Hall – see obituary on

● John F Rooley (57) died October

16th 2004 aged 65.

● David Aston-Davies died 14th June

Obituaries

● Robert Plenderleith DFC (35)

The following obituary appeared in

the Herts Advertiser of Thursday

17th March:

One of the few remaining Battle of

Britain fighter pilots has died at the

age of 86. Flight Lieutenant Robert

Plenderleith, who lived in St

Saviour’s View, St Albans, served in

Fighter Command throughout the

Second World War before becoming a

test pilot.

He was one of the first pilots to see

action in France in May 1940 when 73

Squadron RAF in which he was

serving was one of two Hurricane

squadrons sent to resist the German

advance. They returned to England

after the fall of France and Mr

Plenderleith, who received a

Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for

his service, was shot down by a

Messerschmitt 109 on 11th October

1940, receiving burns to his face.

While recovering from his injuries he

served as a flying instructor but went

back to operational flying in North

Africa and Italy.

After his war service Mr

Plenderleith joined the de Havilland

● Clive Simms (62) Enjoying early

retirement and has learnt to cope

with Parkinson’s. Still active with

the Boys’ Brigade in Tamworth and

was present at the Brigades’

Remembrance Day Parade with

Colours and Band.

● D E J Ramsden was awarded a

CBE in the New Years Honours 2004.

● Edwin Cooper (92) Studied at St

Bartholomews and Royal London

Hospital School of Medicine and

Dentistry and was awarded BSc Hons

in Experimental Pathology (Class 1).

Last year achieved MRC Path and

was admitted to the Royal College of

Pathologists. Recently appointed

Consultant Histopathologist at Yeovil

District Hospital.

● Matthew Scase was wrongly

attributed a Geography degree in the

last issue – should read a Masters in

Maths at Oxford followed by a PhD

in Applied Maths at Cambridge.

● Marcus King (99) gained his first

Hertfordshire Rugby Cap this year.

● Chris Jepperson (00) gained a 1st

Class Hons in History at Cambridge

and is now doing a M Phil in

Historical Studies. He intends to go

on to a PhD.

Deaths

It is with regret that the followingdeaths are announced

● Leslie Hider (27)

John Hider writes of his father:

Leslie died peacefully on October

3rd 2004 aged 94 in the Royal Masonic

Benevolent Institution in Ogdby Leics

to which he and Doris had moved in

1998 to be near to the family.

Leslie was a Montague-Jones man.

He was orphaned at the age of 13 and

so only stayed on to do the General

Certificate and then had to leave at

16 to bring income to the maiden

aunts who raised him thereafter. He

was working at the time of the

General Strike but he had a school

prize dated 1927 presented to ‘Tactics’

(Cert A) and signed by Montague-

Jones. Perhaps it was chosen by

Monty as it is ‘The Life of Napoleon’

and it was probably presented after

he had left school. Leslie was

involved from the start in the

Company of Ten with Terry Newell

and Cyril Swinson and took the

nickname ‘Ali’ from a leading role in

‘Ali Baba’. He did a lot for the 1948

Pageant. He joined the OA Lodge in

1956 and attended regularly until

leaving for Leicestershire. Doris is

coping well.

● Major C (Peter) Newbold died

earlier this year. His son-in-law

Richard Wainwright writes: “He had

a good innings at 91 and read OA

Bulletins to the end.”

● Sir Charles Pereira (31) died on the

19th December 2004 – see obituary

from The Times above right.

● Dr Robert Blowers (33) died on the

17th December 2004.

E De fortunis Albanorum

graduates, scholars, and captains of

Industry.

Tony was a ‘one off’, achieving

more after school than his years

struggling with the school

curriculum.

One regret in his life was not

keeping a beautiful pre-war 8 litre

Mercedes which had been owned by

Henry Cotton, the golfer. He bought

it for about £200 and sold it for not a

lot more. It later fetched over one

million pounds at auction. He told

me when we last met, that would

have been his pension for life.

He leaves a son Jeremy and

daughter Nicola.

Michael Maloney (51)Peter Dunham writes:Michael Maloney, like many others,

came to St Albans as a result of the

war. His family were advised to leave

the vicinity of Hendon as it was

believed that the small aerodrome

there would be a target for the

Luftwaffe. When later his father’s job

was moved to Birmingham, Michael

became a boarder in School House.

Perhaps because he was so long a

day boy, Michael never acquired the

hard shell of the long-term boarder

but he made good use of the extra

time by learning carpentry from Mr

Wille – a skill which gave him much

pleasure in later life.

However, Michael had always been

interested in mathematics and

science and had an understanding of

these subjects which went far beyond

that of most of his contemporaries.

Michael was a pupil whose response

to teaching made a teacher’s job

worthwhile. He was one of an elite

group chosen to take school

certificate two terms early so that he

might have three years in sixth form

giving extra time to win an Oxbridge

scholarship. Michael’s talents were

duly recognised by Trinity College

Oxford. His success was marked by a

half day’s holiday for the school.

After University and the Royal

Artillery (why did so many OAs at

that time choose gunnery?) Michael

became a teacher at Shrewsbury

School where he met Jancis who

became his wife. It is reliably

reported that they met because at a

party where many wished to watch a

televised World Cup game, he was

loyal to rugby and she had forgotten

her glasses.

Later Michael and Jancis moved to

Eastbourne College and afterwards to

the Headship of Welbeck College.

Then they had three memorable

years when Michael was headmaster

of Kamuzu Academy, a showplace

educational establishment in Malawi

where Michael not only ran the

school but a tobacco estate, a farm

and a village as well.

When Michael returned to England

he was headhunted to become

Principal of Moreton Hall – an

independent girls’ boarding school

which had been through a serious

staffing crisis. He was much

respected by colleagues in Education

and although I never saw Michael in

action, it always seemed to me that

there was a little of the rather direct

W T Marsh style in his approach.

By this time Michael was firmly

Engine Company at Hatfield and

worked on Vampire and Venom jet

fighters before transferring to Rolls

Royce at Leavesden where he became

a helicopter test pilot. At the end of

his flying career he became the

company’s marketing promotions

manager.

His first wife died about 25 years

ago and he married his second wife,

Sylvia, four years later. Mr

Plenderleith leaves his wife and

daughter from his first marriage and

granddaughter Abigail and step-

daughter Jane. Mr Plenderleith, a

keen gardener, is believed to have

been the last surviving member of 73

Squadron.

Anthony GeorgeDorman (46)12.8.1930 – 9.11.2004Albany Wiseman writes:Tony was no great scholar during his

years at the School, (and no great

friend of W T Marsh!). Having left

school, his life and careers became

extremely diverse and colourful; he

always had a touch of Walter Mitty

about him, which often brought a

wry smile from his friends.

At various times he was a pig-

farmer, a designer working for a

national newspaper, world shark-

fishing champion, racing driver,

cyclist, county table-tennis player,

and a very accomplished artist.

He moved to the west coast of

Ireland with his wife Shelly (who pre-

deceased him). They opened a shop

and Tony took out tourists in his

boat giving them opportunities to

catch sharks. He was a member of

the local life-boat crew for about 11

years.

Returning to England he and

Shelly became estate managers and

gardeners to one of the local gentry

near Longleat in Wiltshire.

I attended his funeral on the

Longleat Estate, I think I was the

only OA present.

The school has produced many

The obituary for Robert Plenderleith thatappeared in the Herts Advertiser

graduates, scholars, and captains of

Industry.

Tony was a ‘one off’, achieving

more after school than his years

struggling with the school

curriculum.

One regret in his life was not

keeping a beautiful pre-war 8 litre

Mercedes which had been owned by

Henry Cotton, the golfer. He bought

it for about £200 and sold it for not a

lot more. It later fetched over one

million pounds at auction. He told

me when we last met, that would

have been his pension for life.

He leaves a son Jeremy and

daughter Nicola.

Michael Maloney (51)Peter Dunham writes:Michael Maloney, like many others,

came to St Albans as a result of the

war. His family were advised to leave

the vicinity of Hendon as it was

believed that the small aerodrome

there would be a target for the

Luftwaffe. When later his father’s job

was moved to Birmingham, Michael

became a boarder in School House.

Perhaps because he was so long a

day boy, Michael never acquired the

hard shell of the long-term boarder

but he made good use of the extra

time by learning carpentry from Mr

Wille – a skill which gave him much

pleasure in later life.

However, Michael had always been

interested in mathematics and

science and had an understanding of

these subjects which went far beyond

that of most of his contemporaries.

Michael was a pupil whose response

to teaching made a teacher’s job

worthwhile. He was one of an elite

group chosen to take school

certificate two terms early so that he

might have three years in sixth form

giving extra time to win an Oxbridge

scholarship. Michael’s talents were

duly recognised by Trinity College

Oxford. His success was marked by a

half day’s holiday for the school.

After University and the Royal

Artillery (why did so many OAs at

that time choose gunnery?) Michael

became a teacher at Shrewsbury

School where he met Jancis who

became his wife. It is reliably

reported that they met because at a

party where many wished to watch a

televised World Cup game, he was

loyal to rugby and she had forgotten

her glasses.

Later Michael and Jancis moved to

Eastbourne College and afterwards to

the Headship of Welbeck College.

Then they had three memorable

years when Michael was headmaster

of Kamuzu Academy, a showplace

educational establishment in Malawi

where Michael not only ran the

school but a tobacco estate, a farm

and a village as well.

When Michael returned to England

he was headhunted to become

Principal of Moreton Hall – an

independent girls’ boarding school

which had been through a serious

staffing crisis. He was much

respected by colleagues in Education

and although I never saw Michael in

action, it always seemed to me that

there was a little of the rather direct

W T Marsh style in his approach.

By this time Michael was firmly

Engine Company at Hatfield and

worked on Vampire and Venom jet

fighters before transferring to Rolls

Royce at Leavesden where he became

a helicopter test pilot. At the end of

his flying career he became the

company’s marketing promotions

manager.

His first wife died about 25 years

ago and he married his second wife,

Sylvia, four years later. Mr

Plenderleith leaves his wife and

daughter from his first marriage and

granddaughter Abigail and step-

daughter Jane. Mr Plenderleith, a

keen gardener, is believed to have

been the last surviving member of 73

Squadron.

Anthony GeorgeDorman (46)12.8.1930 – 9.11.2004Albany Wiseman writes:Tony was no great scholar during his

years at the School, (and no great

friend of W T Marsh!). Having left

school, his life and careers became

extremely diverse and colourful; he

always had a touch of Walter Mitty

about him, which often brought a

wry smile from his friends.

At various times he was a pig-

farmer, a designer working for a

national newspaper, world shark-

fishing champion, racing driver,

cyclist, county table-tennis player,

and a very accomplished artist.

He moved to the west coast of

Ireland with his wife Shelly (who pre-

deceased him). They opened a shop

and Tony took out tourists in his

boat giving them opportunities to

catch sharks. He was a member of

the local life-boat crew for about 11

years.

Returning to England he and

Shelly became estate managers and

gardeners to one of the local gentry

near Longleat in Wiltshire.

I attended his funeral on the

Longleat Estate, I think I was the

only OA present.

The school has produced many

The obituary for Robert Plenderleith thatappeared in the Herts Advertiser

Thiepval Project which has raised

£600,000.

● Ron Simmons (50)

Has given his Black Book with staff

names. Also a Millenary Souvenir

Programme and Albanians of 1945,

1949 and 1950.

● Brian Davidson (53)

Both a pupil and member of staff, he

has given: Pageant Programme,

Photographs – with names of: Colts

XV 1960, 3rd XI 1952, 3rd XI 1951, 1st

XV (worst ever) 1952-3, CCF

Inspection 1952, Fifth Form walking

group Lakes 1961, Keswick 1962. Also

letters from WTM and Olive Marsh

and the order of service for the WTM

Memorial Service of Thanksgiving.

● Richard Saltmarsh (54)

OA boater hatband, pair of OA

cufflinks. Various War Office papers

relating to his father Ronald Herbert

Saltmarsh. These indicated that he

had the General Services Medal and

was ‘Mentioned in Dispatches’ on

7/11/17. He had gained a County

Minor Scholarship to the school in

1906. Also given were his

Commissioning Document into the

Infantry in 1915 and a letter of

thanks from the War Office for

services rendered.

All contributions for the Gazette

and any items you wish to be

donated to the School Archive should

be sent to Mike Highstead.

rooted in Shropshire and he and

Jancis continued to live at Chirbury

near the Welsh border although their

children Patrick and Bridget moved

to Ireland and Australia respectively.

Michael was a magistrate, a

performer of monologues at village

entertainments, a parish Councillor

and a Trustee of the local Charity.

Jancis and Michael entertained their

many friends, enjoyed duplicate

bridge across the border and played

more cut-throat bridge with me and

my wife. Our investigation of the

Principle of Restricted Choice

remains unfinished. He did much

furniture construction and

restoration including the church’s

bier which was later used for his

coffin. He never joined the OAs but

was glad to read my copy of the

Bulletin and was surprisingly

knowledgeable about the careers of

OAs who had gone into education.

Michael faced his illness with

fortitude, humour and a properly

scientific interest in his treatments.

He claimed to be the most voracious

vampire in the county. Michael lived

a full life and he will be much missed

not only by his family but by his

very many friends.

Donations to the Archives

● Robin Ollington (47)

Has found more about Sir Thomas

Spencer Wells FRCS (1818-1897). He

also notes the great success of the

Please send all

items for

inclusion in the

Gazette to:

Mike Highstead,

33, Cornwall

Harpenden,

AL5 4TQ.

Meet and greet: Sam Patten (94) and ‘one ofthe Lake boys’ (96), above, and ClubPresident Andy Barnes (64) with JackRichardson (36), right, at the London Drinksparty held annually at the East India Club

Thiepval Project which has raised

£600,000.

● Ron Simmons (50)

Has given his Black Book with staff

names. Also a Millenary Souvenir

Programme and Albanians of 1945,

1949 and 1950.

● Brian Davidson (53)

Both a pupil and member of staff, he

has given: Pageant Programme,

Photographs – with names of: Colts

XV 1960, 3rd XI 1952, 3rd XI 1951, 1st

XV (worst ever) 1952-3, CCF

Inspection 1952, Fifth Form walking

group Lakes 1961, Keswick 1962. Also

letters from WTM and Olive Marsh

and the order of service for the WTM

Memorial Service of Thanksgiving.

● Richard Saltmarsh (54)

OA boater hatband, pair of OA

cufflinks. Various War Office papers

relating to his father Ronald Herbert

Saltmarsh. These indicated that he

had the General Services Medal and

was ‘Mentioned in Dispatches’ on

7/11/17. He had gained a County

Minor Scholarship to the school in

1906. Also given were his

Commissioning Document into the

Infantry in 1915 and a letter of

thanks from the War Office for

services rendered.

All contributions for the Gazette

and any items you wish to be

donated to the School Archive should

be sent to Mike Highstead.

rooted in Shropshire and he and

Jancis continued to live at Chirbury

near the Welsh border although their

children Patrick and Bridget moved

to Ireland and Australia respectively.

Michael was a magistrate, a

performer of monologues at village

entertainments, a parish Councillor

and a Trustee of the local Charity.

Jancis and Michael entertained their

many friends, enjoyed duplicate

bridge across the border and played

more cut-throat bridge with me and

my wife. Our investigation of the

Principle of Restricted Choice

remains unfinished. He did much

furniture construction and

restoration including the church’s

bier which was later used for his

coffin. He never joined the OAs but

was glad to read my copy of the

Bulletin and was surprisingly

knowledgeable about the careers of

OAs who had gone into education.

Michael faced his illness with

fortitude, humour and a properly

scientific interest in his treatments.

He claimed to be the most voracious

vampire in the county. Michael lived

a full life and he will be much missed

not only by his family but by his

very many friends.

Donations to the Archives

● Robin Ollington (47)

Has found more about Sir Thomas

Spencer Wells FRCS (1818-1897). He

also notes the great success of the

Please send all

items for

inclusion in the

Gazette to:

Mike Highstead,

33, Cornwall

Harpenden,

AL5 4TQ.

Meet and greet: Sam Patten (94) and ‘one ofthe Lake boys’ (96), above, and ClubPresident Andy Barnes (64) with JackRichardson (36), right, at the London Drinksparty held annually at the East India Club

OA BULLETIN MAY 2005OA BULLETIN MAY 2005

Degrees of excellence

Some of the outstanding achievementsof Old Albanians at university thisyear include:

● James Browne, at Corpus Christ

College, Cambridge, has been

awarded a First in Part IIA of the

Economics Tripos with the third best

mark in the University. The College

has awarded him a Foundation

Scholarship and the

Eastbridge/Parker Exhibition.

● Vanessa Hare, at Cardiff

University, has been awarded First

Class Honours in Music, one of only

two firsts awarded in the subject at

Cardiff this year.

● Michael Henson, at Emmanuel

College, Cambridge, has been re-

elected into a Senior Exhibition in

Social and Political Sciences.

● Richard Little, at Christ’s College,

Cambridge, has been awarded starred

First Class Honours in Business

Studies and Management.

● Krishan Ramyead, at Brunel

Class Honours in Information

Sciences.

● Nigel Rawlins, at Queens’ College,

Cambridge, has been awarded a First

in Part 1B of the Cambridge

Mathematics Tripos.

● Matthew Scase, at Peterhouse,

Cambridge, has been awarded a PhD

in Mathematics.

● Adam Shindler, at Peterhouse,

Cambridge, has been elected into a

Senior Exhibition in History.

● Ross Talbot, at Leeds University,

has been awarded First Class

Honours in Environmental

Management.

● Jamie Wheeler, at Emmanuel

College, Cambridge, has been elected

into a Senior Exhibition in

Economics.

Reverend recognised ■ Congratulations to The Revd CanonBruce Duncan (56), who was recentlyawarded the prestigious Cross of StAugustine by the Archbishop ofCanterbury

The Cross of St Augustine was

founded by Archbishop Michael

Ramsey in 1965 and has historically

been awarded to clergy and lay

people of foreign churches who have

contributed conspicuously to

advancing friendly relations with the

churches of the Anglican

Communion. More recently it has

also been given for outstanding

service within the Church of England

whether centrally or in the dioceses,

or the Anglican Communion as a

whole, and to those who have

contributed to advancing relations

between the various Christian

communions and churches. There are

only around 150 holders of this Cross.

Bruce Duncan was one of eleven to

receive the award from Archbishop

Rowan at Lambeth Palace in

November 2004. “Bruce Duncan has

contributed enormously in bringing

together Christians of various

denominations,” read his

commendation. “This has come about

in setting up Sarum College, an

ecumenical centre in the building that

once housed the Salisbury and Wells

Theological College. It has been a

significant exercise in ecumenical co-

operation, involving academics,

pastoral clergy and laity in joint study,

discussion and teaching. It describes

itself as a place of ‘living theology’

where the love of learning and the

desire for God can flourish together.”

The RevdCanon BruceDuncan (56),bearing theCross of StAugustineawarded bythe head ofthe AnglicanChurch

OA BULLETIN MAY 2005OA BULLETIN MAY 2005

Degrees of excellence

Some of the outstanding achievementsof Old Albanians at university thisyear include:

● James Browne, at Corpus Christ

College, Cambridge, has been

awarded a First in Part IIA of the

Economics Tripos with the third best

mark in the University. The College

has awarded him a Foundation

Scholarship and the

Eastbridge/Parker Exhibition.

● Vanessa Hare, at Cardiff

Class Honours in Music, one of only

two firsts awarded in the subject at

Cardiff this year.

● Michael Henson, at Emmanuel

College, Cambridge, has been re-

elected into a Senior Exhibition in

Social and Political Sciences.

● Richard Little, at Christ’s College,

Cambridge, has been awarded starred

First Class Honours in Business

Studies and Management.

● Krishan Ramyead, at Brunel

Class Honours in Information

Sciences.

● Nigel Rawlins, at Queens’ College,

Cambridge, has been awarded a First

in Part 1B of the Cambridge

Mathematics Tripos.

● Matthew Scase, at Peterhouse,

Cambridge, has been awarded a PhD

in Mathematics.

● Adam Shindler, at Peterhouse,

Cambridge, has been elected into a

Senior Exhibition in History.

● Ross Talbot, at Leeds University,

has been awarded First Class

Honours in Environmental

Management.

● Jamie Wheeler, at Emmanuel

College, Cambridge, has been elected

into a Senior Exhibition in

Economics.

Reverend recognised ■ Congratulations to The Revd CanonBruce Duncan (56), who was recentlyawarded the prestigious Cross of StAugustine by the Archbishop ofCanterbury

The Cross of St Augustine was

founded by Archbishop Michael

Ramsey in 1965 and has historically

been awarded to clergy and lay

people of foreign churches who have

contributed conspicuously to

advancing friendly relations with the

churches of the Anglican

Communion. More recently it has

also been given for outstanding

service within the Church of England

whether centrally or in the dioceses,

or the Anglican Communion as a

whole, and to those who have

contributed to advancing relations

between the various Christian

communions and churches. There are

only around 150 holders of this Cross.

Bruce Duncan was one of eleven to

receive the award from Archbishop

Rowan at Lambeth Palace in

November 2004. “Bruce Duncan has

contributed enormously in bringing

together Christians of various

denominations,” read his

commendation. “This has come about

in setting up Sarum College, an

ecumenical centre in the building that

once housed the Salisbury and Wells

Theological College. It has been a

significant exercise in ecumenical co-

operation, involving academics,

pastoral clergy and laity in joint study,

discussion and teaching. It describes

itself as a place of ‘living theology’

where the love of learning and the

desire for God can flourish together.”

The RevdCanon BruceDuncan (56),bearing theCross of StAugustineawarded bythe head ofthe AnglicanChurch

construction…’ I’d built myself up to

the fact that this would all be a

breeze but it so obviously wasn’t to

Well, ‘copy and paste’ it is then. I

paid my £7.50 to make me a ‘full

member’ of friendsreunited which

would enable me to e-mail everyone.

Slowly but surely the responses came

in – I’d started with friends I knew

would come (three-line whip and all

that) so that made me feel better.

Then the guy from Politics in the

West Turret appeared – it was only

then I knew we were making

progress.

To date, we have found 50 people

and all except three have accepted.

Following the e-mail attempts we

decided a letter would have to go out

to the remainder – the luxury we do

have is having only been eight years

since we left, the chances of parents

still living at the same address is

quite high – although large ‘Please

Forward’ notices were stuck on each

letter. The reunion is just over a

month away and I am hoping it will

be the success we all imagine. It does

make you realise that having said

‘keep in touch’ 119 times on the last

day of school, not only does it rarely

happen, but when you eventually

wish it had you find yourself

clutching straws in a vain attempt to

find people. The organisation of this

reunion has been vast and my inbox

is almost melting but if it comes off it

will all be worth it. This really is one

of those ‘the more the merrier’

moments in life and we would love to

see as many as possible. If you’re

reading this and are in touch with

1995 5th Year leavers, 1996 LVI

leavers or 1997 UVI leavers then

please tell them to contact me. There

aren’t many things that are certain

at this juncture but one thing I can

say with confidence is that after all

the UVI politics takes a side-line my

e-mail contact list will have had a

healthy boost.

[email protected] [email protected]

Our Man in Basra■ The final despatch from Iraq by OACommittee Member Calvin Man (91),as he prepares to return to civilian life

Several things were a shock to the

system on my return after seven

months in Iraq with the 1st

Mechanised Brigade: the cold, clean

streets and alcohol to name a few.

Another surprise though was being

congratulated by a number of OAs

and being told what an interesting

read my updates from Iraq had been.

I was unaware that my updates had

been published but nonetheless

pleased that they entertained.

Iraq was a fascinating experience

and I thought it would be interesting

to share with fellow OAs the

remainder of messages from Iraq.

They are a little out of date now but I

hope they will continue to entertain

and provoke some thought on the

situation out there and on our role.

Unless the Government mobilises me

again for the next bit of defence

diplomacy, I can be found in the City

of London…

BASRA, 4 August 2004: We are

The class of 97■ A reunion for the class of 1997 willtake place at Woollams on 18th June2005. Davinia Ankersen (97) sharesher experiences of organising the event

“What do you mean, we’ve got 120 e-

mail addresses to find?” were the

only fitting words. Six months

previously we were sitting on a

sunny afternoon in West Hampstead

and conversation turned to absent

friends, to old friends, to forgotten

friends – and curiosity got the better

of us. A reunion it would have to be –

whatever did happen to that guy who

sat near the wall when we had

Politics in the West Turret?

Now I’m sure to most of you 1997

doesn’t sound that long ago – the

year Tony Blair first came to the

throne, Ibiza Uncovered hit our

screens and the Spice Girls were still

slightly ginger (just). However, for

three people attempting to sift

through the shreds of contact

information in an attempt to

formulate a comprehensive e-mail

database for 1997 alumni it has not

been the swiftest of processes.

Our first point of reference was to

dig out our UVI photo in order to

assess the initial scale of what we

had taken on – it wasn’t looking

good. Another factor is that in 1997 e-

mail was not for life but just a boring

aspect of office life. The likes of

Hotmail and Yahoo were just

spawning and nor did we have

mobile phones. Our initial thoughts

were that as a year group there were

still large pockets of us still in touch

eight years after leaving school.

However, it turned out that, when

put in the context of the total

number of pupils in our year, it made

about 10% of the total. Suddenly

there was a wall between ‘us’ and

‘them’ – how would we find ‘them’? I

decided to put it off as long as

possible!

In the sense of ‘getting things

done’ we set the date for the reunion

(based on the diary commitments of

Martin, Carrie and me) and

immediately felt better! The OA

pavilion at Woollams seemed the

obvious choice as a venue but the

money was always going to be

stretched to afford the hire fee – we

were hoping that people wouldn’t see

paying for a ticket as unreasonable

as we obviously weren’t happy with

simply hiring out a corner of the

local Weatherspoons!

Once that was done and it had

sunk in that we’d paid a deposit on

the venue thoughts turned to ‘we

may as well give it a go and see how

far we get’. I was thrilled the

following week when I went on the

friendsreunited website only to

discover they had a ‘Reunion Service’

which promised to e-mail everyone

(no cut, copy or paste in sight),

manage the responses, keep a tally of

acceptances and send out reminders

about venues/payments etc. I was

thrilled as there were about 80 people

listed as having left St Albans School

in 1997 on the website. I clicked

eagerly on the ‘Reunion Service’

thinking it would wash all my

troubles away – ‘We’re sorry, this

page is currently under

construction…’ I’d built myself up to

the fact that this would all be a

breeze but it so obviously wasn’t to

Well, ‘copy and paste’ it is then. I

paid my £7.50 to make me a ‘full

member’ of friendsreunited which

would enable me to e-mail everyone.

Slowly but surely the responses came

in – I’d started with friends I knew

would come (three-line whip and all

that) so that made me feel better.

Then the guy from Politics in the

West Turret appeared – it was only

then I knew we were making

progress.

To date, we have found 50 people

and all except three have accepted.

Following the e-mail attempts we

decided a letter would have to go out

to the remainder – the luxury we do

have is having only been eight years

since we left, the chances of parents

still living at the same address is

quite high – although large ‘Please

Forward’ notices were stuck on each

letter. The reunion is just over a

month away and I am hoping it will

be the success we all imagine. It does

make you realise that having said

‘keep in touch’ 119 times on the last

day of school, not only does it rarely

happen, but when you eventually

wish it had you find yourself

clutching straws in a vain attempt to

find people. The organisation of this

reunion has been vast and my inbox

is almost melting but if it comes off it

will all be worth it. This really is one

of those ‘the more the merrier’

moments in life and we would love to

see as many as possible. If you’re

reading this and are in touch with

1995 5th Year leavers, 1996 LVI

leavers or 1997 UVI leavers then

please tell them to contact me. There

aren’t many things that are certain

at this juncture but one thing I can

say with confidence is that after all

the UVI politics takes a side-line my

e-mail contact list will have had a

healthy boost.

[email protected] [email protected]

Our Man in Basra■ The final despatch from Iraq by OACommittee Member Calvin Man (91),as he prepares to return to civilian life

Several things were a shock to the

system on my return after seven

months in Iraq with the 1st

Mechanised Brigade: the cold, clean

streets and alcohol to name a few.

Another surprise though was being

congratulated by a number of OAs

and being told what an interesting

read my updates from Iraq had been.

I was unaware that my updates had

been published but nonetheless

pleased that they entertained.

Iraq was a fascinating experience

and I thought it would be interesting

to share with fellow OAs the

remainder of messages from Iraq.

They are a little out of date now but I

hope they will continue to entertain

and provoke some thought on the

situation out there and on our role.

Unless the Government mobilises me

again for the next bit of defence

diplomacy, I can be found in the City

of London…

BASRA, 4 August 2004: We are

The class of 97■ A reunion for the class of 1997 willtake place at Woollams on 18th June2005. Davinia Ankersen (97) sharesher experiences of organising the event

“What do you mean, we’ve got 120 e-

mail addresses to find?” were the

only fitting words. Six months

previously we were sitting on a

sunny afternoon in West Hampstead

and conversation turned to absent

friends, to old friends, to forgotten

friends – and curiosity got the better

of us. A reunion it would have to be –

whatever did happen to that guy who

sat near the wall when we had

Politics in the West Turret?

Now I’m sure to most of you 1997

doesn’t sound that long ago – the

year Tony Blair first came to the

throne, Ibiza Uncovered hit our

screens and the Spice Girls were still

slightly ginger (just). However, for

three people attempting to sift

through the shreds of contact

information in an attempt to

formulate a comprehensive e-mail

database for 1997 alumni it has not

been the swiftest of processes.

Our first point of reference was to

dig out our UVI photo in order to

assess the initial scale of what we

had taken on – it wasn’t looking

good. Another factor is that in 1997 e-

mail was not for life but just a boring

aspect of office life. The likes of

Hotmail and Yahoo were just

spawning and nor did we have

mobile phones. Our initial thoughts

were that as a year group there were

still large pockets of us still in touch

eight years after leaving school.

However, it turned out that, when

put in the context of the total

number of pupils in our year, it made

about 10% of the total. Suddenly

there was a wall between ‘us’ and

‘them’ – how would we find ‘them’? I

decided to put it off as long as

possible!

In the sense of ‘getting things

done’ we set the date for the reunion

(based on the diary commitments of

Martin, Carrie and me) and

immediately felt better! The OA

pavilion at Woollams seemed the

obvious choice as a venue but the

money was always going to be

stretched to afford the hire fee – we

were hoping that people wouldn’t see

paying for a ticket as unreasonable

as we obviously weren’t happy with

simply hiring out a corner of the

local Weatherspoons!

Once that was done and it had

sunk in that we’d paid a deposit on

the venue thoughts turned to ‘we

may as well give it a go and see how

far we get’. I was thrilled the

following week when I went on the

friendsreunited website only to

discover they had a ‘Reunion Service’

which promised to e-mail everyone

(no cut, copy or paste in sight),

manage the responses, keep a tally of

acceptances and send out reminders

about venues/payments etc. I was

thrilled as there were about 80 people

listed as having left St Albans School

in 1997 on the website. I clicked

eagerly on the ‘Reunion Service’

thinking it would wash all my

troubles away – ‘We’re sorry, this

page is currently under

BASRA, 9 August 2004: A quick

update today as the situation in

Basra has changed rapidly in the last

72 hours. Ever since the Americans

started their attacks on insurgents

(many of whom are followers of

Moqtada al-Sadr) in Najaf and we

detained four members of the Sadr

party in Basra for having illegal

weapons, tensions have been growing

between, us, the Basrah Council and

the Sadr party.

We have now been locked down in

the Palace for the last three days so

we can not get out and about to do

our business because of the

heightened tension. Yesterday there

were demonstrations on the streets

and outside the Basrah Governorate

building, probably incited by

Moqtada al-Sadr and last night there

were attacks (mortars, RPGs and

small arms fire) on our locations.

Today the tension has escalated

further with members of the Moqtada

militia out on the streets and around

our locations. Our troops have been

attacked and we have had vehicles

damaged in the city. Fortunately, no

serious casualties reported at this

stage. Gunfire and explosions have

been heard all day in the city and our

base security has been stepped up.

This will be a real test of the Iraqi

government and Iraqi security forces

since they now have primacy in

security matters. We are waiting to

see whether we will adopt a more

overt and aggressive stance.

More soon. Op TELIC 4 is turning

out to be a more interesting by the

minute than any of TELIC 1, 2, or 3...

BASRA, August 2004: We are now

a week into the heightened security

situation.

There are Moqtada al-Sadr’s militia

men running around in Basra and

surrounding some of our locations.

More are expected to arrive. At the

request of the Basrah Council, we are

now over half way through our tour

and thoughts are now naturally

turning towards our exit and the

handover to the next UK Brigade to

come here on Op Telic 5. Our role in

the Provincial Support & Liaison

Team (covering Governance and

Economy) is now becoming the

Brigade’s unofficial main effort

(Security remains the real main

effort) as we turn our minds towards

elections (both local, happening in

the next few weeks, and national,

planned for January 2005). Every

senior visitor in the last two months

has specifically asked to see us.

It is interesting to note that our

team is primarily TA, with each one

of us bringing skills that the Regular

Army does not have. I have

effectively become the Army’s

economic adviser in the South of

Iraq, dealing with economic policy,

central bank operations and

interpreting economic statistics to

spot potential civil unrest. A

colleague (a teacher in real life) is

advising the Education Department. I

am quite confident that the Army

could not fulfil our role, nor indeed

deploy effectively at all, without the

Our importance has been

underlined by the fact that our role

will be carried out by a whole sub-

unit of the next Brigade and we have

been reinforced by nearly 100 officers

and soldiers within the last week to

support our work – is this the first

case of Regular soldiers augmenting

the TA?

I jest a little about the TA/Regular

distinction. There has been no sense

that the TA has been treated

differently. In fact there has probably

been more interest in the TA from

the Regulars, especially amongst

those thinking about leaving the

Army and working out how to work

their way into a civilian job!

Man to man:Calvin Man,far left,deals withsome civilianunrest, andleft, onpatrol inIraq

BASRA, 9 August 2004: A quick

update today as the situation in

Basra has changed rapidly in the last

72 hours. Ever since the Americans

started their attacks on insurgents

(many of whom are followers of

Moqtada al-Sadr) in Najaf and we

detained four members of the Sadr

party in Basra for having illegal

weapons, tensions have been growing

between, us, the Basrah Council and

the Sadr party.

We have now been locked down in

the Palace for the last three days so

we can not get out and about to do

our business because of the

heightened tension. Yesterday there

were demonstrations on the streets

and outside the Basrah Governorate

building, probably incited by

Moqtada al-Sadr and last night there

were attacks (mortars, RPGs and

small arms fire) on our locations.

Today the tension has escalated

further with members of the Moqtada

militia out on the streets and around

our locations. Our troops have been

attacked and we have had vehicles

damaged in the city. Fortunately, no

serious casualties reported at this

stage. Gunfire and explosions have

been heard all day in the city and our

base security has been stepped up.

This will be a real test of the Iraqi

government and Iraqi security forces

since they now have primacy in

security matters. We are waiting to

see whether we will adopt a more

overt and aggressive stance.

More soon. Op TELIC 4 is turning

out to be a more interesting by the

minute than any of TELIC 1, 2, or 3...

BASRA, August 2004: We are now

a week into the heightened security

situation.

There are Moqtada al-Sadr’s militia

men running around in Basra and

surrounding some of our locations.

More are expected to arrive. At the

request of the Basrah Council, we are

now over half way through our tour

and thoughts are now naturally

turning towards our exit and the

handover to the next UK Brigade to

come here on Op Telic 5. Our role in

the Provincial Support & Liaison

Team (covering Governance and

Economy) is now becoming the

Brigade’s unofficial main effort

(Security remains the real main

effort) as we turn our minds towards

elections (both local, happening in

the next few weeks, and national,

planned for January 2005). Every

senior visitor in the last two months

has specifically asked to see us.

It is interesting to note that our

team is primarily TA, with each one

of us bringing skills that the Regular

Army does not have. I have

effectively become the Army’s

economic adviser in the South of

Iraq, dealing with economic policy,

central bank operations and

interpreting economic statistics to

spot potential civil unrest. A

colleague (a teacher in real life) is

advising the Education Department. I

am quite confident that the Army

could not fulfil our role, nor indeed

deploy effectively at all, without the

Our importance has been

underlined by the fact that our role

will be carried out by a whole sub-

unit of the next Brigade and we have

been reinforced by nearly 100 officers

and soldiers within the last week to

support our work – is this the first

case of Regular soldiers augmenting

the TA?

I jest a little about the TA/Regular

distinction. There has been no sense

that the TA has been treated

differently. In fact there has probably

been more interest in the TA from

the Regulars, especially amongst

those thinking about leaving the

Army and working out how to work

their way into a civilian job!

Man to man:Calvin Man,far left,deals withsome civilianunrest, andleft, onpatrol inIraq

Similar sentiments have been relayed

to me since and the Basrah Council

has urged us to use our influence to

persuade the Americans, in whose

area of operations is Najaf, to de-

escalate the situation and not enter

the mosque.

I am not sure what will happen if

the Americans do enter the mosque.

It is probable that those who are

generally supportive of us (the

British) will turn against us and even

use violence. I just hope those in

power understand the situation.

BASRA, 26 October 2004: This is

my last update from Iraq as I will

finally be leaving soon. I apologise

for the lack of emails for the last two

months but they have probably been

the busiest for me.

When I last wrote, I think it was

August when the security situation

here became significantly worse. The

militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr were

running around the streets and there

were several serious engagements

with our forces in Basra City. The

only way I could move around

routinely was in Warrior armoured

infantry fighting vehicles or by

helicopter – we later found out that

the Militia had put a big anti-aircraft

gun on top of a building in the city!

There was some tactical low-flying

done and throwing of flares to

protect against heat seeking missiles.

It was during this time when two

soldiers from the Black Watch, based

with my team in Basra Palace, were

killed by roadside bombs. There were

many more ambushes on our troops

and, fortunately, in all cases the

junior NCOs who were usually in

command of the patrols

demonstrated their professionalism

and their reputation as being the best

in the world by reacting correctly

and ensuring that more of our

taking a less overt stance within the

city and are only patrolling the areas

around our bases and likely mortar

firing positions to ensure the safety

of our bases and supply routes. We

are, however, taking a more

aggressive stance outside the city to

prevent Moqtada reinforcements

from coming in. Our aim is to de-

escalate the tensions.

The Iraqi Police and Iraqi National

Guard are taking the lead in

ensuring security in the city but

there are doubts about their

effectiveness and willingness to

engage with the Moqtada Militia, as

well as the loyalties of Basrah Chief

of Police – some think he is a

Moqtada supporter. It is also believed

that some politicians here in the

south are secretly supporting the

escalating violence, seeing it as a

means to achieve independence of

the south from the rest of Iraq. There

are moves to try to get the Provinces

of Basrah, Maysan and Dhiqar (in the

south west corner of Iraq) to break

away and form a mainly Shia state

(or at least achieve autonomy). There

is a certain amount of support for

this amongst the general population

and the leaders of Maysan and

Dhiqar have been more vocal about

this. Basrah’s leaders are not publicly

supporting this line at the moment.

Unfortunately, we lost another

soldier today as a bomb went off as

his armoured vehicle was passing.

Generally, the soldiers are not fully

hatched down in the vehicles (quite

unbearable in this heat) unless there

is a specific threat and this soldier

was hit by fragments packed into the

bomb. Another two were seriously

injured in the same incident. A sad

I have volunteered to do a ‘normal’

military role until the situation

calms down and will be running the

operations room (which has

obviously become much busier) for

the infantry unit providing the area

security around our base.

The news in the UK has probably

focused on the activities in Najaf, the

site of the Imam Ali mosque, the

holiest of Shia shrines where the

remains of Imam Ali, son of the

Prophet Mohammed, are supposed to

be buried. Many insurgents, many of

whom are probably not Iraqi

(Iranian?), loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr

are hiding out in the grounds of the

mosque. I am not sure if people back

at home understand the significance

of this mosque. The followers of

Imam Ali believed he should have

succeeded Mohammed (as the first

Caliph). Eventually, he became the

fourth Caliph but was assasinated

shortly after, which led to the split in

the Muslim world between Sunnis

and Shias. The mosque is important

not only in Iraq but to Shia Muslims

around the world, whether in Iran,

Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. It is like

Mecca to the Sunnis. Hazim al-

Anaichi, the Basrah Council Co-

ordinator assasinated a few weeks

ago, who was pro-British and one of

our key allies, said to us once that if

Coalition Forces attacked the Imam

Ali mosque he would kill us himself.

This was said quite earnestly, not as

a threat but to stress what the

mosque means to Shia Muslims.

Calvin Man’simage ofdamagedbuildingsfrom histour of dutyin Iraq

Similar sentiments have been relayed

to me since and the Basrah Council

has urged us to use our influence to

persuade the Americans, in whose

area of operations is Najaf, to de-

escalate the situation and not enter

the mosque.

I am not sure what will happen if

the Americans do enter the mosque.

It is probable that those who are

generally supportive of us (the

British) will turn against us and even

use violence. I just hope those in

power understand the situation.

BASRA, 26 October 2004: This is

my last update from Iraq as I will

finally be leaving soon. I apologise

for the lack of emails for the last two

months but they have probably been

the busiest for me.

When I last wrote, I think it was

August when the security situation

here became significantly worse. The

militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr were

running around the streets and there

were several serious engagements

with our forces in Basra City. The

only way I could move around

routinely was in Warrior armoured

infantry fighting vehicles or by

helicopter – we later found out that

the Militia had put a big anti-aircraft

gun on top of a building in the city!

There was some tactical low-flying

done and throwing of flares to

protect against heat seeking missiles.

It was during this time when two

soldiers from the Black Watch, based

with my team in Basra Palace, were

killed by roadside bombs. There were

many more ambushes on our troops

and, fortunately, in all cases the

junior NCOs who were usually in

command of the patrols

demonstrated their professionalism

and their reputation as being the best

in the world by reacting correctly

and ensuring that more of our

taking a less overt stance within the

city and are only patrolling the areas

around our bases and likely mortar

firing positions to ensure the safety

of our bases and supply routes. We

are, however, taking a more

aggressive stance outside the city to

prevent Moqtada reinforcements

from coming in. Our aim is to de-

escalate the tensions.

The Iraqi Police and Iraqi National

Guard are taking the lead in

ensuring security in the city but

there are doubts about their

effectiveness and willingness to

engage with the Moqtada Militia, as

well as the loyalties of Basrah Chief

of Police – some think he is a

Moqtada supporter. It is also believed

that some politicians here in the

south are secretly supporting the

escalating violence, seeing it as a

means to achieve independence of

the south from the rest of Iraq. There

are moves to try to get the Provinces

of Basrah, Maysan and Dhiqar (in the

south west corner of Iraq) to break

away and form a mainly Shia state

(or at least achieve autonomy). There

is a certain amount of support for

this amongst the general population

and the leaders of Maysan and

Dhiqar have been more vocal about

this. Basrah’s leaders are not publicly

supporting this line at the moment.

Unfortunately, we lost another

soldier today as a bomb went off as

his armoured vehicle was passing.

Generally, the soldiers are not fully

hatched down in the vehicles (quite

unbearable in this heat) unless there

is a specific threat and this soldier

was hit by fragments packed into the

bomb. Another two were seriously

injured in the same incident. A sad

I have volunteered to do a ‘normal’

military role until the situation

calms down and will be running the

operations room (which has

obviously become much busier) for

the infantry unit providing the area

security around our base.

The news in the UK has probably

focused on the activities in Najaf, the

site of the Imam Ali mosque, the

holiest of Shia shrines where the

remains of Imam Ali, son of the

Prophet Mohammed, are supposed to

be buried. Many insurgents, many of

whom are probably not Iraqi

(Iranian?), loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr

are hiding out in the grounds of the

mosque. I am not sure if people back

at home understand the significance

of this mosque. The followers of

Imam Ali believed he should have

succeeded Mohammed (as the first

Caliph). Eventually, he became the

fourth Caliph but was assasinated

shortly after, which led to the split in

the Muslim world between Sunnis

and Shias. The mosque is important

not only in Iraq but to Shia Muslims

around the world, whether in Iran,

Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc. It is like

Mecca to the Sunnis. Hazim al-

Anaichi, the Basrah Council Co-

ordinator assasinated a few weeks

ago, who was pro-British and one of

our key allies, said to us once that if

Coalition Forces attacked the Imam

Ali mosque he would kill us himself.

This was said quite earnestly, not as

a threat but to stress what the

mosque means to Shia Muslims.

Calvin Man’simage ofdamagedbuildingsfrom histour of dutyin Iraq

left St Albans school, and I thought

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